Everything you expected and more!
You then get to choose your starter pokemon, one that will be with you for the duration of the game. Their is the water type Piplup, the fire type Chimchar, and the grass type Turtwig. After your first battle your adventure starts as you go from gym to gym beating each gym leader to get thier badge. Along the way you'll fight Team Galactic (the new team Rocket) and your rival many times. But the one thing that sets this game apart for other pokemon games, is the online. You can use Nintendo Wi-fi Connection to trade or battle people all over the world. So many people think that pokemon is boring and repetitive. But they haven't played Pokemon Pearl.