The VG Resource

haven't played a pokemon game since gold or silver, never even made it past the first gym battle

Do you have a DS?

It's really up to you. If you've got a DS, I would get Platinum or HG/SS. Platinum has the newest Pokemon region and the like, but if you wanted to play a new game in the G/S/C region with Generation II's Pokemon, go for HeartGold or SoulSilver.

Or you could wait till gen 5, otherwise I'd just do a bunch of reading to catch up on what Pokemon knows what and which Pokemon were added to the games.

I was kinda like you. I never played any of the 3rd gen pokemon games.

Either get the new games or get Plat/HG/SS

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Or get Pokemon Online and play a little of that.

Fire Red and Leaf Green(gen3) is a good place to start, it has a help mode with tons of info, and its a remake of the first games so chronologically its a good starting point.

Although the shift from gen3(the GBA games) to gen4 (DS) redefined how damage is calculated- moves were split into physical and special groups, so instead of the power being deterimend based on a pokemon's attack for physical types (fighting, bug, rock, ground) and special attack for special types (fire, dragon, water, grass) each individual attack was given its own phy/specl priority. This was a big change, thats why it has to be mentioned, because its probably the only thing that would make the transition from gold/silver to any other game challenging.

Since you probably already have the hang of the games from gold silver then you might just want to start in the current gen (gen4). HGSS is pretty much better then any of the previous games, so if you do start in gen4 you might as well go with the best.

also all the pokemon got abilities in gen3. abilities are basically a uniqe effect they the pokemon does in or out of battle automatically. they can be drastic but most of the time you don't even notice them.

My girlfriend started on Ruby, moved her way up to Platinum, and then Heart Gold when it came out. It worked well for her but ow I see it being difficult if she wanted to try the originals. I say either start on third gen games or start from the originals.

I actually started with Ruby/Sapphire and loved it, despite what other people say. I then got Leafgreen (firered's counterpart), and that is probably a good place to start. I never have played GSC or HGSS but I really want to :<

I'd personally advise you to wait until Gen5, only because otherwise you'll have a lot of catching up to do.

Hey hey, you left off where I did. I wanted to get back too, so I went with Soul Silver. I gotta say it's a blast and it does catch you up fairly well.(atleast I felt this way playing it, maybe I'm still missing alot).

You might as well wait until Gen 5 since it's meant to be a reboot of the series in a few ways; Pokémon available included. You'd probably like the slightly more grown-up atmosphere that its going for too.

i reccomend emerald if you feel like playing last gen (dont even bother with ruby or sapphire)

I'd wait for gen 5 as well, they said pokemon black and white is suppose to give the feel of red and blue, and will constist of entirely brand new pokemon without having any old ones until youve been the game, a completely new start with the series.

wait for b/w i say, otherwise id try emerald, platinum, or hgss.

Try Emerald, Platinum, and HGSS, just cause you got 8 months to wait.