Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were released for the Nintendo Switch just last Friday. Players have begun to share some of the Pokemon games' bugs and quirks, especially those regarding the Pokemon following them in the overworld.
Allowing a Pokemon to follow their trainer is a popular feature among fans of the series, and one that made a return in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Unlike in previous games, however, these walking Pokemon can be moved around by NPCs, leading to some hilarious results.
Reddit user mikeloud recently shared a video of a scripted scene from Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, in which a member of the villainous group Team Galactic flees from the player. However, mikeloud's Ponyta happened to be in the Galactic grunt's way, causing the grunt to push it all the way off the screen as he runs. Thus, it looks as if the Galactic grunt actually stole the player's Pokemon, something the evil team typically fails to do.
While the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl do feature walking Pokemon, they exist in a much more limited capacity. Walking Pokemon were restricted to a single area in the game, and only certain Pokemon could follow the player. However, in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, any Pokemon can follow their trainer through any outdoor section of the overworld, leading to some unintended-albeit humorous-consequences, as shown by mikeloud.
Pokemon fans love to walk their companions, and it's easy to see why. Being able to travel alongside a Pokemon lends more credence to the idea that these creatures are the player's friends, rather than mindless battling machines. Interacting with Pokemon in the overworld also typically comes with some incentives, like raising their friendship stats or being given free items, adding a nice bonus. Thus, it's no surprise that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl made sure to include this feature, a notable change from their original iterations.
However, many sections of the games were simply not made with walking Pokemon in mind, which can be frustrating for the player. Some have noted that their Pokemon can impede the player character's movement, especially on the narrow bicycle paths present in the Sinnoh region, or even trap them in small corners. Thankfully, players can "push" their Pokemon to move them, or turn the feature off entirely, preventing them from being soft locked. Until Nintendo releases a patch for these issues, fans such as mikeloud can poke fun at Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, creating easy laughs for those enjoying these highly anticipated remakes.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are available now for the Nintendo Switch.