Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will feature exclusive Legendary Pokémon, depending on which version of the game players have. Many of these Legendaries will be battled in the new Ramanas Park area. A Legendary Pokémon is involved in the story of almost every Pokémon game, but the player is usually restricted in their access to them, as they would walk all over the Elite Four and Champion otherwise.
The bulk of the Legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl could be caught in the post-game, but there were five Mythical Pokémon that required a little more work. Manaphy and Phione required the player to connect to Pokémon Ranger, while Darkrai and Shaymin required key items that were given away through online items. Arceus' special scenario involved the Azure Flute item, which involved the player climbing a stairway into the heavens for a battle, but it was never implemented, and it was also given away during events instead.
The latest trailer for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl has revealed that the game will feature more version exclusive Legendary Pokémon than anticipated. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, the only version exclusive Legendary Pokémon were Dialga and Palkia, which didn't even stick in Pokémon Platinum, as both could be caught in that game. A new area in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will give players access to more Legendary Pokémon from earlier entries in the series, but they are tied to specific games.
The Version Exclusive Legendary Pokémon In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond will have Dialga (the cover mascot) as a version exclusive Legendary Pokémon. The version exclusives that will appear in Ramanas Park in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond are Ho-Oh, Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. Pokémon Shining Pearl will have Palkia (the cover mascot) as a version exclusive Legendary Pokémon. The version exclusives that will appear in Ramanas Park in Pokémon Shining Pearl are Lugia, Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos. It has been confirmed that Mewtwo and Rayquaza will also appear in Ramanas Park, but it has yet to be confirmed whether they are version exclusives, or if they will appear in both games.
As is the case with all of the other Pokémon games in the past, the people who only own one game can trade for the other version exclusives with another player. It's likely that Game Freak will give away some of the version exclusives as part of events in the future, as was the case when Shiny Zacian and Shiny Zamazenta were given away to players who had the game that they don't appear in.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will be available for Nintendo Switch on November 19, 2021.