The new remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl were officially announced yesterday for the Nintendo Switch, but details on what will set Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl apart from their 2007 counterparts are scarce so far. A new rumor from a reliable source, however, suggests that mega evolutions could be added to the games, a game mechanic that was not introduced until 2013’s X and Y.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were pitched as being “faithful” to their originals, as evidenced by the maintaining of the top-down isometric camera and chibi overworld style from the original DS games. This has caused some concern over how faithful these remakes will be, and whether or not they will implement any new features or quality of life changes that have come to the series since 2007 like mega evolutions or a mandatory EXP. Share.

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Today, however, a website known by Pokemon fans for being an authority on all Pokemon merchandise, Pokeshopper.com, spotted that a figurine promotion for Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will feature Mega Lucario and Mega Charizard. While figurines might not seem like a confirmation of mega evolutions being in the new remakes, Pokeshopper.com creator Paul Ryan noted that this exact same chain of events is what revealed that mega evolutions would be in Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee back in 2018.

Usually, developer Game Freak takes the opportunity to modernize the games it remakes by implementing as many features from the most recent generation of Pokemon games as possible, like when it implemented mega evolutions and Pokemon-Amie from X and Y into Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

But in a franchise first, Game Freak is actually not developing these remakes. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are instead being outsourced to studio ILCA, which previously developed the Pokemon Home storage app on mobile and Switch. So, if the more traditional visuals are any indication it could be that this studio is keeping things closer to the original games and might not implement features introduced post-2007.

Whether or not mega evolutions will be in the new Diamond and Pearl remakes has not yet been confirmed, so it is important to remember that for now, this is just a rumor. After all, the figurine line could just be capitalizing on the popularity of Lucario and Charizard, two of Pokemon’s most fan-favorite Pokemon. It will likely be some time before Game Freak or ILCA confirms mega evolutions either way.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl will be released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch in late 2021.

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