Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is set to come out this year. It is the remake many fans have been waiting for, as Diamond and Pearl was a popular generation. The original Diamond and Pearl came out in 2006 in Japan for the Nintendo DS. It set Pokémon on its path to the future in ingratiating WiFi for friends to trade and battle and classifying moves based on whether they make physical contact in battle or not.
Some parts of it did not make it to future games as well, like utilizing Nintendo DS features by giving the player a Smart Watch. Every Pokémon game has a ton of obscure trivia in its background, and these games were no exception.
10 They Were The First Nintendo DS Games To Sell Over 5,000,000 Units
Five million units of the games were sold in only three months. That was not just a new record for the Pokémon series, but for the Nintendo DS console as well. This was only in Japan as well! In the United States, pre-orders had doubled in comparison to Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
Pokémon games always make big numbers, but what made Diamond and Pearl special was its WiFi capabilities. Friends would want to play with friends, and convince them to buy the game so they can play together. In retrospect, the WiFi addition was a stroke of genius for the company.
9 There Is No Legitimate Way To Get An Azure Flute
Luckily, Arceus can be received through events and other matters presently. That was not always the case though, as there was a bit of a strange occurrence with how Arceus was originally meant to be caught in the games. Players needed an item called the Azure Flute. It was going to be given away at a special event. However, that event was cancelled and never happened.
So players had to cheat to get the flute. The lack of Azure Flutes was a mistake that was never fixed and the players had to find their own solutions.
8 They Were The First Pokémon Games To Not Capitalize Every Letter For Items
In the past, all Pokémon items and names would be completely capitalized. Today, that is a thing of the past. In Diamond and Pearl though, they made the change to just items and not the Pokémon yet. Eventually all capitalized names would be a thing of the past. Now it is considered retro and nostalgic to older fans.
This little change actually went unnoticed and taken for granted by many players. Players noticed more once Pokémon names themselves were not all capitalized.
7 For The First Time in Pokémon, All Starters Evolved To A Duel-Type
Duel types were in fashion in Diamond and Pearl, making all of its starters' final evolutions be duel-type. This was a first for Pokémon. In the first generation, Blastoise was not duel-type. In Johto, all were a single type. In Sapphire and Ruby, Sceptile was only Grass-type. In Diamond and Pearl, fans got three duel-types with Torterra being Grass and Ground, Infernape being Fire and Fighting, and Empoleon being Water and Steel.
This started a trend of many more starter duel-types in future games.
6 Draco Meteor Got Its Name From A Fan Contest
How cool would it be to name one of the most powerful Dragon-type moves? Well, some fan achieved that when they won a contest hosted by CoroCoro Comics. CoroCoro is a Japanese manga magazine that has existed since the 1960s. They publish a lot of game based content with other titles like Kirby, Splatoon, and Animal Crossing.
This move was introduced in Diamond and Pearl. The name is Japanese is "Ryūseigun" which translates to Meteor Shower.
5 There Were More Gender Differences In The Beta Version
Some Pokémon have visual differences depending on their gender. For example: a male Wobbuffet has no lipstick while a female Wobbuffet does. Same with Pikachu in later generations, which females having a heart-shaped tail.
In the beta versions of Diamond and Pearl, there were plenty of scrapped ideas. One such idea was certain gender designs. One even included one of the most popular Pokémon, Charizard, with the female version having one horn instead of two. Another scrapped idea was female Umbreon having shorter ears.
4 Beta Arceus Was Very Different
Beta Arceus had a fascinating design, looking like a ominous silhouette rather than the complex Pokémon we know today. When this beta design was revealed, a lot of fans actually loved it enough to make fan art of it. Many fans actually prefer its beta because it looks more like a ghost or cyrptid. It is a little creepy but also a little whimsical in its smooth and squiggly lines.
Due to its popular, beta Arceus was actually a meme for a while. Some people just wish the Pokémon god was a cute and creepy blob.
3 The English Version Had Meme And Modern Internet References
A member of the the comedy forum website, Something Awful, actually worked on the English translation of Diamond and Pearl. He was Nob Ogasawara and went by the username Douglas Dinsdale in Something Awful. Many fans believe that due to his contribution to the English verison of the games, that there was more Internet and meme lingo in the content.
A prime example with a couple NPCs use the words "noob" and "owned."
2 Shellos And Gastrodon Were Actually Designed For Ruby And Sapphire
Ken Sugimori, illustrator for the Pokémon games, revealed in an interview with magazine Nintendo Power that Shellos and its evolution was actually originally made for the Ruby and Sapphire generation. Due to time constraints though, they were cut from the game.
So they just waited for the next game, and Shellos with its evolution made its debut in the Sinnoh generation.
1 The Sinnoh Region Was Based On Hokkaido
It is no secret that many cities and regions in Pokémon are based on real life places. For Diamond and Pearl, the region of Sinnoh was based on Hokkaidō. Hokkaidō is the northernmost island of Japan. With this in mind, the game creators aimed to give Sinnoh a northern feel to it. This was especially exemplified in the snow covered areas.
Hokkaidō inspiration was put into the towns and cities of Sinnoh as well. For example, Jubilife City is based on Sapporo, Hokkaido's Capital.