>>47032800A lot of people recommend Gen 5 for it's high level of polish, good sound track, and interesting story involving Team Plasma. A lot of people hate it because Unova is based on New York which isn't as interesting, the designs can be divisive, and that same plot is a bit too serious to some players.
If you liked Crystal, you can't go wrong with HeartGold and Soulsilver. These are remakes of the Gen 2 games in the Gen 4 engine and rules, and are held in very high regard.
If you don't own a DS, emulation isn't difficult. Even a budget Android device can emulate DS games using DraStic, and a mid range phone can upscale the graphics. Gen 5 with high res upscaling is gorgeous.
