• "Pokémon Diamond Version," along with "Pokémon Pearl Version," brings the long-running Pokémon series to the Nintendo DS. Aside from obvious graphical advantages over its Game Boy and Game Boy Advance predecessors, "Diamond" features more than 100 new Pokémon to capture. This brings the grand total to 493, and you'll need a lot of dedication to complete the game and catch them all.
  
  

Starter Pokémon

• "Pokémon Diamond Version" asks you to choose from three starter Pokémon at the beginning of the game. As in all previous Pokémon games, your choices are a fire-type (Chimchar), water-type (Piplup) and grass-type (Turtwig). Chimchar will end up evolving into one of the few powerful fire-type Pokémon in the game, while Piplup's final form has one of the highest defense stats in the game. Turtwig and Piplup both fare well against the first gym leader's rock-type Pokémon, but won't do so well against the second gym leader's grass-type. Any choice is fine, but once you choose one, you won't be able to get the other two without trading.
  
  

Trading Online

• "Pokémon Diamond Version" lets you trade and battle with your friends over any Wi-Fi connection from the bottom floor of a Pokémon Center. Furthermore, the Global Trade Center in Jubilife City lets you trade anonymously with anyone worldwide. You simply make a request and an offer and then wait for a response. You can set very specific options to narrow down what type of Pokémon you want, including species, gender, level and nature. It's often hard to find a reasonable trade at the Global Trade Center, though, so you might consider going to a Pokémon forum, such as the one on FriendCodes.com, where you can exchange Nintendo friend codes and make specific trades. Use this feature to acquire Pokémon from other regions, such as Johto and Kanto, by trading with owners of "Pokémon HeartGold Version" or "Pokémon SoulSilver Version."
  
  

Pal Park

• The Pal Park lets you import Pokémon from the third generation (Game Boy Advance) Pokémon games. You'll need to have a Game Boy Advance slot on your Nintendo DS, which rules out the Nintendo DSi for this feature. Simply plug your copy of a third generation Pokémon game, such as "Pokémon Emerald Version," into the Nintendo DS and then play your "Pokémon Diamond Version" game up until the point where you've received the National Pokédex. You'll find the Pal Park off Route 221. After entering, you'll select six Pokémon from your inserted third-generation Pokémon game. These Pokémon will be imported to the Pal Park, and you'll have to roam around the park and capture them. It's similar in concept to the Safari Zone, except you'll use a Park Ball with a 100-percent capture rate.