Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl: The 10 Best Returning Classic Characters

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are finally out and revamped the beloved Sinnoh region. Who are the best returning players?

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The highly-anticipated remakes Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are finally out and give the original 2006 games a modernized tweak. The Sinnoh region games for the Nintendo DS are beloved fan-favorites and, while the improvements are modest, they generally succeed in giving them a new, accessible coat of paint.

On top of the over 100 creatures that fans came to love, these remakes mean returns for several memorable characters. These characters range from the likable rival to the eternally-favorite Sinnoh Elite Four Champion that has seemed to transcend the generation of games she’s native to.

10 Barry

In the franchise, Barry is established as one of the best Pokémon rivals. Around the Kalos region of games, the rivals started to take a turn for the worse given their tendency to be clingy nuisances.

Barry strikes the perfect balance of friendly and competitive. He pops in and out of the player’s journey enough to remain a welcome appearance. Battling him is always engaging, and he has a well-rounded team of Pokémon to pit against players. Plus, his perpetual state of “in a rush” still holds up as charming and entertaining.

9 Dawn

While the franchise has well established itself as a series with the “silent protagonist,” Dawn easily became another fan-favorite character. It’s in part due to her being one of Ash’s best friends from the Diamond and Pearl anime season, but the games typically have great character designs for their protagonists as well.

In addition to being the playable protagonist, Dawn can also be an NPC assistant to Professor Rowan. She can eventually be battled and, in the end-game of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, also features a varied team of high-level Pokémon.

8 Mars

Each of the mainline games features members of the higher brass from the “evil” team that comes in for periodic boss battles during the story. Mars is a commander of Team Galactic under their leader Cyrus, and she provides the game with some of the most engaging evil-team leader battles throughout.

For many fans since the days of the original games, Mars could give a surprisingly tough fight upon meeting her, as her Purugly or Skuntank ace could give players a hard time. Her cunning personality is also incredibly entertaining for a villain, making it even more satisfying to defeat her.

7 Cyrus

Team Galactic is one of Pokémon’s best evil teams, and their leader Cyrus is just as imposing in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. While his stone-cold expression may seem superficial to some, Cyrus can be suitably threatening with his ideals and goals.

Similarly, his endgame of restarting the universe might seem generic, but what’s underneath presents a surprising layer of nihilism. Given the primary audience of these games, they don’t always get too dark plot-wise. That’s why the concepts behind Cyrus’ goal make them more enticing than most evil teams.

6 Cynthia

Sinnoh Champion Cynthia is arguably the most loved character to come out of the fourth generation games. She is one of the few trainers from the games to give players a hard time, and she remains a worthy adversary and memorable boss fight in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Cynthia comes stacked with a team of Pokémon that are some of the strongest barring Legendary species, and gets even harder in the post-game. These remakes give her an even more daunting set of teams composition in rematches, featuring team members with bolstered stats. For many players, her Garchomp, Milotic, Spiritomb, and Lucario have been the stuff of nightmares.

5 Crasher Wake

The fourth Gym Leader, Crasher Wake, is one of the main story gyms that fans remember the most fondly. Crasher Wake is the head of the fourth gym in Pastoria City and specializes in Water-type Pokémon.

He has a fun wrestler-inspired character design and the personality to match straight out of something like the WWE. Wake’s loud, upbeat personality is largely what makes him as memorable and endearing as he is, and thanks to the post-game that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl provide, players are in for some thrilling rematches.

4 Riley

Diamond and Pearl introduced in-game partner NPCs that would join the player in different points of the story. Cheryl is the first in Eterna Forest, but the biggest favorite is the mysterious Riley. Once players take the ship from Canalave to get to Iron Island, players meet Riley in the cave and partner up to run Team Galactic off the island.

Part of what made him so popular was essentially promoting the original games in the anime movie and using a Lucario as his ace Pokémon. Riley’s sleek character design and air of mystery make him an easy character to love, and it also helps that he gives the player a Riolu egg at the end of this subquest.

3 Volkner

The final Gym Leader of Diamond and Pearl returns in the remakes where fans left him. Volkner is the Electric-type specialist of Sunyshore City, just before the protagonist’s trek to Victory Road and the Elite Four. Volkner also poses a welcome challenge — as he should — and gets more challenging during his first and second rematches.

His design coupled with his laid-back attitude made him memorable, and even more so for proving to have a team that packs a punch. The fact that he’s frequently out of his Gym due to a lack of worthwhile challengers only makes him more appealing.

2 Palmer

Though fans are understandably disappointed at the Battle Frontier’s repeated exclusion, the Battle Tower has been preserved in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl along with some improvements. On top of that, the Tower Tycoon Palmer has returned with it. Palmer is also Barry’s father and has some of the same charming character traits as his son.

Likewise, he has a great inspired character design to go with it and makes for a thrilling fight once players reach the peak of the Battle Tower. He’s a big part of what makes the post-game grind in these remakes so refreshingly tough and enjoyable.

1 Maylene

Maylene is a fairly early-game Gym Leader, coming in as the boss fight in Veilstone City. She is a Fighting-type specialist, and also uses a Lucario as her ace Pokémon. It’s a solid battle since the Steel/Fighting-type duo makes for an excellent offensive and defensive combination.

Given her specialty in Pokémon, her martial arts, athlete-inspired design is also fun and appealing. Like her Gym and Elite Four/Champion boss counterparts, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl help her to be a more prominent challenger in terms of gameplay.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/pokemon-brilliant-diamond-shining-pearl-best-returning-classic-characters/