Best team composition for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remain some of the most beloved games of the entire franchise, despite being significantly old at this point. These games, set in the Sinnoh region, were first released for the Nintendo DS in the mid-2000s. With the DS being the best-selling handheld console of all time, most gamers have great memories of traveling through the region, with this duo being among the first games they ever played.

These games were later remade as Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and made available on the Nintendo Switch. Since this game tried to be as faithful to the originals as possible, a lot of the encounters seen in the originals are present in the remakes as well.

That said, knowing the best team composition to tackle Pokemon Diamond and Pearl might be important if you want to beat these games all over again. As such, this guide can be applied to both the originals and the remakes.

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Best team for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl

Infernape

Although all of Sinnoh's starters are loved by players across the globe, the unfortunate truth is that Infernape reigns supreme in the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl renditions and the remakes due to Sinnoh's poor distribution of Fire-types. With so many important battles being weak to the element, picking Infernape is your best bet.

Here are the moves you should teach your Infernape as you progress through the Sinnoh region:

Stone Edge
Close Combat
Mach Punch
Flamethrower

Flamethrower: Flamethrower should be the easiest of the TM moves to obtain for Infernape. Though Flamethrower can be learned in the remakes through the move reminder, those playing the original will need to go through the Fuego Ironworks to obtain the TM.

Stone Edge: The TM for Stone Edge can be found at Victory Road before the Pokemon League. However, if you want this move earlier, you can get it by transferring the TM to the Nintendo DS from Pokemon Battle Revolution, a spin-off battling simulator for the Wii.

Mach Punch & Close Combat: Both of these moves are learned after leveling up in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, with Monferno learning the move upon evolution. You can then learn Close Combat when evolving again or at level 41 in the original games.

Drifblim

Although many Sinnoh fans believe Staraptor is the best Flying-type in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, the pick tends to fall off in the late game thanks to its heavy use of recoil moves and the end-game being filled with Ice, Electric, and Rock-type Pokemon. As such, Drifblim is a much safer and more consistent flyer for players going through Sinnoh.

Here are the moves you should use for Drifblim in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl:

Shadow Ball
Fly
Thunderbolt
Toxic

Shadow Ball: This attack will be Drifblim's largest contributor to its damage output. It is learned naturally at level 44, but the Shadow Ball TM can also be used.

Fly: Fly is an HM obtained through story progression and allows you to fast travel between Pokemon Centers you have been to before. It can be found at the Galactic Warehouse and used after you defeat the Veilstone City gym leader.

Thunderbolt: A decent coverage option for Drifblim to have when going against Water or other Flying-types. It can be obtained by surfing to the small platform behind the Valley Windworks.

Toxic: Toxic is a great move to have when going against strong or bulky opponents. With Toxic in play, it is only a matter of time before you emerge victorious. This TM can be found on Route 212.

Drifblim evolves from Drifloon, which can only be found via a static encounter outside the Valley Windworks every Friday.

Drapion

While most players would prefer Roserade, Drapion is a much better Poison-type thanks to its high defenses, great movepool centered around dealing critical damage, and its secondary Dark typing granting it immunity to Psychic damage (one of Roserade's biggest counters). It can be obtained by evolving Skorupi, which is found at the Great Marsh safari zone in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

Here are the moves you should use for Drapion:

Cross Poison
Night Slash
Ice Fang
Accupressure or Bug Bite

Cross Poison & Night Slash: Drapion can learn both of these moves by leveling up in the remakes, but getting Night Slash in the originals will take some work. To get it, you have to breed a Skorupi with a Kricketune with the attack from Pokemon Platinum since this is the only Sinnoh game in the generation where Kricketune gets the move. This move sports an increased crit chance, which can boost its damage exponentially with the Sniper ability.

Ice Fang: This move can be obtained in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl via the Move Relearner at Pastoria City in exchange for a Heart Scale, which can be found around Sinnoh or in the Underground.

Accupressure & Bug Bite: Drapion learns both of these moves by leveling up, with both offering their own strengths and weaknesses. Accupressure is a free double-stat boost, but the stat it increases is random. Bug Bite is weak, but it can be used to steal held berries from opponents to get their effects.

Garchomp

Garchomp is a staple of many players' teams in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Being the Pseudo-Legendary of the region, this monster holds one of the highest base stat totals in the game. Its base form, Gible, can be caught relatively early as it is found in a secret passage to Wayward Cave under the bicycle road. However, it is blocked by boulders that require the HM Strength in the remakes.

Here are the moves Garchomp should have in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl:

Fire Fang
Earthquake
Dragon Claw
Crunch

Dragon Claw & Crunch: These attacks are learned naturally by leveling up. Dragon Claw is learned at level 33, and Crunch is learned at level 48.

Earthquake: Earthquake can be learned via a TM. It can be found at the end of the Wayward Cave section where Gible can be found.

Fire Fang: Fire Fang can be learned via the Move Relearner in Pastoria City in exchange for a Heart Scale.

Gyarados

Gyarados is one of the best Water-types you can get very early in any Pokemon Diamond and Pearl playthrough, as the Old Rod can be found by talking with the fisherman just west of Jubilife City. This generation finally let Gyarados unleash its true power with Water-type physical moves, allowing it to take advantage of its high attack stat.

Here are the moves Gyarados should have:

Waterfall
Surf
Ice Fang
Dragon Dance

Waterfall & Surf: These moves are HMs you receive through story progression. Surf is obtained from Cynthia's grandmother after defeating the Team Galactic Grunt. Waterfall is obtained by talking to Jasmine on the beach north of Sunyshore City after defeating Volkner.

Dragon Dance & Ice Fang: These moves are learned naturally by leveling up. Ice Fang is great for coverage and inflicting status, while Dragon Dance allows Gyarados to boost its attack and speed. Ice Fang is learned at level 32, and Dragon Dance is learned at level 44.

Bibarel

No Pokemon Diamond and Pearl playthrough would be complete without the lovable HM slave, Bibarel. This creature can be found almost everywhere across Sinnoh and learns almost every HM in the game, making it perfect for those who do not want to clutter their entire team's movesets with undeletable HMs.

Bibarel works best with the following HMs:

Rock Smash
Strength
Rock Climb
Cut

These HMs are found naturally throughout Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, so you can fill Bibarel's moveset as you go along your journey. Since HMs are much less intrusive in the remakes, you can opt to take Snorlax instead, who is much more common thanks to Munchlax being a common spawn in the Grand Underground.

Check out the best team compositions for other Pokemon games:

Edited by Siddharth Satish