Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl just dropped, and we’re wasting no time helping you discover everything there is to do in this game! First is something you’ve probably been wondering about: the types of Legendary Pokémon you can find throughout Sinnoh. There are actually many more available here than in the originals, including some unexpected ones! If you’re looking for specific information on the locations of these Pokémon, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s get right into it!

Legendary Pokémon

This section covers all of the Legendary Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl that also appear in the original versions. That means there are no spoilers here! With that said, Pokémon included in the sections to come aren’t in the originals, so if you’re trying to avoid spoilers we’d recommend skipping those sections. Without further ado, here’s the full list:

• You can’t miss Dialga and Palkia — they’re the box Legendaries! Just like in the originals, you can battle and capture them at Spear Pillar after taking on the seventh Gym Leader and working your way through Team Galactic. The box Legendary will be at Level 47, so be prepared! We recommend saving your Master Ball for a different Legendary Pokémon, by the way.
• Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf are accessible after you battle and capture Dialga or Palkia. Uxie appears at Lake Acuity (near Snowpoint City), Mesprit appears at Lake Verity (near Twinleaf Town), and Azelf appears at Lake Valor (between Veilstone City and Pastoria City). Keep in mind that Mesprit is a roaming Pokémon — it’s tracked via the Marking Map Pokétch app and is a perfect candidate for your Master Ball.
• Giratina is in Turnback Cave, which in turn is located on Spring Path on Route 214. It’s Level 70 (and is only encountered after obtaining the National Dex) so be sure to bring your best Pokémon! That being said, you don’t get the Griseous Orb here. Scroll down two sections for more information.
• Heatran is in Stark Mountain just like in the originals. Return the Magma Stone to its rightful place and Heatran will appear. It’s Level 70, so make sure you’re ready! In version 1.0.0 of this game, there’s actually a glitch that lets you catch an infinite number of Heatran.
• Regigigas appears in Snowpoint Temple after obtaining the National Dex. Unfortunately, it can only be awakened if Regirock, Regice, and Registeel are in your party. Regieleki and Regidrago aren’t available in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl; as a result, you won’t need to bring them. Make sure you bring a Pokémon with False Swipe!
• Cresselia is another roaming Pokémon, and you can encounter it after obtaining the National Dex. Head over to Canalave City and enter the house near the dock to see that the sailor’s son is having a nightmare. Go back outside and set sail for Full Moon Island — after that, Cresselia will roam Sinnoh. Be sure to track it on your Marking Map, and trap it with a move like Mean Look.

As you can see, there’s nothing too crazy here yet. Each of the Legendary Pokémon available in the original versions of Diamond & Pearl is here and in the exact same spot. As stated earlier, we recommend using your Master Ball on Mesprit or Cresselia — tracking them down is a pain, and it’s easiest to just capture them instantly if possible.

Mythical Pokémon

Next, we have Mythical Pokémon! Interestingly enough, it’s possible to find some of them in-game without the use of events! At the time of writing, data exists for the distribution of additional Mythical Pokémon via Mystery Gifts. It’s very likely that we’ll have opportunities to catch Darkrai, Shaymin, and perhaps even Arceus in the future, so stay tuned! For now, here’s a list of the Mythical Pokémon you can obtain in-game right now:

• Mew can be found in Floaroma Town as soon as you arrive. If there’s save data for Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Let’s Go, Eevee! on your Switch profile, you’ll receive it from the woman at the bottom-left corner of town.
• Jirachi is found in Floaroma Town, too! This time you’ll need save data for either Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield. If said data is present, the old man at the bottom-left corner of town will mention a Wishing Star and gift you with a Level 5 Jirachi. Not bad!
• Manaphy isn’t obtainable in-game, per se; it requires an event. From release day to February 21, 2022, players will be able to receive a Manaphy egg from Mystery Gift. All you have to do is hatch the egg and you’re good to go! Remember, you can pair Manaphy with a Ditto in the Pokémon Nursery to hatch a Phione.

When new Mythical Pokémon become available, we’ll update this section accordingly. Feel free to bookmark this page and come back later! Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are actually the first main series games to include infinitely repeatable instances (via save resetting) of Mew and Jirachi, which we think is really neat.

Ramanas Park

In the original versions of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, trainers could find Pal Park at the end of Route 221. There, you were able to transfer Pokémon from Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. That’s no longer necessary in Briliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, of course, so it’s been replaced with something new: Ramanas Park! Better yet, Ramanas Park is home to several Legendary Pokémon, though you can’t access it until after you beat the Champion.

In order to access Legendary Pokémon here, you have to dig up Mysterious Shards (which are pink and somewhat resemble Dynamax crystals) in the Grand Underground, which you can then trade for Slates. Each Slate corresponds to a Legendary Pokémon, and you can bring that Slate to Ramanas Park to summon that Pokémon. Furthermore, you’ll need to update your game to at least version 1.1.0 to be able to access Ramanas Park at all.

At first, you’ll have no choice but to trade for the Discovery Slate — which corresponds to Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. After that, though, you’ll gain access to more and more types of slates. Just be patient and keep on mining! Remember that the Grand Underground’s sparkly spots refresh whenever you enter and leave one of its dungeon areas.

• The Kanto Slate lets you access Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos. All three of these Pokémon are exclusive to the Shining Pearl version.
• The Genome Slate lets you access Mewtwo.
• The Johto Slate lets you access Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. All three of these Pokémon are exclusive to the Brilliant Diamond version.
• The Soul Slate lets you access Latias and Latios.
• The Rainbow Slate lets you access Ho-Oh, while the Squall Slate lets you access Lugia. You can only find Ho-Oh in Brilliant Diamond, and then Lugia is exclusive to Shining Pearl.
• The Oceanic Slate lets you access Kyogre and the Tectonic Slate lets you access Groudon. The Stratospheric Slate allows you to encounter Rayquaza.
• The Distortion Slate lets you obtain the Griseous Orb — and not Giratina. As mentioned earlier, Giratina is still found in Turnback Cave. There’s just one catch: in order to obtain the Griseous Orb, you have to defeat a Level 100 dark Giratina raid boss. Needless to say, you’re going to have to train a lot for this one.

If you accidentally KO any of these Legendary Pokémon before capturing them, no worries. You can challenge them again after you beat the Pokémon League! Farming Mysterious Shards takes a long time, but as long as you keep at it – preferably while watching a video or doing something else in the background – you’ll be good to go. Remember to head to Ramanas Park to actually perform the exchange for the slates, by the way!

As stated earlier, several Legendary Pokémon are exclusive to one of the game versions. As a result, you’re going to have to find a friend with the opposite version to trade with. Pokémon HOME won’t be compatible with Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl until 2022, so that isn’t an option either. We actually have an in-depth guide on version exclusives in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, and if you’d like to check it out you can do so right here. Without a doubt, filling up your Pokédex is going to be difficult — if you need help, feel free to join our Discord community. Thanks so much for reading, and good luck!

If you would like to read more Pokémon guides, please follow this link.

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