Summary

• Dialga and Palkia are the two cover Legendaries for Diamond and Pearl and their remakes.
• Both have strong stats and abilities, but Dialga has an edge in health over Palkia.
• Dialga is a powerful force to add to any team, generally making it a better choice between the two Legendary Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl on the Nintendo Switch present a choice between two famous Legendary Pokémon, but in the battle of Dialga vs Palkia, which one is actually better? These two Legendaries were first included as the cover Pokémon for the box art of the original Diamond and Pearl, and the pair of dragons has become a favorite Pokémon duo since. However, one of them is a bit better than the other.

As is customary with Pokémon games, Trainers will only be able to catch one depending on which version of Pokémon BDSP they pick up, making it a tough decision. Since Pokémon Gold and Silver, Game Freak has put version-exclusive Legendary Pokémon on the covers of its games to represent them to the public. Typically, players can encounter these creatures at the end of the main campaign at the climax of each generation's main story arc. From the majestic bird duo of Lugia and Ho-Oh, to Gen 9's Koraidon and Miradion, Legendary Pokémon are some of the most memorable pocket monsters in the series. Palkia and Dialga fit this description to a tee, but they're also some of the most powerful Pokémon players could get, making the choice of Dialga vs Palkia a tough one from both a mechanical and design perspective.

Palkia & Dialga Lore Explains Why They're So Powerful

Created by the all-powerful Acreus, the Legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia control time and space, respectively. The third member of their trio, Giratina, controls antimatter, but the Pokémon was banished to the distortion world because of its violent nature. The Lake Trio of Pokémon was ultimately created so they could calm Dialga and Palkia down in the event they become enraged. These two creatures obviously have an intense history and are each Pokémon of frightening power, but the interesting lore doesn't necessarily explain if Dialga or Palkia is better for use in battle.

Dialga Narrowly Beats Out Palkia In BDSP

While both of these Pokémon are powerful allies in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Dialga ultimately ends up being the clear choice between the two. As a Dragon- and Steel-type, Dialga avoids weaknesses to Dragon-, Fairy-, and Ice-type attacks, and its Steel-type moves are effective on Ice- and Fairy-type Pokémon. Dragons are often weak to these types, so a Dragon Pokémon without such a common weakness is a considerable benefit. Palkia's Water- and Dragon-typing is also quite strong, but Palkia is still weak to the overpowered Pokémon Fairy-type and Dragon moves, meaning Palkia is considerably more vulnerable than Dialga, with weaknesses of a typical Dragon-type.

Both Pokémon have access to the Pressure and Telepathy abilities, which double the usage of the enemy's PP and eliminate damage caused by allies, respectively. They share a significant base 120 Attack and base 150 Special Attack stat, so they're both perfectly capable of wiping out enemies with moves like Outrage and Draco Meteor. When considering Dialga vs Palkia, Palkia does come out as slightly faster, but Dialga ends up the edge in health to make up for it.

Both of these Legendary Pokémon are powerful forces to add to any team in either Diamond and Pearl or Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, but Dialga's typing gives it a slight edge over Palkia in the end. This means that for anyone on the fence for which game to buy, Brilliant Diamond is the better option since it means getting Dialga. However, with recent games like Legends: Arceus letting players get both, and the GTS allowing for trades, it's still relatively easy to get both of these Gen 4 Legendaries.