Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl set to make leveling up much easier

Brent Koepp
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl protagonist next to Sword & Shield Nursery screenshot

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl could be getting an incredibly helpful feature from Sword & Shield that can make leveling up easier if a promotional material hint is anything to go by.

15 years after its release, the Pokemon franchise is finally making its return to Gen IV with Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. The Sinnoh remakes will bring a flurry of modern features to the classic RPGs.

A mechanic from Sword & Shield might be among those changes after fans re-discovered promotional material for the Nintendo Switch titles that could possibly be hinting at it.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
Could the Sinnoh remakes get a popular Sword & Shield feature?

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl to get Sword & Shield feature?

While originally posted back in August 2021, Pokemon fans re-examining the official website discovered that the Sinnoh remakes will not have the Day Care mechanic that was originally in the Gen IV RPGs. Instead, the 2022 reimaginings will replace it with the Nursery feature.

The change was discovered in a thread on the r/PokeLeaks forum, which posted a screenshot from the site that read, “It takes approximately 10 hours of playtime before you are able to reach the Pokémon Nursery in Solaceon Town.”

The difference is that in the Day Care feature, Pokemon dropped off level up whereas the Nursery is purely for breeding and does not strengthen your monster. The change sparked speculation that Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl could have a Gen 8 feature.

In Pokemon Sword & Shield, Game Freak continued to ditch the Day Care for the Nursery and introduced Exp. Candy to help level up ‘mon quickly instead. Since the Sinnoh remakes are also getting modern changes, it’s led some to wonder whether the Sinnoh remakes will also be getting Exp. Candy.

“I’m honestly fine with that. Sword & Shield introducing the exp candy made level grinding nonexistent. Since your Pokemon don’t level up in a Nursery, it’s way cheaper in the long run,” one fan wrote in reaction. Another speculated, “If they bring back EXP Candies then that’ll be easy to level up your Pokemon.”

Pokemon fans speculate about

It should also be pointed out that one of the last Pokemon games to have the Day Care mechanic was 2014’s Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. So the Sinnoh remakes making the switch isn’t exactly shocking.

That said, the new discovery confirms how far Studio ILCA is going to modernize the Gen IV reimagining. Hopefully they also add Exp. Candy from Sword & Shield since the Nursery will no longer level up your Pokemon.