$250 though at Wal-mart ;_; that is like the same amount as a Nintendo Wii cost ;_;
For a Nintendo 3DS?! Seriously? Amazing...I thought it was retailing everywhere for $300...
As for the recommandation, if you haven't played the original Gold, Silver, or Crystal, get HGSS.
Johto is something you need to experience at least once. If you have played them before, then get Black or White. They're both incredibly good games. I HATED Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, but Black and White are both very good games (possibly the best in the series).
This. My main experiences with Johto have been the Pokemon anime (the
Johto Journeys,
Johto League Champions, and
Master Quest seasons, as well as Movies 1-4),
Pokemon Stadium 2, and the few Johto Pokemon in RSE/FRLG. Even without actually "playing" through Johto, those combined experiences still call me towards Johto.
I expect
HeartGold to be an excellent follow-up to
FireRed, and judging from my Bulbapedia research, there's an
insane amount of things to do in the game compared to DPPt. Storyline and version-exclusives aside, the only thing HGSS lacks compared to DPPt are, IIRC, Pokemon Super Contests and Poffin-making.
Personally, BW took out a
lot of lovable things about Generation 4 with minor improvements (triple battles, graphics, infinite TM usage). I'd say play HG or SS for now, and use that to tide over the time until
Pokemon "Gray" Version (BW's rumored third version counterpart) arrives (likely for the 3DS, but a DS version isn't necessarily ruled out, either). And I feel that several awesome Unova Pokemon counterbalance the Unova species that detract from the games... (i.e., Zoroark, Haxorus, Hydreigon, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyuremu, Genosect, Bisharp counteracting Simipour, Samurott, Stunfisk, Beartic). It's all up to opinion, though. I am highly optimistic that "Gray Version" will fix BW's minor flaws that are present, resulting in one of the best Pokemon installments that the main series has to offer for the franchise.
But yeah...the only use of getting a DS
now is primarily for using Pal Park to transfer Pokemon from Generation 3, and
possibly if you want to PokeShift by yourself and you do not have a friend with a DS available. Otherwise, I'd recommend the Nintendo 3DS all the way. It's likely that you'll have your eye on one when 3DS Pokemon games are released, and if you buy a DS
now, you'll just have to shell out more money come 3DS Pokemon games. With a
3DS now, you'll be ready to go for the next 5-7 years without having to invest in another handheld for quite some time, not to mention backwards compatibility with 3DS games. If you need to Pal Park, you could buy a 3DS now and wait for DS Lites to drop substantially in price in the future in case you need to purchase one for Generation 3 transfer.
In conclusion:
3DS+HGSS (which you could use to tide over the wait for Gray Version) is my recommended advice.
If you've already gotten enough out of Johto from GSC (even if you have, I'd
still recommend HGSS, though I haven't even played it yet..), then
3DS+BW is my recommendation.
The DS has lots of staying power, but the mere existence of the 3DS is gradually rendering the DS obsolete, slowly but surely... At this point, in the Pokemon franchise, buying a DS
Lite over a 3DS would only be viable if you need to migrate Pokemon from RSE or FRLG. DSi and XL are completely out of the question since they can't even transfer from Gen 3; they are now subpar 3DS alternatives if one does not have enough money for a 3DS at the moment...