Not to be confused with Legendary Pokémon — if you’re looking for their locations, check here instead! In addition to the titular Dialga and Palkia, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are home to many other rare Pokémon that pose quite a challenge to track down and capture. If you’re looking for Pokémon to help you fill up your Pokédex, you’ve come to the right place! Starter Pokémon, Spiritomb, Riolu, and more — let’s get started!
Starter Pokémon
Of course, you can obtain either Turtwig, Chimchar, or Piplup at the start of the game. That being said, once you’ve obtained the National Dex you can find all three of them wandering the Grand Underground! At that point, all you have to do is catch them. If you’re looking to complete your Pokédex but can’t trade, this is a great way to start.
Furthermore, you can also find Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle — and the Johto and Hoenn starters as well. They’re obtained in the same fashion. Walk around the Grand Underground and explore the big rooms, and you’ll eventually find the Pokémon you’re looking for!
Drifloon
After completing the Valley Windworks mission and saving it from Team Galactic, Drifloon will start appearing out front on Fridays. Make sure it’s actually Friday, by the way — changing the date manually might not always work. Drifloon will appear at Level 22, so if you haven’t beaten the game yet, be sure to prepare! If you accidentally knock out Drifloon, it’ll reappear next Friday. Although that is kind of a long time to wait.
Spiritomb
And while you’re in the Grand Underground, you can work your way towards encountering Spiritomb, too! Unfortunately, it may take a while. You still have to talk to 32 people in the Grand Underground, and this counts named NPCs who randomly appear in tunnels (but it doesn’t count merchant hikers). This time around, though, you actually have to talk to 32 different people — you can’t talk to the same one 32 times. This means Spiritomb is tough to encounter before you beat the game. That’s a shame, because it’s such a cool Pokémon!
Gible
Just like in the originals, Gible appears in Wayward Cave. That being said, it’s a rare encounter and you can only access it after obtaining the Hidden Move Strength. You can also find high-leveled Gible in the Grand Underground — they may appear more often after obtaining the National Dex. We were able to find them in the Fountainspring Cave near Sunyshore City, so check there as a last resort! You may also run into a Gabite instead.
Riolu
You can find Riolu in the same manner as in the original versions of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl. That is to say, you can only obtain it via an egg you get on Iron Island. It’s entirely possible to miss this, by the way, since Iron Island is optional in these games. If you’re looking to add a Riolu (and eventually Lucario) to your team, make sure you plan a trip to Iron Island! Bring a Water-type or Grass-type Pokémon to easily defeat the Rock-type Pokémon present there.
Rotom
Believe it or not, Rotom isn’t a Legendary Pokémon! As mentioned earlier, you can check out the link to our Legendary Pokémon guide right here. Anyway, Rotom can be found in the Old Chateau at night. Check the TV in one of the back rooms and it’ll appear at Level 15. You’ll also receive the Secret Key afterward! You can then head over to the Team Galactic building in Eterna City to change its form. Unfortunately, Rotom only appears after you obtain the National Dex, so you won’t be able to use it on an in-game team.
If you have any questions regarding Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl that weren’t answered here, you’re welcome to join our Discord community! We have an active Pokémon playerbase and we can even help you finish your Pokédex if you’d like. We’ve got plenty more content for Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, and you can read it all down below. Good luck and thank you for reading!
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