So I haven't played pokemon since the original silver version and I'm totally out of the loop but I just bought a 3DS because I came across an incredible deal. I want to jump back into the game but I have no idea what the differences between the versions are and whether one is considered better than the rest.

My biggest consideration is playing online with my friends. Based off what I've read it seems like Pokemon X/Y are the current king but I would love you guys' input on the matter. Also is there anything I should know about the games or any massive changes I should be aware of from the older generations?

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Pick Charmander

Well; I hated X/Y as well as both Black/White versions.

Not my thing. It seems they keep making the series easier and more childish. Or maybe I'm just growing up. *sigh*

I wish they would just add a difficulty to the Pokemon series. But I digress.

I'm not going to recommend the ones I hated. Instead I HIGHLY recommend you pick up either Heartgold/Soul Silver. One of my favorite games remade in a great visual style; plus that might be the best beginning game for you since the story is familiar yet you will be able to get accustomed to the DS controls.

Haven't played it yet, but Omega Ruby/*something* Sapphire remake is most likely a great game as well.

Ka-pi96 said: Yeah X/Y are probably the best place to pick it up on 3DS. Alternatively there is HGSS on DS that you can play with BC which could be pretty cool if you originally played Silver since they are the remakes of Gold/Silver, but then if your friends are on newer versions you wouldn't be able to play together, so X/Y would be the safe bet still. As for any changes, well there haven't really been many big ones. The Pokemon games have always been pretty formulaic and so are mostly similar. Unless you were really in to competitive battling or something when you played last you may not even notice some of the differences straight away. Of course all the new Pokemon and stuff they've added is pretty obvious, but finding out about those is part of the fun of the games so

Thanks for the quick response, I'll definitely go with X/Y then. How do you interact with your friends online, like can you inhabit the same world or is it strictly battles and trades?

I've never been involved in the competitive pokemon scene but I know about it and I'm a bit intrigued. Does X/Y do something unique with the competitive aspect?

Haha I always do. Although I didn't realize that was one of the starting options for X/Y, I assumed it would be some exotic new pokemon?

Haha it's totally fine, you've already been really helpful. I've always been a competitive guy so I naturally get drawn to that aspect of gaming too.

I just blew my friend's minds when I told them I got a brand new 3DS XL for $95. Now I just need to get Pokemon and smash, although I'm open to more suggestions on games if you have any.

Yea I really lucked out. I'll keep you in mind then if I come across something totally baffling when I'm playing the game. I'm super excited to play again, its been 13 years since I last bought a pokemon game.

Changes from that long ago involves...
New Fairy type
You can move at any direction rather than dpad
Complete motion animations in pokemon battles
TMs have unlimited use
Exp. Share is a bit op, try not abusing it
Mega evolution is a thing
Amongst others that you'll find out. ;)

As for the competitive aspect, it's incredibly deep that you would need to pour countless hours into. I believe there was like a 2M prize pool for some championship tournament or something
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/2-million-up-for-grabs-at-2015-pokemon-world-champ/1100-6425126/

You should really check out Pokémon XY. the game is really good even though there aren't many things to do after the main story ends since there are only 3 other legendary pokémon you can Catch.

Since Silver a lot of stuff happend, going gradually:
-Now Pokémon Have abilities that can help them in battle (some of them are useless and some are even bad like Slow Start);
Now Pokémon can affect the Weather, the Weather can be: Sun, Rain, Sand Storm, Hail, Heavy Sun and Heavy Rain (this last 2 are missing in Pokémon X/Y);
-There are double battles where you use 2 Pokémon vs other 2 Pokémon;
-Now there are Pokémon natures, IVs and EVs, all of which affect the pokémon stats, but they only matter if you want to play at a competitive level;
-Now Pokémon Types aren't always special or phisical, every Type has both phisical and special attacks;
-There are 3 vs 3 Pokémon Battles where you can either use simply 3 pokémon and chose a move for each one of them or in another format where you have 3 pokémon but one of them is in the front of the other 2 and only the one in the front can attack, you can either chose to attack or to rotate the battlefield and attack with one of the other 2 pokémon depending on what you think the opponent will do;
-There is a new Pokémon Type, the Fairy type, some pokémon have completely changed into Fairy (Clefable), some other have mantained their original typing (Jigglypuff Normal/Fairy).
-Now there are MegaEvolutions. A special form that ONLY ONE Pokémon of your party can get for each battle, this evolution increases stats and sometimes changes types and abilities, after the battle ends the Pokémon return to their original form

Like all the other canon Pokemon games, the main differences with the versions are different Pokemon and Legendaries you can catch.

There are a few differences between the newer games and silver but the ones I can think of

-Exp share now gives exp to all pokemon
- new fairy type
- better graphics :p
- pokemon has abilities, new moves and have moods
- friendship
- double and triple battles