A new trailer for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl was released today (along with a separate one for Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which will be covered in a separate post), and it shows off several features coming to the remakes, including the Pokétch, HM improvements, Amity Square changes, and making Poffins.
You can watch the trailer above, and keep reading for more information, details, and screenshots regarding this batch of information.
The Pokétch
Something that had been absent from previous trailers and screenshots was a defining feature in the original Pokémon Diamond and Pearl—the smartwatch known as the Pokétch! This was given to you early on, during your first visit to Jubilife City, and it put a smartwatch with several interesting apps on the bottom screen of your Nintendo DS.
Today’s trailer and updates confirm that the Pokétch is, indeed, returning in the remakes. As the Nintendo Switch has just one screen, it was uncertain how it would be handled, but it has now been shown to reside in the top-right corner of the screen and appears very similar to how it did on the bottom screen in the original games.
It functions in a similar way, where you can use the touch screen (or, presumably, another button while playing in docked mode) to activate it, and appears to have most of the apps from the original games as well. It is even shown to zoom in during certain functions.
HMs are now in the Pokétch!
One welcome change—although a rather substantial change from the original games—is the effective removal of HMs. Similar to what Pokémon Sun and Moon did, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl now allow you to call on friendly wild Pokémon from the Pokétch to use the out-of-battle HM moves that previously required HMs.
For instance, you can use the Pokétch to call forth a Bidoof to use Cut. All of these Hidden Moves are the same as the moves the HMs taught, but you’ll no longer need to invest a move slot on a move that can’t be forgotten without the use of the Move Deleter in Canalave City.
Although neither of these two suspicions have yet to be confirmed, I would suspect that HM01–HM08 are now TMs instead (or at least some of the better ones, like what they did in Sun and Moon with Fly and Surf), and that you’ll get the TMs and unlock the Hidden Moves in approximately the same place as the original games, although hopefully with some better guidance for trickier ones like Rock Climb—finding that sitting in the snow in the middle of a raging blizzard was not a pleasant experience and it was easy to miss.
Amity Square
One of the main draws of Amity Square in the original games was that it was a place that you could go to let certain Pokémon follow you around outside of battle. This predated HeartGold and SoulSilver, so even though it was restricted to just one relatively small area, it was neat.
Well, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl already allow you to have any Pokémon follow you around outside of battle anyway, so Amity Square has been reworked to allow for up to six Pokémon to follow you around while you’re in the area—the catch is that they have to be approved Pokémon permitted in the park, so unfortunately not every Pokémon can be taken in there.
While inside of Amity Square, you can adjust the camera angle and zoom level. You can also use your group of Pokémon in Amity Square to make high-level Poffins, which are useful in Super Contest Shows.
Poffins
Yes, Poffins. Not puffins—those are a bird. Poffins are treats that can be made and then fed to your Pokémon to raise their conditions—the stats used in Pokémon Super Contest Shows, such as Coolness, Toughness, etc.
Just like the original games, you can make Poffins inside of the Poffin House in Hearthome City, but as mentioned above, you can also now make Poffins while inside of Amity Square, getting help from your Pokémon to do so.
More Screenshots
Here are a few other miscellaneous screenshots that were included in today’s press release:
