Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl

***Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl*** (Japanese: **ポケットモンスターダイヤモンド＆パール** *Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl*) is the third series of the Pokémon anime and is based on the events of the Generation IV core series Pokémon games. It follows *Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation* and was succeeded by *Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes]]*. It ran from September 28, 2006 to September 9, 2010 in Japan and the United States. Two special episodes (DPS01 and DPS02) were later shown on February 3, 2011.

Like the previous series, this series begins with Ash Ketchum beginning his journey by himself, this time through the Sinnoh region, aiming to conquer the Sinnoh League. His longtime companion Brock eventually rejoins him, as does Dawn, a rookie Pokémon Coordinator from Twinleaf Town who wishes to follow in the footsteps of her mother and gain the title of Top Coordinator.

Like what happened in *Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation*, both Ash and Brock received a change of clothes. As well, a similarity to the previous series is that Ash's previous female companion returned for a few episodes, wearing new clothes just as Ash and Brock do. May's outfit was based on that of her game counterpart during Emerald.

Much like what occurred near to the end of the original series's journey through Johto, with the move from cel-based coloring to digital coloring, *Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl* featured the show's move from a standard definition 4:3 presentation to a high-definition 16:9 format near to the middle of the Sinnoh journey. Additionally, moves like Water Gun and Hydro Pump started being rendered in CGI following this transition.

*Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl* is different from the previous two series in that it is more story driven. While there are fewer episodes dedicated to Ash's Gym quest or the resident Coordinator's (currently Dawn) Contest quest than previous series had in the same amount of time, more captures, more departures, and more rivals have been introduced when compared to earlier series.

Additionally, this series is more violent and dramatic than its predecessors, in part stemming from the character Paul whose training method sharply contrasts with Ash's so much that he abuses his Pokémon for not doing well, and likewise stemming from the cataclysmic nature of the plot of Sinnoh's resident villainous team, Team Galactic, as well as the actions of the heartless mercenary J.

Episodes in *Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl* are numbered with Template:Bp **DP** on Bulbapedia. For a complete episode listing, see the list of *Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl* episodes.

## Blurb

*If Gary Oak is headed for the Sinnoh region, then Ash Ketchum won’t be far behind! Ready to take on the Sinnoh League, Ash brings along Pikachu and meets up with Brock in Sinnoh, where the pair of Trainers are soon joined by a third—Dawn, a novice Pokémon Coordinator determined to follow in the footsteps of her mother. Both Ash and Dawn struggle with their respective paths, but it’s easy for them to make new friends, gaining new Pokémon like Turtwig and Piplup.*

## Movies

Main articles: Pokémon movie § Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl, and Pokémon movie → Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl
* *Dialga vs Palkia vs Darkai*
* *Giratina and the Sky's Bouquet: Shaymin*
* *Arceus - Towards the Continuum of Conquest*
* *Lugia vs Ho-oh vs The Ruler of Illusions Zoroark*

## Characters

### Main

* Ash
* Brock
* Dawn

### Rivals

* Paul
* Zoey
* Barry
* Nando
* Ursula
* Conway
* Kenny

### Antagonists

* Team Rocket
	+ Jessie
	+ James
	+ Giovanni
* Team Galactic
	+ Cyrus
	+ Mars
	+ Jupiter
	+ Saturn
	+ Charon
* Hunter J

### Key Pokémon

* Ash's Pikachu
* Ash's Staraptor
* Ash's Turtwig
* Ash's Infernape
* Ash's Buizel
* Ash's Garchomp
* Brock's Ninetails
* Brock's Sudowoodo
* Brock's Croagunk
* Brock's Chansey
* Dawn's Piplup
* Dawn's Lopunny
* Dawn's Pachirisu
* Dawn's Ambipom
* Dawn's Glaceon
* Dawn's Cyndaquil
* Team Rocket's Meowth
* Jessie's Dustox
* Jessie's Yanmega
* James' Cacnea
* James' Carnivine
* James' Mime Jr
* Jessie's Wobbuffet

### Recurring Characters

* Gym Leaders
* Elite Four
* Frontier Brains
* Professor Rowan
* Professor Oak - He will most likely be shown sometimes in the series, mostly video chatting with Ash about his journey.
* Delia Ketchum - the mother of Ash Ketchum, will most likely will appear talking to Ash on the video chat, making sure that he is doing well and that has everything he needs for his quest.
* Johanna
* Cynthia
* Looker
* Gary Oak
* Brandon

## Trivia

* This is the only series in which:
	+ Ash does not have a new male traveling companion during his time as a protagonist.
	+ A character other than Ash is mentioned in the summary of the Opening themes.
	+ Template:TRT appears in every episode (they did not appear in the first episode in the original series; they were absent in AG120 in *Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation*; and they have been absent in several episodes from *Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes* onward).
	+ Ash's house does not make an appearance while he is in Pallet Town.
	+ Ash starts off with more than one of his Pokémon, arriving in Sinnoh with Pikachu and Aipom, the latter of which stowed away.
	+ A Full Battle takes place outside of a major tournament.
	+ A recurring Charizard doesn’t appear.
	+ Ash begins his journey still wearing his outfit from the previous series.
	+ There are episodes in two different aspect ratios.
		- It is the first series to have episodes in a 16:9 aspect ratio, and the last series to have episodes in a 4:3 aspect ratio.
	+ Ash catches multiple of the concurrent region's starter Pokémon and has up to two of them evolve into their final forms.
* This is the first series in which:
	+ Ash has only one new traveling companion.
	+ 4Kids had no part in dubbing.
	+ Episodes have a frame rate of 30 frames per second.
	+ There are no references to or Pokémon from the following generation, aside from the thirteenth movie.
	+ Ash and his friends only travel across a single region together.
	+ Ash is not shown traveling to a new region at the end of the series, simply returning home to Pallet Town instead.
* This is the last series in which:
	+ Characters are drawn using Ken Sugimori's older artstyle.
	+ James has a walking Pokémon.
	+ Ash uses Pokémon he had obtained in a previous series in a major tournament, aside from Template:AP.
* The Sinnoh journey is the longest regional story arc out of all the arcs in the Template:Pkmn. The Johto journey previously held this distinction with 158 episodes total.
* In this series, every Trainer (Excluding Ash) who is part of the regular cast—Dawn, Brock, Jessie and James—owns at least one Pokémon that is part of a cross-generational evolution line that includes a member introduced in Generation IV.
	+ The same holds true about rivals Paul, Barry, Zoey, Nando, and Conway.
* In the re-dubbed Hindi version, James has a flamboyant accent.
* This is the last series to be dubbed by TAJ Productions, and the first series to be dubbed by NYAV.
* This is the only series to not be aired on Kids Station; although the series' movies were still aired on Kids Station.

## External links

* Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl at the Pokémon official site for Asia
* Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl PV
* TV Tokyo (Japanese)

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