At the start of any Pokémon game, you have to pick a starter Pokémon to begin your adventure. As someone who’s been playing Pokémon for almost 30 years, I’ve tried them all! When it comes to the fourth generation of Pokémon games – Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, and their remakes – I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing through them multiple times, and only one starter Pokémon consistently helped me win.
When I choose a starter Pokémon for a new game, I think about a few different things. Most importantly, I look at how well its type and stats will help me win against important battles like Gym Leaders, the villain team, and the Elite Four. I also consider when it evolves and learns key moves that can give me an edge.
The Pros and Cons of Each Pokemon Gen 4 Starter
As a long-time Pokemon player, I think Gen 4 was a huge deal. They finally split Physical and Special attacks from being tied to a move’s type, which basically meant every Pokemon got a lot better. Suddenly, you could build your team around Pokemon learning powerful STAB (Same-Type Attack Bonus) moves that boosted their best stats. This really shakes things up for the Gen 4 starters, though – some have way easier access to those perfect moves than others, and that definitely impacts how good they are!
Turtwig’s Pros and Cons
- Pros
- Grass-typing is strong against the first Gym
- Well-rounded stat spread
- Good offensive-type coverage when fully evolved
- Evolves into its final stage sooner than other starters
- Cons
- Torterra’s Grass/Ground typing is 4x weak to Ice
- Razor Leaf is its strongest Physical Grass STAB move until fully evolved
- Weak to Team Galactic Boss Cyrus’ team
I first played Pokémon Diamond when it came out in 2007, and I chose Turtwig, the Grass-type Pokémon, as my starter. It was a smart pick for the beginning of the game because Grass-types are strong against the Rock-types used by the first Gym Leader, Roark. Later on, it evolves into Torterra, which is super effective against Crasher Wake’s Water-types and a great counter to Volkner’s Electric-types. Although I have really good memories of using Turtwig back then, looking back now I realize it wasn’t as perfect as I thought at the time.
While Turtwig starts strong in Pokémon games set in the Sinnoh region, it can become challenging to use later on. It evolves later than the other starter Pokémon, at level 18, and relies on Razor Leaf as its main attack for a long time. The biggest problem is that Torterra, its final evolution, is weak against Ice-type Pokémon, which are common in the late game, particularly when facing trainers like Candice and Cyrus. This makes it difficult for Torterra to be a top performer in Generation 4 Pokémon games.
Grotle evolves into Torterra at level 32, which is earlier than the evolution levels of the other two starter Pokémon, helping to balance its relatively late start.
Chimchar’s Pros and Cons
- Pros
- Good type match-ups against several Gyms
- Great move pool with STAB options like Close Combat and Flare Blitz
- Evolves into its first stage earlier than any other starters
- Cons
- Weak against half of the Elite Four
- Balanced stats mean it doesn’t excel in any one area
- Needs to evolve to be useful against the first Gym
I’ve always liked Fire-type Pokémon, but only a handful of the Fire-type starter Pokémon have really stood out to me. Chimchar is one of them, and a big reason why is its amazing move selection in the fourth generation of games. While other starters sometimes struggle with weak attacks, Infernape (Chimchar’s final evolution) gets powerful moves like Close Combat and Flare Blitz, which were new to those games. Plus, Chimchar is really effective against several key Gym Leaders, including Roark (Rock-type), Gardenia (Grass-type), Byron (Steel-type), and Candice (Ice-type), especially if it evolves into Monferno and learns Mach Punch.
Okay, so Infernape is awesome, but it really struggles against a lot of the Elite Four – Bertha’s Ground types and Lucian’s Psychic types give me a real headache. Plus, to actually be useful right from the start, my Chimchar had to evolve into Monferno before taking on the first Gym. That meant a lot of grinding to get it to level 14, because there weren’t many other Pokémon available early on that could cover its weaknesses. Some people might like that Infernape can be both a physical and special attacker, but honestly, I would have loved it if it focused entirely on physical attacks. That way, moves like Close Combat and Flare Blitz would really shine, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
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Piplup’s Pros and Cons
Image via The Pokemon Company - Pros
- Strong against the first Gym
- Empoleon’s Water/Steel typing has a lot of resistances
- Solid Special Attack and Special Defense
- Excellent against the Elite Four
- Cons
- Move pool is limited without TMs
- Doesn’t match up well against other Gyms after the first
- Low Speed stat
Piplup is a very popular Pokémon from the fourth generation, but it isn’t necessarily the best starter to choose for your game. While it has an advantage against the first gym leader, Roark, Piplup doesn’t become truly powerful until it evolves into Empoleon later in the game. Empoleon’s Water and Steel typing makes it very durable, resisting many types of attacks, which is especially useful against trainers like Aaron and Lucian. Plus, Empoleon is super effective against the Ground and Fire types used by Bertha and Flint, making it a great asset when challenging the Elite Four.
Piplup struggles for much of the Sinnoh region due to unfavorable type matchups against key Gym Leaders like Gardenia and Volkner. After the first Gym, it doesn’t have a clear advantage against any others. Furthermore, Empoleon’s focus on Special Attack limits its move options; it doesn’t learn a truly powerful move until late in the game, and even then needs a TM to get a strong Steel-type attack.
Flash Cannon is obtained via TM from defeating Byron in Canalave City.
After Dozens of Playthroughs, It’s Clear that Chimchar is the Best Pokemon Gen 4 Starter
Considering everything, Chimchar has consistently been my best starter Pokémon in my playthroughs of Generation 4 games. While it takes some effort to get Chimchar to level 14 and evolve it into Monferno before the first Gym battle, learning Mach Punch is a game-changer. This powerful Fighting-type move makes Monferno incredibly effective against Roark’s Rock-type Pokémon, solving Chimchar’s biggest early challenge. After that, Monferno is a major asset in battles against the next few Gym Leaders, easily defeating Gardenia’s Grass-types and quickly taking down Maylene’s Lucario in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
I especially love the Close Combat move added in the fourth generation of Pokemon. Infernape is an ideal Pokemon to use it with, thanks to its naturally high attack stat. While Infernape becomes less useful after you beat Candice in Snowpoint City, my team is typically strong enough by then that its weaknesses don’t matter much against the Elite Four. I almost always enjoy starting a Gen 4 Pokemon game with Chimchar.
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2026-02-04 01:05