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How to get Lugia & Ho-Oh in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Complete guide to capturing Lugia and Ho-Oh in BDSP with advanced strategies and practical tips

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Complete guide to capturing Lugia and Ho-Oh in BDSP with advanced strategies and practical tips

Prerequisites for Legendary Hunting

The Sinnoh region remakes offer exciting opportunities to capture legendary Pokemon from previous generations. This comprehensive guide reveals the step-by-step process for obtaining the iconic Johto legendary duo in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl.

Trainers seeking the legendary Tower duo must complete specific prerequisites before accessing their encounter locations. Here’s your complete roadmap to capturing Lugia and Ho-Oh in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl expand beyond the Sinnoh region with post-game content featuring legendary Pokemon from earlier generations. These remakes include special mechanics for dedicated trainers to encounter rare creatures.

Johto region enthusiasts will be delighted to discover that both Lugia and Ho-Oh are available through a hidden post-game feature requiring careful preparation and strategic planning.

  • Essential requirements for encountering Lugia and Ho-Oh
  • Complete slate unlock progression path

    • Players must finish the entire main storyline before attempting to capture Lugia and Ho-Oh. These legendary Pokemon become accessible exclusively through post-game content mechanics.

  • Read More: How to get Ditto in BDSP

    • Before pursuing the Tower Duo, trainers need to acquire the National Pokedex and accomplish several preparatory steps to unlock the legendary encounters.

  • First, defeat Sinnoh League Champion Cynthia to conclude the primary narrative. Following this achievement, you must finish your Sinnoh Pokedex by encountering all 150 regional Pokemon.
  • Professor Rowan located in Sandgem Town will award you the National Pokedex after confirming you’ve encountered every Sinnoh Pokemon.
  • After obtaining the expanded Pokedex, Ramanas Park becomes accessible. To reach this location, travel south from Sandgem Town until arriving at the coastal area. Utilize the Surf HM to navigate the water routes heading east along Route 219. Continue through Route 220 and 221 until discovering the park entrance.
  • Lugia and Ho-Oh await inside specialized chambers within the park called the Rainbow Room and Squall Room.
  • To challenge these legendary creatures, you must initially purchase the Rainbow Slate and Squall Slate from the park’s merchandise counter. However, accessing these specific slates requires unlocking numerous other slates in a predetermined sequence.

    • Lugia Capture Process

    Important: Lugia appears exclusively in Shining Pearl version, meaning Brilliant Diamond owners must arrange trades to obtain this Psychic/Flying legendary.

  • Read More: How to get Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres in BDSP

    • To encounter Lugia, trainers need to unlock eight preceding slates before obtaining the Squall Slate.

  • Upon entering Ramanas Park, proceed to the main lobby and interact with the receptionist to access the specialty shop. Your initial purchase should be three Discovery Slates to capture Regice, Regirock, and Registeel.
  • Acquiring these slates requires a special currency known as Mysterious Shards . To collect them, venture into the Grand Underground using your Explorer Kit.
  • Inside the underground caverns, employ your pickaxe to excavate mineral walls. Mysterious Shards appear randomly during mining activities.
  • If shards prove elusive, enter and exit Hideaways to reset diggable walls. Repeat this technique until acquiring either 1 Mysterious Shard (L) or 3 Mysterious Shards.
  • After gathering sufficient shards, return to the park and purchase three Discovery Slates. After successfully capturing the three Regi Pokemon, additional slate types become available.
  • Following this progression, Brilliant Diamond players should acquire the Johto Slate three times for Raikou, Suicune, and Entei. Shining Pearl trainers need the Kanto Slate for the legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.
  • The subsequent unlock involves the Soul Slate containing Latios and Latias. Capturing the Hoenn region duo unlocks remaining slate options.
  • You can now finally acquire the Squall Slate. After purchasing, proceed to the Squall Room and insert the slate into the pedestal to summon Lugia. Engage in battle with the legendary Psychic-type and attempt capture.

    • Pro Tip: Bring Pokemon with False Swipe and status-inflicting moves like Hypnosis or Thunder Wave. Lugia has high defensive stats, so prepare for extended battles. Ultra Balls work well, but consider Timer Balls for prolonged encounters.

    Ho-Oh Capture Process

    Now that you’ve captured Lugia in the Squall Room, focus shifts to obtaining its legendary counterpart, Ho-Oh.

    Critical information: Ho-Oh appears exclusively in Brilliant Diamond version, requiring Shining Pearl players to coordinate trades for acquisition.

  • You access Ho-Oh by obtaining the Rainbow Slate.
  • Similar to previous slates, you’ll require either 1 Mysterious Shard (L) or 3 Mysterious Shards.
  • Utilize the Explorer Kit to journey to the Grand Underground.
  • After collecting adequate shards, return to the lobby and converse with the receptionist to buy the Rainbow Slate.
  • Proceed to the Rainbow Room and place the slate into the pedestal to summon Ho-Oh.
  • The legendary Fire/Flying-type Pokemon will immediately initiate combat, enabling capture attempts.

    • Advanced Strategy: Ho-Oh possesses the Pressure ability that drains PP rapidly. Bring Pokemon with high PP moves and consider using a Pokemon with the Skill Swap ability to neutralize this effect. Having a Pokemon that knows Sunny Day can weaken its Sacred Fire attack while powering up your Fire-type moves.

    Advanced Strategies & Optimization

    Below is a visual guide illustrating the specific slate acquisition sequence required to unlock Lugia and Ho-Oh.

  • Discovery Slate – Regice
  • Discovery Slate – Regirock
  • Discovery Slate – Registeel
  • Johto Slate – Suicune (Brilliant Diamond) / Kanto Slate – Articuno (Shining Pearl)
  • Johto Slate – Raikou (Brilliant Diamond) / Kanto Slate – Zapdos (Shining Pearl)
  • Johto Slate – Entei (Brilliant Diamond) / Kanto Slate – Moltres (Shining Pearl)

    • This comprehensive guide details the process for locating and capturing both Lugia and Ho-Oh in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. While the shard collection process demands patience, completing your legendary collection with the iconic Tower Duo proves immensely rewarding.

    Efficient Shard Farming: Focus on digging in areas with sparkling spots as they have higher shard drop rates. Bring a Pokemon with the Compound Eyes ability first in your party (even if fainted) to increase item drop chances by 50%.

    Common Mistakes to Avoid: Don’t waste Master Ball on either legendary until you’ve attempted capture with optimized strategies. Avoid using moves that might knock out the legendaries accidentally – False Swipe is essential. Remember to save before each encounter to reset if capture fails.

    Team Preparation: Ideal team includes a False Swipe user (Scizor or Breloom), status inflictor (Gallade with Hypnosis), tanky Pokemon to withstand attacks, and Pokemon with abilities that help in capture (Syncronize for nature control, Damp to prevent self-destruction).

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