Pokemon Platinum/HGSS Strategies

[Satomi]

I played the Gen 4 games even more than the Gen 7 games recently. I excluded Diamond and Pearl, 'cause I never really played those games and I heard a lot of negative stuff about those games, such as it being too slow and pretty bad pacing. But enough about that! I wanna know what you did in your playthrough of Platinum and HGSS to beat both games. I'll also tell you what I did in my playthrough of those games.(Keep in mind, Sere's rules apply in this thread as well.)

 

[((JAWS))]

Hmm currently playing both Soul Silver and Platinum right now. As I type but in the past and now;

For Sinnoh:
- Most play throughs I choose an Infernape since there are 0 fire types in Sinnoh ever. Ponyta is nice sure but..
- HM slave Bidoof every time.
- Usually bringing a staraptor w me no matter what.
- Grinding. Tons of grinding.

 

[Leonhart]

I didn't have too many strategies in D/P/Pt: I mainly used Shinou Pokemon on my teams however, and I traded over some Lucky Eggs in Pearl from Platinum a few years ago to make leveling up faster.

 

[KyogreThunder]

I usually catch a Starly as soon as I get my first few PokeBalls, then raise it all the way into Staraptor. In Platinum, I often catch Magikarp with the Old Rod on Route 218 and slap the Exp. Share on it when I reach Eterna City. Other Pokemon I often raise are Rotom, Weavile, Gallade, Floatzel, Roserade (if I don't choose Turtwig as my starter), or rarely, I evolve Eevee I get from Bebe into Espeon.
In HG/SS, I always pick either Totodile or Cyndaquil as my starter. I then catch a Spearow at Route 46 and raise it into Fearow. I often use Chinchou/Lanturn, Nidoking, Espeon, and catch Heracross as soon as I meet the Headbutt guy. With Brick Break, it destroys Whitney's Miltank easily.

 

[Leonhart]

I usually catch a Starly as soon as I get my first few PokeBalls, then raise it all the way into Staraptor.

I did this on Diamond, Pearl, and my Japanese Platinum as well. However, when I played Platinum in English, I decided to use a Togekiss as my team's Flying-type.

 

[Satomi]

I traded my entire teams between SS and Platinum. Game became Gen 6/7 easy for me.

 

[The Teller]

My main rule of thumb in all the games is to build a well-varied team, where almost every type is covered somehow. And also to fight EVERY trainer (and most wild encounters, until the level difference starts approaching 30). I also try to make sure the movesets on each team member is varied, if possible (very rarely use status moves, and nothing redundant like Flame Wheel AND Flamethrower). SoulSilver was fun, because for the first time, I imported over level 1 Pokemon from Diamond, each with their best nature and some egg move, and used them for the entirety of the game. I think it was Ralts, Murkrow, Horsea, Mareep, and Shroomish (with Chikorita being my starter).

 

[Leonhart]

I traded my entire teams between SS and Platinum. Game became Gen 6/7 easy for me.

Was that simply as a way of having your team gain extra experience points? Because I've done that once with a few Pokemon between HeartGold and Pearl in my old monotype challenge.

 

[literal trash]

I generally use the same Pokemon in different playthroughs, meaning I really don't experiment that much. Pokemon I commonly use in Platinum are Roserade (amazing Grass/Poison type), Staraptor (best bird) and Jolteon (amazing speed), for HGSS, I do try and experiment, such is the case with my currently on hold SS playthrough where I'm using Steelix, Slowking and Tangrowth all for the first time.

 

[SubtleVVeirdoh]

As with all games I’ve been recently playing through, I’ve been trying to use Mons I haven’t used before. Or ones that aren’t typically found in that region (Slowpoke in Platinum/Rotom in SS) which also helps when grinding. Outside of that I try to have both Physical and Special Attackers, a ‘mon or two with some status moves.