Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl: Best tips and tricks to complete Pokedex

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl feature a regional Pokedex of 151 different creatures and a national Pokedex of 490 Pocket Monsters. While capturing critters was daunting during these games' original release in the early 2000s, filling the Pokedex is much more achievable in the modern era of the franchise.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have many tools that players can use to quickly fill up the Pokedex in one or two days. Here are some tips trainers should know if they want to take on this challenge.

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Tips for filling up the Pokedex in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

The Grand Underground is the best tool for Pokedex completion arguably ever implemented (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The updated underground feature from the original Sinnoh Pokemon games has been revitalized into the region's Grand Underground.

This feature is introduced fairly early into a playthrough (after reaching the second Gym). Unlike the original underground from the first set of Sinnoh titles, the Grand Underground features habitats where wild Pokemon live.

Here, players can find rare Pocket Monsters that they would normally not have access to until much later in a playthrough. Most notably, Munchlax, which was known as one of the rarest creatures in the original Sinnoh games, can be easily found in these habitats. Being underground, trainers can still mine for evolutionary stones and Pokemon fossils to revive in Oreburgh City.

Even after obtaining the national Pokedex, the Grand Underground is still useful for Pokedex completion as Pocket Monsters from other regions begin to appear in these underground habitats. Of course, fossils of creatures from other regions, like Kabuto, Omanyte, and Lileep, can also be found in the Grand Underground in the post-game.

Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl also give players access to various Legendary Pokemon through Mysterious Shards found in the Grand Underground, which can then be turned in at Ramanas Park for Legendary Slates. By interacting with underground NPCs, players can also awaken Spiritomb on Route 209.

Pokemon Home is a valuable resource for Pokedex completion in any Pokemon game (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Pokemon Home and other spin-offs are also helpful for completing the Pokedex. Among these, Pokemon GO stands out as the most beneficial, providing access to nearly every creature in the franchise. Additionally, it allows players to get their hands on trade evolutions without needing to trade with another trainer.

Both Pokemon GO and Pokemon Home are free to start, though Home requires a subscription to store more than 30 Pokemon at once. Using Home, players can transfer creatures obtained in Pokemon GO to Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. This can help trainers get their hands on difficult evolutions like Porygon-Z, Scizor, and Slowking.

Pokemon Legends Arceus can also connect to Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl to aid in completing the Pokedex. Most creatures from Sinnoh's regional dex can be found in Legends: Arceus. However, there are a few notable absences from the newer games, like the Wooper and Feebas evolution lines.

With these spin-off games, completing the Pokedex in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl becomes an easy task. Long-time Pokemon GO players can likely complete the game's Pokedex without needing Legends: Arceus since every creature from the Sinnoh region is available in the mobile game.