Once you go to Lake Verity you will see a girl (or boy, depending on which gender you chose) and an old man standing and talking at the shore. They will thereafter exit, politely asking you to move aside so they may do so. Your rival notices that they left behind a bag of some kind. He says there's no harm in going into the grass for a second to see what's in the bag. That turns out to be wrong, as you are attacked by a Starly, at level 2.
Lake Verity
Starter Pokémon Choices
Watch the cutscene, and you'll be forced onto the tall grass, and into a battle. THIS IS WHERE YOU CHOOSE YOUR STARTER
#387 Turtwig
#390 Chimchar
Turtwig Turtwig is an effective all-around balanced Pokémon, knowing Withdraw right from the start, and learns Absorb and Razor Leaf at Levels 9 and 13. Coupled with the Overgrow ability, which allows it's Grass attacks to increase in power by 1.5 when HP is low, makes an effective early fighter, and it evolves into Grotle at Level 18 and Torterra at Level 32, the latter of which will be Grass/Ground type, and will be effective in Gyms 1, 4, 5, and 8. Turtwig has 5 weaknesses, which are fire, ice, poison, flying and bug, after it evolves into Torterra it's weakness to poison is eliminated. Beware of Ice types, however, as Torterra has a quadruple weakness to them. Stone Edge and Earthquake are good for knocking out Fire types. The former can also be used against Ice, Flying, and Bug types, and the latter for Poison types. He can also learn Crunch, Energy Ball, Outrage, Superpower, and Iron Tail. Turtwig is perfect for players who are interested in teambuilding and competitive multiplayer battles.
Chimchar Chimchar focuses on attack, and can learn Leer, Taunt, Facade, and Calm Mind as well as a variety of other physical and Fire attacks. His Attack and Speed are unparalleled, and he can learn extremely powerful attacks. The ability Blaze allows his Fire attacks to deal 1.5x damage at low HP, but it's real claim to fame is it's early evolution - evolving at Level 14 to Monferno (though it only evolves to Infernape at Level 36). These latter two forms are also Fighting type, much like the previous generation's Fire-starter's evolution chain, with other attacks learnable like Feint, In Fight, and Punish. This makes him useful in Gyms 1 (once evolved), 2, 5, 6, and 7. Also, keep in mind that besides Ponyta/Rapidash, he is the ONLY Fire-type that you will be able to obtain in the game until you have seen all 150 Sinnoh Pokémon (Unless you're playing Platinum), and Fire-types are very much needed in the regular game of Diamond/Pearl. Its main weaknesses after evolving are Water, Ground, and Flying and they can be countered with Solar Beam, Grass Knot, Stone Edge. Beware of Psychic types, however, as Infernape has almost nothing to counter them. He doesn't have much in terms of defense, but he can learn other great moves such as Close Combat, Earthquake, Flamethrower, Focus Blast, Gunk Shot, and Iron Tail. He shouldn't be the centerpiece of your team, but experts can learn to use him effectively as a situational technician. If you are a speedrunner, and are trying to beat the game as quickly as possible, Chimchar is the Pokemon for you.
#393 Piplup
Piplup Piplup is basically the "advanced player's Pokémon" of the Diamond/Pearl generation, with a very poor early attack range ranging from Bubble to Bide - not exactly the greatest variety. It has the ability Torrent, which powers up its Water-type moves in low health. However, once he evolves to
Prinplup at level 16, things look up a bit, with attacks such as Metal Claw and Bubblebeam, and Empoleon (whom is evolved to at Level 36) has a second type of Steel, and can learn good attacks such as Aqua Jet, Mist, and Drill Peck. Thus, this Pokémon is generally not very useful in gyms, likely only being effective
in Gyms 1, 5, 6, and 7. In all three evolution stages, Piplup has a versatile, albeit not very powerful movepool, and his relatively poor Attack stat doesn't help, but as an Empoleon, it has 11 different resistances, including a complete immunity to poison. Its mere 3 weaknesses (Electric, Ground, and Fighting) can easily be countered, as Empoleon can learn Earthquake, Surf/Hydro Pump, and Drill Peck, respectively. He can also learn Ice Beam, Brick Break, Flash Cannon, and a whole slew of other moves. If you are a casual gamer, and you just want the main storyline of the game to be as easy as possible, then Piplup is the choice for you.
Choose whichever one you feel is the best or your favorite, as they will all help you in your journey. You should easily defeat the Starly with your new-found Pokémon.
The Battle
Your first battle
Keep slamming it with attacks until it's killed. Each of the starters start with a damaging move (Scratch, Tackle or Pound) and a stat reducing move (Growl or Leer).
Starly should be defeated fairly easily.
After the Battle
After you defeat the Starly (and gain some Exp. Points) the young person you saw earlier will come back to fetch the briefcase, and sees that you took a Pokémon each. (S)he says something about it being "bad" and rushes off. You will exit the lake front and walk up to the girl (Dawn) or boy (Lucas) and the old man (Prof. Rowan). Some dialogue will go back and forth, ending with an invitation back to Prof. Rowan's lab if you have the chance. You'll get that chance very soon, but for now head back home to your mother and get healed.
