Starting Pokes

[Symphony X]

Hello. I'm a long running fan of Pokemon, but a poor one. I just recently picked up a DS (after my first was stolen a year ago) and bought Diamond. -Yay Job-

Anyway, I picked Piplup as my starter, but then noticed that D/P seems to completely lack in fire types. None at all until the national dex, save for Ponyta, unless I've researched wrong.

Did I pick wrong? *Complete PKMN n00b in terms of EV's, nature, such.*

 

[orintemple]

Well there is Ponyta as you said, but the only real fire type I have seen besides that is Chimchar(who is a starter) until after you beat the game. It is kind of dumb the insane lack of fire, I agree.

It seems like all the Pokemon games besides Red/Blue lack electric Pokemon too, like there is one in each that is easy to get.

Don't worry about your choice though, Piplup is good stuff. He's no MUDKIPZ!! but he is good.

 

[Spire]

If you are aware of the "Dongle" method, you can capture Pokemon otherwise unavailable to just Diamond and Pearl. The Dongle method is merely inserting either: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, or LeafGreen into the GBA slot while you play Diamond/Pearl (insert it before turning the DS on of course). Each version sports a number of Pokemon that you can catch, but only after you have obtained the National Dex and have unlocked the Pal Park (yeah I know - you have to beat the game).

For Fire-Types, FireRed allows you to catch Growlith on Routes 201 and 202, while LeafGreen allows you to catch Vulpix on Routes 209 and 214. LeafGreen also allows you to catch Magmy on Route 227, and on Stark Mountain (which is that big northeastern island on your map). Magby = Win.

Here is the page on Bulbapedia that clarifies what Pokemon can be caught where, and by which games to Dongle for them: Dongle Page.

 

[0RLY]

Yes, we need more fire types. We also need less water types. Over half of them are useless anyways... *cough* Lumineon *cough* Seaking *cough*. Also, we need more useful electric types. Pachirisu,
Plusle, Minun, are pretty bad. More hybrids would be nicer as well.

 

[Spire]

Electabuzz and Zapdos are the only electric Pokemon ever.

 

[Eriatarka]

Electabuzz and Zapdos are the only electric Pokemon ever.

You make Pikachu cry..

 

[Firus]

You're right about the lack of Fire types...Ponyta is the only one before you beat the Elite Four and/or get the National Dex (you can get the National Dex before you beat the Elite Four, despite a lot of rumors), aside from Chimchar of course. Honestly, I couldn't give you a completely accurate answer on whether it would be a bad idea or not. I myself picked Piplup for my Diamond Version, but I also got Pearl on release date so I sort of cheated and got all three starters to start out with. I know, I know, but I just couldn't pick between the three. Grass Type which I used to always start with, a fire monkey, or a penguin. Piplup was my starter, because I finally decided that if I had to choose one, it would be Piplup. Not exactly the most sensible decision-making process, but another deciding factor was that after calculation, I realized that Empoleon has the least amount of weaknesses, the most resistances, and thus is a smart choice.

Anyways, since I had Chimchar as well, things were much easier. I didn't face the problem of a lack of fire types. But I must say that, as I previously mentioned, Piplup is, in the long run, a very smart choice. So I wouldn't necessarily say it's wrong.

If you really don't like the fact that there's Ponyta as a fire type and that's it, I'd be very willing to trade just about any fire type you want to you. If you feel like that would be cheating too much, I understand, though.
Also, if you did want one but you wanted it to have you as the OT, I could trade you an egg so you are the OT. PM me if you're interested. (PS: I don't need a great Pokemon in return, it wouldn't be that much trouble for me to fetch a fire Pokemon so you could give me something like a Bidoof and I wouldn't mind)

All in all, it is a little troublesome, the lack of fire types, but if you're thinking of resetting your game and starting with Chimchar, I wouldn't advise it. There are other types you can use to combat what fire normally would, there are Pokemon like Skuntank that can learn fire move(s), and the team you go through the game with will most likely not be the team you actually use in reality, so it's not a big deal if you don't have a fire type to start.