The COMPLETE Guide To Ash’s Pokemon Journey (Part 4)

Thanks so much for watching! Let me know your thoughts on the Diamond & Peaarl era of the Pokemon Anime and which Gen 4 Pokemon was your favorite? Also, today is Ash's birthday!

Jordan, I just want to mention that I absolutely ADORE this series, and I'm so glad you're doing this all of this! Keep up the good work!

The diamond and pearl era was my childhood. Pokemon nostalgia is a special kind of nostalgia

The Sinnoh arc was incredible I would say my favorite part was how they gave us Paul a rival that was not only strong but also someone Ash had to beat on a personal level because of how differently they choose to treat Pokémon.

When it comes to Diamond and Pearl, I remember they did an entire weekend marathon from episode 1 to the newest ones. My brothers and I stood up all nights to watch em all, or at least attempt 😂

it's a sad moment but I was actually relieved when Paul released Chimchar He was abusing that poor thing

He should have won this region. That darkrai was an asspull from the writers

Man, I have never forgotten the sheer hatred I had for Paul, but you brought it all to the forefront

I think Diamond and Pearl might be my favorite Pokemon series. First off, I adore Dawn. She's like a dual protagonist, a fleshed out character with her own goals, rivals, and character arc. I found I was even more invested in her Contest journey and struggles with self confidence than I was with a lot of Ash's gym battles. Zoe was her best rival, too. She was friendly but pushes Dawn to do her best, comforting her when she needs it. And she's the butchest ten year old I've ever seen lol. Dawn/Zoe was the first time I ever wanted two girls in a cartoon to be together. Ash's writing was stellar too, especially his dynamic with Paul. Paul is Ash's hardest rival in the entire series. He reminds me a lot of Silver from the GSC/HGSS games, treating his Pokemon harshly and only caring about strength. Ash and Paul were two sides of a coin, showing what love and compassion versus logic and strictness could be like for raising Pokemon. Chimchar being one of Paul's past Pokemon that he mistreated also gives Ash more of a reason to beat Paul in battle. Brock finally solidifying his life goals was also good to see. He's always been a practical guy, acting like the adult/big brother of the group. Making sure to care for the group's Pokemon. But seeing him create a team with baby Pokemon and having him raise them, plus the way he healed more and more Pokemon and got involved assisting Nurse Joy, it really felt like he finally found his life's work as a Pokemon Doctor. Overall, a fantastic series of the anime that I still appreciate to this day, even with all the filler.

Paul was Ash's best rival and their final two battles were probably the best ones he had up to that point and both were different in good ways. That final battle really had me on edge when i was younger and i was behind him all the way. Then he gets stomped by Tobias and it infuriated me to no end like he finally beat Paul and gets stomped by a legendary hunter. It was my favourite series of the anime and it was preceded by my 3rd favourite and proceeded by my least favourite

The last series I watched weekly until the end of SM. I grew up with gens 1-4 and I can affirm that the DP anime is the peak of the original Pokémon anime formula.

DP is easily the best Pokemon series imo, it takes everything that worked about the anime before and just does it better in almost every way - great companions, great battles, a great overarching story, and Ash's best rival by far. All the later series get more experimental in one way or another but they just don't have the same charm as the classic OS-DP era.

Gardenia having a Turtwig was cool even in game and wish more gym leaders had starter Pokémon

I loved in Ash and Paul's battle when Electabuzz saw Monferno had evolved and gave it a smirk.

This was the first series that I could really watch if you don't count VSH tapes of a few episodes from the original series. Ash's battle against Paul made Monferno, the evolved form of Chimchar, my favorite Pokémon of all time! So this series means a whole lot to me!

This was the part of Ash’s journey where I began watching and got pretty invested. I liked how they built Paul to be this rival that by the end, you were practically begging Ash to defeat him. I remember Paul’s battle with Brandon sticking out to me as well, with Paul giving detail as to why his victory over Brandon means so much to him. Great work on this series, can’t wait for the next one.

Diamond and Pearl is the best season of the anime, no contest. Great battles, great cast, great side characters, great rivials, adapts the story from the games the best great stakes etc.

The movies for diamond and pearl to me were the most memorable I don't know what it was just the emotions and grandure made me enjoy them more

This was the series that got me back into Pokémon. Between this and Platinum the fourth generation was a damn good time.

I still maintain Ash's DP team was S tier. Gen 4 (Platinum I should say) is my favourite era to this day