What are the best gen 4 Pokémon? Our guide to the best gen 4 Pokémon is here to whittle this motley crew down to the greatest of them all. The leap to Pokémon on DS was a huge one. The world felt more alive than ever, and even the Pokémon were more animated than in any previous title. So, to match this evolution, Game Freak delivered a stonking selection of new creatures that are still celebrated to this day.
The selection from Sinnoh is as weird as it is wide, featuring the most evolutions of previous Pokémon that any gen has seen before or since. Fan favorite lines finally got some power thanks to plenty of evolution stones and new methods. Meanwhile, even the completely new Pokémon have seen nothing but love since. This is going to be tough… Also, we won’t be covering starter Pokémon, mythical Pokémon, or legendary Pokémon here as they appear in different lists.
Here are the best gen 4 Pokémon:
Yanmega
The ancient dragonfly Pokémon Yanmega takes on the appearance of some of the prehistoric bugs that actually inhabited the earth many millennia ago. To drive this fact home, Yanma can only evolve into this ‘mon when it knows the ancient power move. It’s one of many Pokémon in Diamond and Pearl that are evolutions of ‘mon from previous gens, but I’ve always had a soft spot for it because I just didn’t think that many people were rooting for Yanma.
Yanmega wields the dual flying and bug Pokémon combination, which sadly gives it a bunch of weaknesses. It’s four times weak to rock Pokémon and two times weak to flying Pokémon, fire Pokémon, electric Pokémon, and ice Pokémon. However, it balances this with immunity to ground, helping it cause some problems for popular threat Garchomp. It might not be the best competitively, but the mixture of the prehistoric design and interesting lore has always made it a winner in my eyes.
At number 469 in the Pokédex, Yanmega is described as being able to create shockwaves by churning its wings, and these shock waves cause serious injuries to those struck by them. Oh, and prepare yourself if you want to fight this thing. It likes to bite its opponents apart while moving at high speeds.
If you want to know how to squash Yanmega, our bug Pokémon weakness and flying Pokémon weakness guides can help you out.
Garchomp
Let’s get this one out of the way. Garchomp rules and that’s not up for debate. Its top-tier Pokémon design has yet to be beaten before or since, every inch of that dragon Pokémon looks absolutely incredible, and I have never met a single Pokémon fan that had a bad word to say about it. It looks like a cross between a dragon, a crocodile, a jet, and a submarine. You don’t have to worry about making sense when you look that cool.
If you were around during the original Pokémon Diamond and Pearl days back when the series was making its first steps into online battles, you likely remember that Garchomp was an absolute menace. This powerhouse was on every single team, ready to spam earthquake and take down almost every other Pokémon in the meta. It’s still a fearsome foe with an insane speed stat and an impressive attack, but over the years, it’s four times ice. Pokémon weakness has found more Pokémon to exploit it, not to mention its weakness to dragon and fairy. It’s not quite the beast it once was, but it hasn’t fallen far from grace.
In its Pokédex entries, Garchomp is described as looking like a jet plane. Don’t see it? Imagine how it must look when it folds its body up and extends its wings; that’s when this beast resembles that mode of transportation. When Garchomp does take flight, it moves at sonic speed – hmm, wonder if it can beat Sonic in a race.
To discover more about this type of ‘mon, check out our dragon Pokémon weakness guide.
Rhyperior
This is more of a personal pick because something about the big lug known as Rhyperior has always just worked for me. I’ve always loved Rhyhorn and Rhydon, and Rhydon, in particular, already feels like a Pokémon pushed as far as it can go. So, how did Game Freak take the concept further? Well, they just made Rhyperior even larger. Fantastic stuff, honestly.
While it may be a slow one, Rhyperior also learns the ice move avalanche, which does double damage if it’s used after the Pokémon has already taken damage. This means if Rhyperior can withstand an earthquake, then it’s
