After months of waiting, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are finally here. In this guide, we will be going over a few of the Pokemon BDSP tips that we think are essential for you to get a head-start in the game alongside your Pokemon buddies!
Pokemon BDSP Tips
There are various dynamics of Pokemon BDSP, that can even confuse veterans of the Pokemon franchise.
That’s why we’ll go over the best tips and tricks in Pokemon BDSP!
Choose the Starter that You Like
In Pokemon BDSP, your starter Pokemon should be the one that you like the most. Having picked one, build a team, consisting of different typings, around the starter Pokemon.
The way you diversify your team depends far more than your choice of the starter Pokemon.
Piplup as Starter is a Good Option
Choosing any starter Pokemon is fine, but if you want an advantage against early gym leaders from the get-go, it is advisable to get Piplup. Piplup is a water-type Pokemon, and it will be really useful against most of the Pokemon you will face in the early gym leader fights.
Free Mew and Jirachi
If you have older save data from your Pokemon Sword and Shield games, you are then eligible to get a free Jirachi from a guy in Floaroma Town.
On the other hand, if you also happen to have save data from Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu! Or Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee! You can get a Mew from the lady right next to the guy.
These two Legendary Pokemon can easily help carry you through the initial stage of the game.
Best Way to Catch New Pokemon
Ever been frustrated because you accidentally killed a Pokemon you wanted to catch? Wasted too many Pokeballs on one Pokemon? Well, there are a few techniques you need to utilize in order to maximize your probability of successfully catching a Pokemon.
- If any of your Pokemon knows False Swipe, they’ll be able to bring down a Pokemon’s HP to 1 without ever killing them!
- Always make sure to put your enemy to Sleep or Freeze them before you throw a Pokeball.
- Try to use Special Balls.
Now, you obviously don’t need to use all three of these tactics, unless you’re catching a Legendary Pokemon that is. But, keep in mind that using even one of these for your journey to complete the Pokedex should be more than enough!
Manually Save Before Anything Important
It doesn’t matter if you’re going up against an important battle, or about to fight a really rare one-time Pokemon, then it’s always best to save.
The save feature will save you time, and often give you a second chance for situations that you might not otherwise get.
Consider yourself in a situation where you’re up against Dialga. Now, if you accidentally kill this literal God in the Pokemon world, you’re not going to be able to get it again unless it’s from trading.
And it’s not just that either! By reloading a game, you’ll be able to get a different Pokemon nature and IVs. You can repeat this until you get the nature that you need!
How to Earn Money Fast
A great way to boost your earnings from Pokemon trainer battles is to get the Amulet Coin and Luck Incense, both of which can be obtained from Hearthome City and Ravaged Path (North Section on Route 204 once you have Surf) respectively.
If you want to farm more money, the trainers on Route 12, south of Hearthome City are the best money-making trainers.
Did you know about Repel?
You can avoid unnecessary encounters and save yourself a lot of time by using Repel to avoid any battles from occurring as you walk through wild grass.
Just Go Along the Ride
Once you build your party around the starter Pokemon, the EXP will automatically be shared between all Pokemon, meaning that you won’t have to focus on the weak ones to raise them.
So, all you have to do is just go along the flow of the game and all your Pokemon, both stronger and weaker ones, will evolve over time.
Note that some of these Pokemon can be caught even before you get a gym badge and their evolved forms can later prove to be quite beneficial to you.
Utilize the Move Relearner
Move relearner is a brand-new feature in Pokemon BDSP, so once you pick the super decks, you can pick up the super rod, right outside of Route 225.
So, cast out a super rod, hope it’s a love disc, use thief covet, catch it, rinse and repeat.
Note that you only need 10 heart scales to permanently unlock the move relearner.
You’ll find the move relearner in Pastoria city; show them a Pokemon, and given that you have a heart scale, you’ll get to relearn a move.
However, this feature doesn’t allow TMs and egg moves.
It’s worth noting that you can also find heart scales in the underground so instead of looking for a love disc, you can opt to spend time underground.
Finding the IVs of your Pokemon for Breeding or Competition
In the boxes, you can press plus on the Pokemon to display the stats or the IVs of the Pokemon, but for that, you’ll need to unlock the judge feature in the battle tower.
The judge feature, in turn, requires you to have beaten the Elite Four.
Make the Suitable Pickup Team
Ambipom is the strongest pickup Pokemon in Pokemon BDSP. It has high damaging moves so you can use it to fight just about anyone along the way. So, you must have at least one Ambipom in your team.
Apart from Ambipom, have five Level 60 Pachirisu in your team and you are good to go.
It’s worth mentioning that some of the items, like Dusk Stones and Dawn Stones, are only available through pickup.
Utilize Your Poketch
The importance of Poketch is incredibly underrated in Pokemon BDSP. It can help you locate hidden items, keep you up-to-date on your party’s HP, and improve the way in which you use HMs.
Fight As Many Trainer Battles as You Can
In Pokemon BDSP, you are going to encounter a lot of trainers and if you wish to earn as much XP as possible, try not to avoid any trainer battle.
Look Out for a Special Animation
In Pokemon BDSP, if you get a special animation after encountering a Pokemon, it means that the Pokemon has at least two IVs.
IVs are very difficult to get in Pokemon BDSP because the chaining is bugged. So, any time that you can scrape IVs for, say, a breeding parent, take advantage of the situation.
Explore the Grand Underground
Grand Underground is the core of Pokemon BDSP. You want to always be connected to the internet as people will be getting digletts, and that will add up to the diglett bonus, and make it happen faster if you’re going for the diglett bonus farming.
You should also be aware of the Pokemon, that spawn in Grand Underground, and farm them to enhance your gameplay.
Apart from that, you would want to set up your secret base outside of a Diglett spawn, especially if you’re contributing to the Diglett bonus.
It’s recommended that you set up your secret base above the Diglett. That way, you just press down and then hold down, and collect the Diglett.
Digletts give you Pink Sparkles whenever you find them. After you get 40 Pink Sparkles, your meter is maxed out and this will increase your likelihood of finding Shiny Pokemon statues while digging.
These statues increase your chances of finding rare Pokemon and also look good in your secret base. This status resets after you leave the base, so make sure you try to not waste it.
Another thing that you want to do in Grand Underground is to talk to every stationary NPC you see down here, after placing the odd keystone in the hallowed tower. NPCs will contribute to the spirit tomb and eventually unlock it.
Also, while in the underground, you should focus to keep on digging. Although there is no way to ensure that you are getting more rare items, you should take whatever you’re getting.
Generally, the hammer is better than the pick because, with the pick, you need to hit 50 times to break the wall whereas the hammer requires only 25 blows.
Moreover, the hammer also clears more space as compared to the pick. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for the optimal hitting patterns and be more creative.
Finally, while in the underground, if you have the national decks, head on over to a lava biome because you can pick up a Magcargo or Slugma, and with the flame body ability, it hatches eggs faster.
Trade with other Players
As in most of the Pokemon games, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl also has some Pokemon exclusive to each version. If you want to catch all the Pokemon to complete your Pokedex, you will have to trade the other version exclusive Pokemon from other players.
You can also get all three starters in the game by trading with another Switch console!
Talk with all the Characters
In Pokemon BDSP, it will be really beneficial for you to talk with everyone you can as different NPCs will give you different items such as TMs, HMs, and other things. So, talk to every character you see in-game to get these things.
Battle Tower
Battle Tower allows you to challenge opponents back to back in consecutive fights. You can bring a team of 3 Pokemon to fight, and all Pokemon are allowed except for event Pokemon and legendary Pokemon.
The banned Pokemon are Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Mew, Jirachi, Manaphy.
To enter the Battle Tower, simply go to the middle counter and challenge the Battle Tower. You will enter a room where you will face 7 consecutive trainers.
After you beat all of these, you can go back to the counter and you can join the next room and challenge the next 7 trainers.
Your win streaks are carried over to the next rooms as you progress, and is reverted to 0 whenever you lose. You can choose between single and double battles, and these are separate, so losing your streak in one won’t affect the other.
When you fight in the Tycoon Tower, all Pokemon become level 50 for as long as you are fighting. This helps even the playing field for all players. These battles don’t give any EXP or Effort Values on winning.
You get Battle Points for winning fights in Battle Towers. You get 3 for all trainers and 30 points for winning against Tower Tycoon. These points can be used in Exchange Service Corner to purchase different items
The Tower Tycoon is your Father’s Rival (because why not). He is the trainer you face on your 21st and 49th consecutive battle. His team will change in between the two encounters.
The first team includes Milotic, Rhyperior and Dragonite, and for the second encounter, the Tower Tycoon brings Regigigas, Heatran and Cresselia.
To fight Tower Tycoon, the best choice is Gyarados. It also works well against Palmer, so make sure you get a Gyarados and place him on the second slot on your team.
After you get 49 consecutive wins, you unlock Master Class Battles. This can be done by winning the streak in single or double battles. These battles are more difficult all your opponents will have fully evolved Pokemon as well as Legendary Pokemon.
