Returning to the game

[Nostalgic-poke-man]

Hi there,
I hope this is in the right sub forum, if not I apologise. I have not played pokemon since the first uk release of blue and red (back on the old original grey gameboy) in the 1990s.
I really feel like getting back into the game, but would like to systematically go through from the beginning. Obviously there have been several platforms over the years, and things have changed a lot since those early games I played, and it is all a bit beyond me now.
My question really is, if I was to go and buy a 3ds (which I believe the newer games are on now) could I buy games for that single console, that would allow me to go through all the different regions and follow the story line through in order and obtain all the pokemon up to the current generation?
I have read that there are some re releases, that were released later but still have those earlier games on?
My second question is do I need to buy a second console in order to complete my pokedex? Back when I had my old gameboy you had a link cable that allowed you to swap with friends to either get new pokemon that were not available on your version of the game, or to trade pokemon to get them to evolve, is this still that case (in which case I will need 2 consoles as I don't know anyone elese who would be playing).
Sorry if these questions seem rather stupid and basic, but the last new games console I bought was a nintendo 64, so I am not really up to speed on gaming!
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[ElBurrito]

You can get the original game boy and game boy color games on the 3DS store as far as I know. Not entirely sure as I prefer to use physical copies. But if you want to play ruby and sapphire that would require a game boy advance at least. That system would get you through the first 3 generations and a 3DS (or 2DS which is cheaper and plays the same games) would get you from diamond and pearl up to ultra sun and ultra moon.

As far as needing two systems, for 3DS titles you can trade to yourself by using the GTS (in game online trade system) to transfer between two games via one console. However for earlier games you would need a second console to trade back and forth. If I remember correctly the online functions for gens 4 and 5 are shut down.

So overall if you were wanting to play every game and complete the Pokédex in every game you would need a minimum of two gameboy advances and two 2DS/3DSs.