The piece below is contributed by guest author Alex Crawford, hoping to inspire Pokémon fans to experiment with less-appreciated Gen IV Pokémon!
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, are officially out and people online are discussing their teams. Much like when the original games were released, teams seem to comprise the same 7-8 Pokémon from Gen 4 such as Infernape, Lucario, Garchomp, Luxray and Floatzel.
If you are looking to switch it up on your next play through of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, here are six Gen 4 Pokémon you should add to your team on your next playthrough.
Mismagius
Gen 4 added a ton of new evolutions to Pokémon from older games, and the ghost type Mismagius is one of the best.
You can catch a Misdreavus early on in the game in Eterna Forest, and they evolve with a dusk stone that you can get from the Grand Underground, or wait until you make it to the Team Galactic Headquarters to get one.
If you wait until you get to the Galaxy Headquarters, your Misdreavus will most likely have learned Hex & Shadowball through leveling up. Pair that with Mismagius’ 105 special attack, and the STAB will take down a lot of teams. Aside from those moves, if you take her to the move tutor, you can learn moves like Mystic Fire and Power Gem for added coverage, and they are both special types.
A lot of the moves that are super effective to Mismagius are special types, and their 105 special defense helps absorb some of those strong attacks.
Mismagius can learn moves from 10 different types, which makes them able to fit into any team comp. Because of this, she can fit with any starter, and can fill in the coverage gaps on a lot of teams.
Hippowdon
If you are looking to add some sheer power to your lineup, ground type Hippowdon is your go to. You can catch Hippopotas around level 23 in the Ruin Maniac Cave, and he evolves into Hippowdon at level 34.
Just looking at his typing, the first move you think of is Earthquake. His 112 base attack packs a powerful punch, and will allow you to sweep the 8th gym leader with ease, along with many other trainers along your journey. He also learns Crunch through leveling up, and can learn Iron Tail and Rock Slide to give him extra coverage.
His 108 HP and 118 defense make him both a sweeper as well as a tank. If you take either Chimchar or Piplup, he is a great addition to both teams, especially Piplup whose weakness is electric.
Gastrodon
If you pick Chimchar but want to try out different water or ground Pokémon, picking up a Gastrodon is a great addition. His water/ground typing leaves him with only Grass as a weakness, and Infernape will clean that up easily.
You can catch both Shellos and Gastrodon on your journey, but I recommend catching a Shellos as soon as you’re able. You can catch Shellos at level 8 in route 205, and will evolve at level 30. His base stat total of 475 isn’t.
His high special attack makes moves like Earth Power and Muddy Water hit hard with the STAB. Pair that with Ice Beam to give them coverage against grass, as well as either sludge bomb or rock slide to add additional coverage.
He is a great fit in with a Chimchar team, but can be used with any starter because of his typing, providing coverage for Piiplup and Turtwig’s weaknesses.
Toxicroak
Toxicroak seems to be a Pokémon that is on a lot of people’s radar, but is hardly used. In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, you can catch a Croagunk in the Grand Underground right when you get access, which allows you to get a Toxicroak before you can in the originals.
Another strong and relatively balanced Pokémon, he has 106 attack, 86 special attack and 85 speed. If you catch him with a nature that boosts either his attack or speed, he will proceed to wipe out a lot of teams.
Leveling up, he learns Poison Jab and Sucker Punch before he even evolves. Pair that with moves like Drain Punch and X Scissor and that gives him a lot of coverage, especially against types that he is weak against such as Psychic.
He excels on both a Piplup and Turtwig team, and gives you the fighting coverage that Infernape has.
Bronzong
Bronzong is a steel/psychic type tank that has 116 base defense/special defense and overall base stats of 500.
You can catch a Bronzor pretty early in route 206 after the cycling bridge, and he evolves into Bronzong at level 33. He is slow, so moves like Gyro Ball pack a huge punch with that STAB. Grass Knot can be a good tool to deal with bulky Water types and to round out his move pool, he can also learn moves such as Psychic, Earthquake or Shadow ball, depending on how you are building your team.
Even though they are both Steel, pairing him with Empoleon works because their STAB attacks and movepools can compliment each other. He also works well with Turtwig and Chimchar.
Abomasnow
If you are looking to add some power to your team, picking up the Grass/Ice Abomasnow in Mt. Coronet would be a perfect fit. His base stats of 494 are built on a 92 stat for both attack and special attack. This allows him to utilize the full power of both Wood Hammer for physical Grass coverage, as well as Ice Beam to take out heavy hitters like Cynthia. He can also learn moves like Rock Slide & Earthquake to cover himself against his weaknesses.
If you pick Infernape, Abomasnow is a perfect addition to a team to add extra coverage. However, if you pick Emploean or Torterra, he will not be of much use if you are trying to build with full coverage.
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are a lot of fun, and adding these less-utilized Gen 4 Pokémon on your team will provide additional enjoyment and new challenges and you travel through Sinnoh. Let us know in the comments whether or not you used any new Pokémon on your team or plan to! Don’t forget to hop into Discord as well!