Which games to start with?

[Goomba85]

Hello, I'm experienced with all the games up through Emerald and have not played anything after. I have them all on emulator on my Android. I really liked those games.

Now I just got a Nintendo 3DS and am looking at expanding into the next generations but am totally lost and have questions. I'd like to be able to use pokemon from gen 1-3 since I like them but also want to learn new ones. I'm having issues figuring out which game to start with.

Do I need to still buy the games like Fire Red and Emerald on DS in order to get those pokemon in the later games via trading them to myself from the older game to say pearl, white, x, etc?

How does that trading work? Do I just need two 2DS/3DS systems and a cable?

Are the older pokemon still available in the post Emerald games without having to trade from the older games (like Fire Red etc)?

What game would make most sense for me to start with? If I go in chronological order, it would be diamond/pearl next, or do I do platinum instead? Is there one I should choose over the other?

My other thoughts would be to do heart gold/soul silver. Or would there be a reason to go to white/black first?

I'm lost after gen 3 so I appreciate the help.

 

[Lycanthropy]

Heyo Goomba! The old classics were all tons of fun, but it's great to hear you're interested in expanding your game library with newer titles as well. Now onto your questions...

Now I just got a Nintendo 3DS and am looking at expanding into the next generations but am totally lost and have questions. I'd like to be able to use pokemon from gen 1-3 since I like them but also want to learn new ones. I'm having issues figuring out which game to start with.

Do I need to still buy the games like Fire Red and Emerald on DS in order to get those pokemon in the later games via trading them to myself from the older game to say pearl, white, x, etc?

In most games (Black and White being an exception here) a bunch of other Pok?mon from the older generations are available as well. (Just like in Emerald's regional Dex you can find quite a few Pok?mon from the first two generations). So no, trading them up definitely isn't the only way to meet older gen Pok?mon.
However, I don't think you are able to connect a ROM from your Android device to an actual GBA (and via that to the DS and 3DS). Not 100% sure on this though.

How does that trading work? Do I just need two 2DS/3DS systems and a cable?

Cables are a bit outdated, haha. These days 2DS/3DS systems can connect wirelessly with each other. Via wi-fi, you can even trade with somebody at the other side of the world!

Are the older pokemon still available in the post Emerald games without having to trade from the older games (like Fire Red etc)?

Yep! ^.^

What game would make most sense for me to start with? If I go in chronological order, it would be diamond/pearl next, or do I do platinum instead? Is there one I should choose over the other?

My other thoughts would be to do heart gold/soul silver. Or would there be a reason to go to white/black first?

I'd recommend chronological order. (Though I am somewhat biased, because the Sinnoh games are my favorites. :P). Platinum is to Diamond and Pearl what Emerald is to Ruby and Sapphire. Additionally, there's about 100-ish Pok?mon more obtainable in the regional Dex and a few extra things to do such as the Battle Frontier. I can really recommend Platinum here.
Black and White introduced 150 new Pok?mon and you won't be able to meet any other ones until the end-game. Black and White 2 are then sequels to Black and White and in order to get what their evil team is doing, you probably want to start of with BW first. Jumping right to X or Y might be a bit too much of a step at once, so yeah, I can really vouch for Platinum.

HeartGold, SoulSilver, OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire are remakes of Gold, Silver, Ruby and Sapphire respectively. If you want to get familiar with the new mechanics (but without diving into a bunch of new Pok?mon already), it might be worthwhile to check out on these games too. Since you loved their originals, I'm sure you're going to like their remakes with their modern touches as well.


Phew. Hope that was a bit helpful. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! :)

 

[Goomba85]

Thanks for all the info! I'm leaning towards either Platinum or Soul Silver to start. Which one would have better or more pokemon? I did a quick search and see the legendary birds, dogs, Dragonite, Mew, Tyranitar, and the original RGB starters in Soul Silver. I am not familiar with as many of the ones in Platinum but don't see any of those originals listed in Platinum. Although some of the new ones look cool.

 

[FireSnow]

They'll have similarly sized regional dexes i believe. As for quality of the mons, that's a matter of opinion. I personally prefer the sinnoh dex to the Johto dex because, like Lycan, Sinnoh is my favorite region. Either game is a good place to start though. SoulSilver will have all the older mons of Gen 1 and 2 pretty much and retells the story of GSC very well, thus why it has all of the Pokemon you mentioned. Platinum meanwhile adds around 100 new Pokemon in addition to Pokemon from the previous three generations, so there isn't much room to add to the regional dex, and would technically be the next game on the timeline in terms of "story-telling". You can always trade Pokemon over from Silver to Platinum if you have two 2/3DS' as well and fill up your national dex in the post-game though.

 

[CutieGirl21]

I would personally go for dimond/pearl as my first. Not only are they fun games with good story and veriety of pokemon. But the game is also straight forward as pokemon goes and still has decent graphics if you care about that. The earlier titles are comparitivly cryptic and the later ones are limited in veriety

 

[Goomba85]

Thanks for all the advice! I think I'm starting with Platinum, but my GF has never played the old silver/gold, so she's starting with heart gold or soul silver. Looking at just the legendaries, I'd personally take Lugia over Ho Oh since I can also get Charizard as a fire/flying. It looks like Kyogre is specific to gold and grouden is specific to silver too. What other differences are important in choosing which game?

 

[FireSnow]

That's honestly about it. In terms of Gens 1-4, the differences are version exclusives and the mascot legendary. Otherwise they are pretty much the same game. That changes in Gen 5 where some locations are different between the two games. We'll cross that bridge once we get to it though.

So as a whole, I'd say when picking between HG and SS, look at the mascot legendaries and version exclusives online to decide which game would be better for you. As for Platinum, there aren't any version exclusives since it is the third game so you get all the good stuff!