Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Pays Homage to Sinnoh's Most Important Pokemon

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl pays homage to a crucial pair of Pokemon through their new Hidden Moves mechanic. Fifteen years ago, Pokemon fans first explored the Sinnoh region in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Notably, that pair of games had a whopping eight Hidden Moves, special moves that Pokemon permanently learned and used to interact with certain overworld elements like boulders, waterfalls, or fog. One quirk in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl is that most of these moves could be learned by Bidoof and its evolution Bibarel. In order to conserve move slots for other Pokemon, many Pokemon Diamond and Pearl players utilized Bidoof and Bibarel exclusively for Hidden Moves, which likely was one of the reasons the Pokemon has gained a level of infamy as a meme Pokemon.

The Pokemon franchise has moved away from Hidden Moves in recent years, but they come back in a manner of speaking in the just-released remakes Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Players use their Poketch app to summon wild Pokemon to clear away obstacles, provided that players have cleared the necessary gyms and received their equivalent TMs from various NPCs. 

While players no longer need a Bidoof or Bibarel to clear the Sinnoh region's glut of overworld obstacles, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl pays homage to these Pokemon's crucial roles in the original games in a fun way. Bidoof or Bibarel will appear when players use six of the eight HM functions on the Poketch app. That means players will get to cross oceans on the back of a Bibarel, climb up and down steep hills on a Bibarel, or break boulders using a Bidoof. It's a subtle but fun touch that shows that the game designers were definitely fans of the original games too. 

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are billed as "faithful remakes" of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl and retain the same basic plotline and map layouts. However, the game also features some updated content (such as the Grand Underground and Super Contests) as well as quality-of-life improvements used in more recent Pokemon games. You can check out our full review of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl here.