The Unsung Heroes Of Pokemon Diamond And Pearl

The DS era of Pokemon brought a lot to the series, with Gen 4 giving a lot to the games and being extremely fondly remembered. The sheer volume of polished features and ways to play Pokemon during this generation are always going to make them some of my favorites.
Today I want to appreciate one of those features that I think deserves a lot of love for what it gives to the series in the Stat Trainers. These are a group of 5 NPCs that will team up with the player for double battles at various points in the story, from dungeons all the way up to the battle frontier, and they each represent a battle stat. But there's a lot more under the surface here, so let's dive in to the Unsung Heroes Of Gen 4 Pokemon!
don't worry folks I'm still doing gen 3 pokemon stuff just come up with other things now and then
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Gameplay comes from Pokemon Diamond, Pokemon Pearl, Pokemon Platinum, Pokemon Heartgold, and Pokemon Soulsilver #pokemon #pokemonscarletandviolet #pokemonemerald

[@droomish1]

Barry has been BANNED from the battleground on account of his midness

[@jmcbango]

And so hes forced to stand outside the front door every sunday hoping that you'll be kind enough give him a battle

[@gallae]

based

[@Treeckoboi1]

R/S/E Wally has been BANNED from the battleground on account of his midness as well.

[@maxor2277]

I am all aboard the Barry hate train. Also, Riley is so awesome he basically had a whole movie about him and his main partner (the Lucario movie)

[@chipsdonut1]

Dayum even when he has a team full of level 80s if u beat the elite four 20 times?

[@twilighttoast01]

Add this to the “list of cool mechanics that Gamefreak introduce for a generation only to never reuse again”. I loved the sense of camaraderie that came with this team-up feature. It really made DPP feel so much more alive to me personally

[@Hakbestdoggo]

Your teammate's pokemon kinda suck but nonetheless a cool mechanic

[@kayramah2531]

This mechanic also existed in BW2

[@Dukstless]

DexNav.

[@neotrio2885]

Bianca in Bw2 had a moment like this

[@zjzr08]

IMO they could've implemented this perfectly in XY where you can optionally choose to go with your friends in certain areas of the game to do different missions and even battles.

[@Kreceir]

I love Cheryl, but I'll never forgive her for knocking out the full odds shiny Buneary in my Platinum game.

[@CaptainFalcon73]

I know the feeling. Buck knocked out a shiny Magcargo in Platinum when I was a kid ):

[@yourehereforthatarentyou]

what if she started throwing pokeballs lmao

[@enemystand2981]

Double odds ;)

[@5p8nkm3]

Egg bomb go BRRRRRRR. Until you need it to hit that is 😅

[@BlazingAzureTheta]

​@@CaptainFalcon73Fuck Buck. He knocked out a shiny onix.

[@chrisschoenthaler5184]

They’re each the main character of their own adventure. And they each just happened to run across a kid who was passing through the same area as them, and who was interested in teaming up for a bit. It’s best to treat them with respect. After all, you are to them what they are to you.

[@grizzlybear6377]

Persona

[@orenalbertmeisel3127]

I loved how they would heal your pokemon after every battle. Very convenient. Great for exp farming

[@droomish1]

I COULD take Cheryl straight to the exit... or we could fight 500 hoothoots in the first patch of grass 🤔🤔🤔

[@Cuprite1024]

I like the idea of someone making a fangame revolving around these 5 and their own journeys. That could genuinely be cool.

[@covereye5731]

Dragon Quest 4 style would be refreshing for a pokemon game. Each getting their separate campaign first, which causing them all to join together for the final chapter.

[@Cuprite1024]

@@covereye5731 Yeah, that'd probably work really well.

[@jazzercise300]

This is probably the best rom hack idea I've heard in a minute. Going through sinnoh 2 years after platnium. Not sure what the conflict would be. Neo team galactic is kinda dumb, idk it's pretty open ended.

[@DrTeeth-ss1ek]

This feature was cool until I failed a shiny Graveler on Iron Island

[@droomish1]

Friendship with Riley OVER

[@TFSthegreat]

Riley, at least, was a Gym Leader in the DP beta. (He then says in Platinum that he was offered to become a Gym Leader but turned it down, which in retrospect is a cool nod). It's possible that the others are also repurposed designs meant to be something else earlier in development. It's also rly dumb that BDSP removed teaming up with these guys (or other players) in the Battle Tower, despite leaving in filler NPCs who still talk about Battle Tower Multis lol

[@droomish1]

that is super sick about riley. I had no idea! And yeah that's a huge "faithful remake" moment

[@theschnozzler]

​@@droomish1they're only faithful to the originals if they make the remakes worse (like breakable tms)

[@jaernihiltheus7817]

Cheryl definitely feels like a beta gardenia in design alone. She has the whole "forest maiden, grass type specialist" vibe going if it weren't for her non-grass team.

[@thevenom2731]

​@@theschnozzlerbut you can get multiples of each tms unlike the originals.

[@robinnVA]

my thoughts can be summed up as "Riley and Marley were so cool" and "Bring Riley and Marley back please"

[@superkillerrobo]

In the source code for Diamond & Pearl, they are referred to as the "btfive", which most likely means the Battle Tower Five, which I think is a better name than "stat trainers"

[@boney2982]

Battle Tower Five has similar vibes to The Elite Four and im all for it

[@gluestick5759]

The older games really do seem like they have just that little bit more of storytelling and world building that just sucks you in. The concept of “other protagonists “is something I’d love to see explored again in a newer entry but somehow, I doubt they’ll bring it back at least to the extent they explored it in Gen 4

[@droomish1]

I think it's an element of why N is SO good! A little extra time spent with a guy can tell an incredible story. I like multiple rivals but it's still not this

[@GarrettStelly]

I will never forget, grinding through the forest with Cheryl and catching not one but two shinies with her help eliminating the need to run back to a Pokémon center every five minutes

[@clairebit]

Worth noting that, in the sword and shield era of the tcg, both Cheryl and Riley got cards. They’re not entirely forgotten!

[@megaspacewaffles]

I mean, Cheryl and Marnie are in Pokémon masters

[@rotciv557]

Also, Cheryl, Marnie, Mira and Buck all have ancestors in Legends Arceus so...

[@octolockg5059]

​@@rotciv557Who are Cheryl and Mira's ancestors?

[@rotciv557]

@@octolockg5059 Sabi and Pesselle, respectively

[@octolockg5059]

@@rotciv557 Genuinely thought that she was just a Nurse Joy.

[@JudgeTyBurns]

I like to call them “The Grain Squad.”

[@ivanbluecool]

Honestly they could make some great elite 4 replacements. Heck I like them more than some elite four groups as they are way more fleshed out Plus that would be such a twist if you traveled around with up and coming trainers that make their way to the top.

[@didack1419]

I think it would be cool to replace the Elite 4 with an actual tournament with characters you've met, gym leaders and some other randoms. I wouldn't like it if exactly the 4 characters that you met in the same type of situation would end up being the 4 Elite 4 replacements, too unnatural.

[@ivanbluecool]

@@didack1419 I could see it work. I mean Cynthia just travels around making us do things herself. These 4/5 people have such great designs personalities and characters that the og elite four don't do anything

[@didack1419]

@@ivanbluecool I think it would be cool to have actual tournaments in the league, but I would like it if it was more organic instead of just fighting the four randoms that you happen to met and be accompanied by in your adventure. Maybe you fight a couple of them and a couple of gym leaders that are participating, or a couple of new characters. At random, like an actual tournament. You can also meet them just before the tournament for story purposes even if you don't fight them

[@ivanbluecool]

@@didack1419 that's just black 2 and white 2 world tournament. I want a good elite four that has personality as your entry point. Heck they can have a first elite four them the second one of your rivals or strong trainers to make you really need to plan how to battle. Or a trainer of the day before the elite four like your rival in silver

[@didack1419]

@@ivanbluecool It would be cool for the league though. It would feel like an actual tournament.

[@bathestyles6525]

It’s very likely that all of them are also on the gym challenge, but I like the idea that they’re just trainers with their own paths outside of becoming champion. It supports the possibility that there’s a bunch of different paths you can go down as a person in the Pokémon world, and that the gym challenge is just the one you chose. I doubt they’d do it, but I’d love if Pokémon ever came out with a super open-ended game where you have options outside of gyms and the elite four.

[@victoraponte-jh5ke]

Finally, SOMEONE else talks about how cool these characters are. Your initial time with them was brief, but they left a lasting impression on me throughout the game. This is something they NEED to do again.

[@ArchonZach]

I remember not finding Mira until the post and just ruining everyone's day in that cave lol

[@grizzlybear6377]

Same. That little section of the game is so hidden and obscure that it's easy as heck to miss

[@CustodialDaniel]

Double the encounters and I get healed between every battle? Fuck yeah

[@boney2982]

I sure hope Cheryl is ready to spend the next 4 hours in this forest so i can evolve my team

[@ivanbluecool]

Wish they were in more story or main game parts. They would be cool to see as x and y tried this but those rivals suck Diamond and pearl gave them such great designs and personalities. The anime added to that more and made them feel like friends you just met up with

[@droomish1]

it was like throwing in anime characters!!! the episodes were a lot of fun too

[@ivanbluecool]

@@droomish1 yeah they felt like full on travel partners that just leave as they got their own stuff to do. Wish pokemon had this more often as companions are cool

[@shogundy1]

Much like Marley, I too seek a shaymin so that I can express gratitude beyond words for these videos. Great job

[@mercybit]

DPPt and BW were full of these characters that felt ominously important but their truer purpose was taken away/scrapped last minute by GameFreak. Walking into that room in N's castle with his two caregivers?? It's like this "whoa" moment.

[@JKaelynVictoria]

companionship in video games is an objective good bc it adds so much to the storytelling and worldbuilding and it's crazy that a game like pokemon (famously a game where you always have monster companions) only expanded the concept for one generation

[@hhhazel]

your videos are some of my favorite pokemon videos on the site rn. really appreciate your approach to the series.

[@dvthemaster]

hazel ur the goat btw

[@ravenswood2211]

❤ your content

[@mayflower2765]

Holy shit it's hazel?

[@Megafish117]

Was revisiting Gen 5 lately and recalled that as a kid I didn't like N all that much because I felt he'd upstage you sometimes, but in retrospect it adds such a nice element that's usually more absent in Pokemon games. I like what you said about these trainers existing as other protagonists because I think it might have paved the way for especially BW2's story not just being all about you, at least until you get to a point in the game where you've proven yourself a bit more. Great video either way!

[@chdreturns]

N was awesome... Him & Silver are my favorite Pokemon Rivals.

[@AWarlockOfUnimaginablePower]

I like to think a Pokemon Colosseum/XD style game (aka every battle being a double battle) with the mechanics of mainline games (Aka wild pokemon encounters, gyms/league, the normal region stuff that Orre lacks) would be insane. In Colosseum, you always have a partner character named Rui following you around but she's purely for mechanics and doesn't actually battle with you- A similar game but with partners that not only stay with you the entire game but battle and grow alongside you would be so fun! You'd probably have to change how you go about battles with each one being a 2v2-

[@BaronSengir1008]

As long as they don't knock out that shiny you're trying to catch!

[@GalaxyStandard77]

Good lord Gamefreak really packed Gen 2-5 with so much content.

[@moviecrush8624]

I always loved Cheryl cuz she had a Chansey and would heal you up after every battle which really cut down on running to the pokecenter early on. I know the others do that too but early game healing just felt more valuable. She’s like a Nurse Joy that went rogue

[@lavenderlele]

this made me emotional... reuniting again and again with distant friends on their own journeys.. oh, to get a glimpse of how SURROUNDED BY BEAUTY WE ARE!!

[@Victini0510]

I love your passion and deep appreciation for these games. Reminds me why these games are so good.

[@droomish1]

and I love sharing it! there's always more fun to be had in a new playthrough 😄

[@TheErector]

It's like the recent Pokeblock deep dive videos that another channel put out. There so much to talk about regarding the old games that gives us players newfound appreciation for the games we only merely cherished, in hindsight.

[@wherewiiwentwrong]

And then BDSP cut out Multi Battles and made them rare 21 win streak "final bosses" for a tag team appearance that most will never see.

[@clogdawg9434]

It’s characters like these that make Pokémon such a great game. I grew up on Pokémon Emerald. Hundreds of hours until my battery went dry :( My next adventure was Pokémon Platinum. And boy do I enjoy this… Really enjoy the vids. Keep it up :)

[@Ashinle]

I love how descriptive and informing this video is

[@shepskydad]

I would love a game that is focused on the story lines of these characters. Imagine playing as them and seeing their stories unfold first hand, while also intertwining those stories with the protagonist of Gen 4.

[@downbeatdialga1341]

When Mai was first revealed in a trailer for Pokémon Legends Arceus, I fully expected her to have a Hisuian Growlithe as her partner instead of Munchlax, since Marley is her descendent with Arcanine.

[@RandyDanger]

Just found this channel a few days ago and I'm glad I did! These games were my childhood and learning more about them is rad as hell.

[@NinjasticFlare]

I absolutely love these trainers. I completely forgot about Marley on my most recent playthrough of Platinum, so when I found her while going to the Shaymin event, I thought it was particularly special.

[@FlareBlitzBanana]

I remember encountering Mira in wayward cave LONG after beating Cynrhia. I felt really bad she'd been in there waiting for me all this time.

[@avitraangelica9278]

I like this view on these trainers. They're people like the player, on journeys like yours, doing the same things you do. In some ways, they're the part of the world which is missing from the games the most often!

[@armorbearer9702]

These other heroes were definitely a strong point in the game. As someone who played Colosseum and XD, having someone to travel with was a welcome surprise.

[@themasterblaze7563]

The Stat trainers were a really cool concept. Sucks other gens didn't have their own version of the gimmick.

[@savebatsfromscratch]

I don't know what it is about this video, but it REALLY makes me feel something-

[@pikmin213]

These are my favorite trainers in all of Pokemon. meeting up with them and fighting with them in the battle tower felt so personal growing up. like "man these cool trainers are here again hell yeah I wanna fight with them"

[@roo5351]

Fun story: found a shiny geodude while trying to find Mira but it self-destructed

[@chan.username]

It’s kinda funny how this comes out the same day BlueBoyPhin makes a video about leveling up & evolving steven stones metang during the emerald double battle

[@droomish1]

dang that sounds awesome! This steven guy seems pretty strong though, maybe he's important?

[@joelsavoie8641]

​@droomish1 apparently his brother's a nosepass, so from that alone its safe to say he's a pretty important guy

[@Goblinthing]

I wonder if Marley is from the unova region considering how she looks like the gothita line

[@SethJV]

Back when Pokémon games were made with love in mind, not money.

[@sweettea5166]

Anything after gen 7 is an unfinished mobile game with nothing more than the intent to be a cash grab. Lazy writing, little to no actual gameplay and exploration, a complete barren wasteland to “explore” and don’t get me started on the graphical interface. Looks like piss

[@christiancinnabars1402]

I remember so many people saying that about Gens 1 and 2 around the time Gen 5 was first released in the West. Things change, but the Pokemon games and their fans don’t ever seem to.

[@torterra1826]

Raid GameFreak

[@torterra1826]

​@@sweettea5166Then Raid GameFreak

[@thevenom2731]

​@@sweettea5166"lazy writing, little to no actual gameplay". Are you high on drugs?

[@Jcampoverde27]

The #StatTrainers need to be brought back as a concept in next iterations of pokemon... and their designs and teams are SICK

[@Orion_Is_Sleepy]

Fun fact, the check for whether you can walk into the tall grass in route 201 at the beginning of the game is literally just "does player have a companion with them?" I found this out by sheer coincidence at age 10, using an Action Replay and leaving with Marley and heading back to 201. Don't turn the cheats off while in the grass and save in this state, it'll result in your game being hardlocked.

[@AchromaZero]

This was sentimental and comfy

[@tristantinethegreat]

Beautifully put. These trainers are why I plan to put some tag battle areas in my fangame.

[@NostalJackMusic]

2:16 that is one of the greatest, most subtle bits I’ve ever seen in a KZbin video 😂

[@themangotango95]

really interesting video breloom! I never went to the battle frontier or the locked house when I played all these years ago. I never knew these characters had more stories to tell!

[@stev1c1]

One of many reasons I think that gen 4 was peak pokemon, the older gen games had so much "heart" in them, so many fun subtle worldbuilding details

[@Kipa12312]

Cheryl and Marley were always my faves

[@DJRaptor1614]

Marley has always been my favorite out of all the stat trainers

[@bb-yv7jr]

Just another reason why platinum is the greatest game

[@SkittzelzStudios]

I had no idea that the post games for Diamond/Pearl/Platinum had so much content. I didn’t even know you could get Giratina in Diamond/Pearl, that’s crazy. I haven’t even met a good bit of the stat trainers yet 😭

[@michael-fw3vz]

Out of all of them, Mira kind of stood out to me just because of how hard she is to naturally run across relative to the others. I played Platinum a TON as a kid and didn't know she existed for the longest time. You've gotta make it to the end of Wayward Cave and then backtrack with her, where most of the others meet you at the entrance to a dungeon. I appreciate how much effort was put into something a large portion of casual players likely glossed over entirely. I also really like how they brought back likenesses of some of these characters in Legends Arceus. Mai is reminiscent of Marley, the Nurse in the hospital wing of the Galaxy HQ looks a lot like Mira, etc.

[@EchoDrifter]

I loved discovering them as a kid! They fed into my childhood dream of playing through the story with friends. A real pokemon journey like in the anime.

[@12dessert]

Every video I watch of yours, I like it more than the last.

[@smashdoesbadart8013]

My most prominent Lucario's are named Rilee and Rykyr, both named after Riley. Hes just so cool.

[@alexthoman96]

Am I the only one that didn't know Buck and Flint are brothers?

[@bobrossopinions]

That was news to me. I thought he was just some hotheaded teenager.

[@superkonijn988]

I really like these trainers, i kind of wish they would expand on this idea and have you travel around with a (AI) partner. that would be really cool. Ofcourse if they do smnt like that, giving the player some control over the AI should be a thing like how they handle it in PMD.

[@ronnocneerb9014]

I feel like these are the kinds of characters that Ash would encounter in his journey through a region and then they would all make an appearance as challengers in the Pokémon League. Too bad the anime didn’t actually do that with them.

[@Armund_Wolffe]

to this day I still nickname my lucarios Riley 💙

[@leandrolopes5888]

The battles with them in the Battleground in Platinum are great, very interesting teams, with impressive powerful mons, and their levels are the same as the gym leaders! Plus their personalities are very unique!!

[@ThePikachunianRebel]

This reminds me of how in ΩR I tag teamed with May to take on Team Magma Admins Courtney and Tabitha. I know that's probably standard, but having one of the few rivals that choose a super effective starter was a thrill ride. In the final story battle, May even seemed 1 step ahead of me with her AI and Mega Blaziken.

[@galenmarek4117]

I really, really miss this feature of Pokemon. I hope there's another game where you can have a traveling companion with you like for these moments in DPPt or even like in Pokemon XD where they don't even have to be a trainer. Just having someone who can come along would be a nice feature. If the anime so heavily emphasizes having traveling companions, why can't we?

[@grayt4951]

I had the same feeling battling Red for the first time. Or seeing Blue became a Gym Leader. It was this moment of, oh wow, I'm not the only one out there.

[@whisperinwind87]

I remember thinking that I met the champion or upcoming gym leader when I met Cheryl...

[@Apotheosister]

Seeing the player named "DREW" screwed me up for a second. That was the name I used for Diamond as a kid.

[@KittyLitterYT]

These characters remind me, bizarrely, of hollow knight. It's an extremely specific feeling of meeting people who are on their own journeys. It also reminds me of that saying from sinnoh, "When one life meets another, something will be born"

[@AuraOfANobody]

It says something about what a mark these characters made on the games and the players that I immediately recognized Rye and his Lucario in Legends Arceus as being analogues (and likely ancestors) of Riley and his Lucario in DPPt, and how rather than attributing the game referring to his Lucario as a wild one to a bug or oversight (which, realistically, it probably was, simply because there's no trainer data for Rye and the game defaulted it to being wild as a result), I've instead chosen to interpret it as a nod to Sir Aaron and his Lucario from M08, and how they were partners before Poké Balls were invented, so you could make the argument that his Lucario was wild, too. The stat trainers were something special. I loved battling them and teaming with them as a kid. I was never into high level play at the time, I was certainly never good at battle facilities, but I still liked doing multi battles simply because I got a chance to hang out with them again. They did something right with them.

[@s0lsticefr4]

They're really cool because most of them are not required for the main story, this makes finding them feel like a reward for exploring, also they heal your pokemon after every battle which is even more satisfying. I like how they add more double battle as well, I find it annoying how there are so few of them in most games apart from like Emerald, especially since in that game most of them could be either 2 1v1 or 1 2v2 since you had trainers facing each other but you could talk to them individually. If I can nitpick a bit about those 5 trainers though, them only having one pokemon is sometime a disadvantage because you are in a 1v2 after their pokemon is out. Also, Cheryl has the worst pokemon despite being the most common of the 5, seriously that Chansey just doesn't do any damage nor has helpful moves.

[@MokyCho]

Always thought these guys were so cool have vivid childhood memories of thinking that guy from the Lucario movie was Riley and having a crush on Marley lmao

[@patricklynch4074]

these are some of my favorite pokemon characters

[@Bob-fj7lr]

This is so cool

[@dasutanehineri]

when i first played diamond when i was really little, i was always strangely intranced with riley. he was the only one of the optional companions that i ever came across, and then he just disappeared after his section and subconsciously i always wondered if he ever actuallg existed lol

[@BeIlG]

I really love your short form but my heart is always in long form! You do such an amazing job in both!

[@CrocodileRay]

I think Barry should’ve been voiced by Weird Al. He has a similar vocal pattern.

[@WebbedManiac]

My two favourites out of these five are Riley and Mira. Riley due to obvious reasons. And Mira because I actually felt like I was helping someone by doing something other than beating up some thugs or running a fetch quest. Mira was just a girl lost in a cave who needed help finding the exit. Felt like I was doing something unique for a change.

[@dahuntre]

This came back in a way in BW2, though they’re both mandatory and both with known story characters, your rival and Bianca. Maybe there are more, not some replaying it rn. Even when it isn’t the passing ship with strangers, it’s cool when it happens

[@claymathewselevator8121]

They all show up in anime too

[@GarrettStelly]

This video is just proof that every aspect of Pokémon peaked between gens 3, 4, and 5

[@derfret1365]

I always loved these Trainers, but i really wish Cheryl had anything other than Chansey with Egg Bomb in the first encounter

[@urboi4125]

I used these trainers to shiny hunt. You encounter 2 Pokémon at a time so it goes by much faster.

[@yourehereforthatarentyou]

approximately twice as fast even

[@thetronwarriors4817]

Does the chances of encountering a shiny increase while your teaming up with the characters or something?

[@son_of_the_heavymetal1142]

They're cool. Riley got a whole movie ffs. Marley does have some anime episodes too

[@donlyphans7801]

Good stuff

[@bobrossopinions]

Hey bro, what was the song you used for your outro? It was a nice listen!

[@lightworkerwayne]

Riley was my fav. Good memories

[@ShadowXeldron]

Where did Mira get all those legendaries?

[@DeonTheDragon]

Isn't Riley a reference to that one hero character from the movie Lucario and the mystery of Mew?

[@gideonantonissen6275]

I did like the stat trainers based on design and teams they use however it would be nice if there was an 6th trainer that focuses on 1 of the 2 defense stats that Buck is using so that also Buck is an master of one stat like the others

[@capreo]

2:16 how do I vote for this bit to win a daytime emmy

[@lipika2841]

Riley has the clear edge over others in his group cuz of the Lucario movie. His design would make u think he's more important in the story than he actually is. They should someday put emphasis on Aura & guardians through the main story point or sidequests at large, as his quest w stopping Team Dweeb is mostly dull. On the flipside cuz of that, he's a helpful grinding spot in 1 of my many Sinnoh playthroughs.

[@maramba32]

I miss having a player home in platinum

[@ALE98TROLL]

Let's go Nice video

[@skeveharvey]

belly laugh at 7:45 ty King sub'd :)

[@Haunter_1616]

Not sure how in depth you could go into this topic or if it'd be worth doing a video about but something that always kinda confused me was how do the champions of each region work? Supposedly if you beat the elite four and defeat the champion, you yourself become the champion, this is shown from Gary/blue becoming the champion at the end of gen 1 but for the games that have post game content, the main protagonist you play as doesn't become the champion, at least not that we know of. So is it a choice? do you get to choose to become the next champion if you beat the former, or is there some special case being made for each game's main protag? From a gameplay perspective i understand why they didn't make it work this way, otherwise your character would just be stuck sitting there waiting for the next hotshot to come along and dethrone you. But how does it work within the game's story?