Does the Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl box art have a hidden secret?

Brent Koepp
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl art

Pokemon fans believe that Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl’s box art might have more to them than meets the eye. A viral post has players speculating that the artwork could be teasing a new feature in the Sinnoh remakes coming to the Nintendo Switch. 

Despite releasing in November 2021, there is still a lot we don’t know about Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. The Sinnoh remakes’ surprising absence at Nintendo’s E3 Direct only further sparked curiosity about the projects.

On July 4, an online post fueled a theory that the box arts featuring Gen IV Legendaries Dialga and Palkia could actually contain a secret hidden in plain sight. Does the artwork actually hint at a new feature for the Nintendo Switch RPGs?

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl exclusive difference
Could the box art for Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl be hinting at a feature in the game?

Pokemon fans think Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl box art contains secret

When announced in February, Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl was only given a short teaser trailer. The box art for the RPGs made their way online separately in May and featured extremely high-definition renderings of Legendaries Dialga and Palkia.

According to one fan theory, however, the artwork could actually have hinted at much more. Over on Reddit, user ‘DJDrizzy9’ theorized “An Interesting Detail on BDSP Box Art Everyone Missed. In certain areas, Palkia’s light is touching Dialga (esp towards the right).” In the online post, the Pokemon player pointed out that if you look close enough, a single pink light beam from Palkia crosses over from its box art and touches Dialga. And vice versa.

While that might not seem like a big deal, the user argued: “It’s like Dialga and Palkia are facing each other in the same void rather than separate; given that their lights are touching one another. In fact, no other box art implies that the legendaries are interacting with each other (in the same space). The BDSP box art is so detailed for no reason; it’s honestly impressive.”

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Box Art lightsA Pokemon fan theory has been created around the BDSP box art. 

The post quickly sparked other fan theories, such as several users who said it could mean a new “fusion” feature where both Legendaries are brought together as one. One player pointed towards the teaser trailer where the iconic statue in Eterna City shows both Dialga and Palkia combined together. Although that is explained in the manga as citizens forgetting what each ‘mon looked like over the years.

Interestingly, another fan pointed out that in previous Pokemon generations, the double pack edition of the game always features the two Legendaries separated, but that isn’t the case for the Sinnoh remakes. “I was hoping someone would bring this up as well! Something really interesting I noticed with the box arts is that the dual pack art features both of them on the same cover instead of separated like with every other dual pack,” they wrote.

Pokemon Double Packs
The Sinnoh remakes feature different artwork from usual Double Packs.

The user who kicked off the whole discussion wasn’t buying the fusion theory and instead believed that Palkia and Dialga could instead be getting a new origin forme each. Regardless, most fans agreed that the box art for the Gen IV remakes is insanely detailed. After Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl missed E3 in June 2021, it’s not too surprising that the Pokemon community is in a speculative mood.

With only four months away from release, we still know little about the projects. Only time will tell if any of these theories pan out. As always, take anything unofficial with a major grain of salt. Still, it’s fun to speculate as to what the wildly anticipated Sinnoh titles will be like. Hopefully, we get a Direct soon that will finally blow the doors open on what features the Nintendo Switch RPGs will have.