Opinion: the Pokemon mainline games peaked in the DS era

While I write this, I am also looking at my copies of Pokemon White and White 2. Those were great Pokemon games for the DS, along with HeartGold and SoulSilver. My first Pokemon games were part of the third generation of mainline games for the Game Boy Advance, but the DS games, excluding DP, are my favorites.

HeartGold and SoulSilver (HGSS) are remakes of the second generation games, Gold and Silver. They brought about numerous changes I've liked that made the game world feel more alive. Some of these features are having Pokemon follow the player and the Pokegear.

Pokemon Black and White (BW) and Black 2 and White 2 (BW2) are the best games of the series, in my opinion. The reasons are: the soundtrack of the games is awesome, the worlds even felt more alive with many NPCs, the stories were infinitely better, and the in-battle sprites of Pokemon were nice to watch. 

The games from the sixth generation to the eighth generation are missing some of the charms of the 2D Pokemon games. Hopefully, Pokemon Legends: Arceus brings the series in a different, better direction.