Pokémon Diamond and Pearl introduced Generation IV to the world. It was the first Pokémon game for the Nintendo DS and represented a new stage for the world of Pokémon. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl is by far one of the most popular Pokémon games due to its unique features and difficult battles.
It’s been more than fifteen years since Diamond and Pearl were released. Some fans may have forgotten why this generation of Pokémon was so special. Well, don’t worry because we’re here to remind you of some things that make Diamond and Pearl amazing. Here are seven easily forgotten but incredible facts about Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
7. Sinnoh is Based on Hokkaido
It’s not uncommon for Pokémon regions to be based on real-world locations. The regions in Generations I through III, Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, are all based on different areas of Japan. That trend continued in Generation IV, with Sinnoh being based on the Japanese island of Hokkaido.
A number of Sinnoh’s most iconic landmarks directly connect to real-world locations in Hokkaido. Mount Coronet in the game is based on the Ezo mountain chain. Sinnoh’s three mysterious lakes that hold Legendary Pokémon are copies of Lake Tōya, Lake Kussharo, and Lake Kutcharo. If you ever want to explore the world of Pokémon in real life, all you have to do is take a trip to Hokkaido.
6. Dual Type Starters
The starter Pokémon are always the face of each new Pokémon generation. These Pokémon are arguably the most important Pokémon in the game. Occasionally, these Pokémon will gain an additional typing besides the usual Fire, Water, and Grass. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl was the first time that all three starters gained dual-typing when they reached their final evolution.
The Fire starter Chimchar became the Fire/Fighting type Infernape. The Grass starter Turtwig became the Grass/Ground type Torterra. The Water starter Piplup became the Water/Steel type, Empoleon. The dual type helped distinguish these Pokémon from all the other starters and helped make them iconic.
5. A Fan Move
Generation IV added brand-new moves to the Pokémon series. One of the best moves in Diamond and Pearl is Draco Meteor. This Dragon-type move has a massive Power of 140 but lowers the user’s Special Attack. Draco Meteor is a double-edged sword, but the movie’s origins are the most interesting thing about it.
Before the release of Diamond and Pearl, GameFreak announced a contest where fans could propose name ideas for the new Dragon-type Move. The contest was run through the Japanese magazine CoroCoro Comics. Later that year, the Japanese name, Ryūseigun, was selected and was localized as Draco Meteor in English.
4. Punctual Pokémon
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl included a real-time clock system. The day-night system seamlessly transitioned from Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Night. The game also follow a seven-day week. This system allows certain Pokémon to only appear on certain days of the week or only at certain times of the day. One Pokemon is particularly picky about when it would show up.
The Pokemon Drifloon had a lot of requirements that needed to be met before it would be available for players to catch. First, players had to defeat Team Galactic at Valley Windworks. After that, Drifloon would only appear on Fridays during the morning. If you wanted to catch Drifloon, you had to be right on time.
3. Move Categories
©Screenshot from Pokemon Dark Rising.
The way battles work has gone through a lot of changes over the years. Before Generation IV, the categorization of moves was very different. Physical and Special moves were categorized by type instead of whether or not they made contact. All Physical moves were Normal, Fighting, Flying, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost, Poison, and Steel-type moves. All Special moves were Water, Grass, Fire, Ice, Electric, Psychic, Dragon, and Dark-type moves.
In Diamond and Pearl, the categorization is changed to what it is now. Moves are individually assigned as either Physical or Special based on whether they do damage and the function of the move. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl helped make Pokémon battles into what they are today.
2. Regigigas
One of the main goals of each Pokemon game is catching the Legendary Pokemon of the game’s regions. To do this usually requires players to solve various puzzles and riddles to even find the Pokemon’s location. There’s one Pokémon that requires a lot more than puzzle-solving skills.
In order to catch the Legendary Pokemon Regigigas, players must travel to the Snowpoint Temple. Once there, players need legendary Pokemon Regirock, Registeel, and Regice in their party for Regigigas to appear.
These Pokémon aren’t native to the Sinnoh region and can’t be caught in Diamond and Pearl. This means that players will need to catch these Pokémon in the previous generation, Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald, and then transfer them before Regigigas arrives. It’s a lot of work just to catch one Pokémon, but Regigigas is a very powerful Pokémon with a base stat total of 670.
1. Pokémon VIP
Players have always wanted to live out the fantasy of traveling with their Pokémon outside their Pokéballs. Later games would fully realize that fantasy, but the first step was in Diamond and Pearl. In Hearthome City, there’s an area called Amity Square where players can walk around a park with their Pokémon.
Although this was a fun and unique idea, Amity Square had some pretty strict rules about which Pokémon were allowed in the park. The Pokémon inside of Amity Square had to be considered “cute.” That was a pretty exclusive definition that only qualified eleven Pokémon. If your Pokémon was lucky enough to be on the VIP list, you could check on it’s mood and look for berries with it. Diamond and Pearl were the blueprints for a lot of future design decisions in the later games.