Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl are upcoming remakes of the original generation 4. The games will retain their chibi style from the original, a style the main series hasn't seen in a long time. Upon release of the remake's trailer, fans weren't sure how to feel about the visual style of the remake, as the generation 3 remakes of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire opted for a more direct style. As a result, fans expected a more modernized take on the original gen 4 games, something more like Pokemon X and Y or even Sword and Shield.
Being faithful remakes to the original, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will include many of the same beats as the original including the starter Pokemon. In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, players will have the choice between the game's 3 starter Pokemon Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup. The player will only be able to pick one and will more likely have to trade to get the others, but unless they want to complete the Pokedex, it's unnecessary as Piplup is arguably the best choice for a starter.
The Versatility of Piplup
In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, much like most other mainline Pokemon games, the player will be tasked with defeating an evil team, collecting all 8 badges, and taking part in the Elite 4 challenge, becoming champion. With Piplup's final evolution Empoleon at their side, it's easy to do just about everything in the game.
Though Pokemon games aren't known for being very challenging lately, their games in the earlier days have been known to have some challenges. Thankfully, Piplup will be able to cover most of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Being a Water-type that eventually becomes a hybrid Steel-type is very powerful, as its final evolution Empoleon resists over half of all types. Usually, Pokemon will only resist a small handful of damage types, such as the other starter options Turtwig and Chimchar. Their final evolutions Torterra and Infernape only resist 3 and 6 types respectively, both also weak to 4 types. Empoleon, on the other hand, can resist 11 of the 18 types available, while also being only weak to 3.
Piplup and Empoleon Dominates
Of course, Piplup wouldn't be able to stand on its own very easily without evolving to its final stage, Empoleon, due to the added Steel typing. Still, with how Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl narratively play out, Piplup players shouldn't have too much to worry about. The Gym challenges are each of a specific typing, with most being no issue for Piplup and its evolutions, though with a little preparedness, any Piplup player can make it through with ease.
- The first Gym is Rock-type, much like gen 1 and 3. Piplup has the advantage of being a Water-type and should have no problems with Roark.
- The second Pokemon Gym might seem like a challenge, being Grass-type and all, but Piplup learns Peck before then. Peck being a Flying-type move will be all players need to take out Gardenia.
- The third Gym is Fighting-type and suffers the same problems that Gardenia and her Pokemon had, and that's being weak to Flying-type, so Peck is the answer again. The only issue might arise from Lucario who is both Fighting and Steel.
- Gym number 4 is a Water-type gym, matching types with Piplup. At this point, Piplup should now be the beefy Empoleon, though that might not be enough as Crasher Wake has some strong Pokemon.
- The fifth Gym is Ghost-type, and there isn't much the player can do to leverage their chances. Empoleon will resist all of Fantina's Pokemon, though, so it should be a matter of time before she's defeated.
- Gym number 6 is the Steel type, Empoleon's other type. Thankfully, the player can obtain the TM Brick Break from Oreburgh Gate using Rock Smash and Surf to get there. This should take out Byron's 2 Pokemon Steelix and Bastiodon with ease, and Bronzor isn't much of a threat on its own as it isn't evolved and Empoleon resists Steel and Psychic.
- Gym 7's Candice uses Ice Pokemon, and at this point, Empoleon should have no issue. Peck/Aerial Ace and Brick Break will take care of her entire team.
- The final Gym challenge features Volkner and his Electric Pokemon. Despite being a trainer that uses Electric Pokemon, Volkner also uses Octillery and Ambipom. Optionally players can use their Bike, the HM Strength, and Cut to head through Wayward Cave under Cycling Road to find Earthquake. This will make quick work of 3 of Volkner's Pokemon while Brick Break can take out Ambipom.
Empoleon's Royal Assassination into Post Game
Of course, this is all under the assumption that Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will remain 1:1 faithful to the original games, and so anything can change. With that said, the only other challenge for a player's Empoleon to overcome is defeating the Elite 4. This challenge consists of 5 elite-level Pokemon trainers, though with some planning shouldn't be an issue for Piplup starter pickers.
- The first is Aaron who has Bug Pokemon and can be taken out with Rock Tomb or Rock Slide with relative ease.
- Bertha is the second member of the Elite 4 and has a team of Ground-type Pokemon. Thankfully, they're mostly weak to Water-type moves, though players should watch out for Ground attacks as that is one of Empoleon's few weaknesses.
- Flint is the third member and he mainly uses Fire Pokemon, so players can douse the Fire-types with water and use Brick Break to take out Steelix and Lopunny. Drifblim can be taken out with Rock Slide or an Ice-type move.
- The fourth member Lucian uses Psychic-type Pokemon which Empoleon resists. None of his Pokemon resist Water, so STAB works best here.
- The final confrontation in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl is Champion Cynthia. She has a very formidable team, but Milotic, Spiritomb, and Roserade shouldn't be a problem as they can't do much with their movesets. Garchomp and Lucario are the most dangerous. They both have strong Fighting and Ground moves, so players should use Brick Break on Lucario and use an Ice-type move on Garchomp.
With that, Empoleon (and its player) should become the champion of the Sinnoh region! Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl also will have the added challenge of catching all the game's legendary Pokemon. This is another challenge that will be no problem for Empoleon as both Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl's mascot legendary Pokemon Dialga and Palkia are Steel/Dragon and Water/Dragon types respectively. Empoleon will be able to resist these two with ease, as well as the 3 Psychic-type Lake Guardian legendaries.
Heatran, Regigigas, Giratina, and Cresselia are all of types that Empoleon can sit and tank while the player tosses Pokeballs. If Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl bring back Darkrai, Shaymin, and Arceus, well they might as well sit at the feet of Empoleon waiting to be caught as they won't be able to do much either.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are currently in development and will launch on Nintendo Switch in late 2021.