How to catch Dialga & Palkia in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

The Legendary Gen IV mascots can be added to your Party in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. Here’s how to get Dialga and Palkia in BDSP, including location and how to add both to your Sinnoh Pokedex.

Every pair of mainline titles has two mascots, and the Generation 4 remakes are no different, with Dialga headlining Brilliant Diamond and Palkia for Shining Pearl.

You can actually catch the representing Legendary for your game and use it in your team because, well, you are the Pokemon League Champion, of course!

The Pokemon Company / ILCA

The Legendary you can get depends on your game version.

How to catch Dialga & Palkia in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Before you go hunting for both Legendary Pokemon, know that you can only catch one per version. So for Diamond, it’s Dialga and Palkia in Pearl.

Both are found in the same place, so the following steps work for each game:

1. After beating Commander Jupiter at Lake Acuity, fly to Veilstone City and head to the Team Galactic HQ. Speak to the Galactic Grunt outside and he’ll drop the Storage Key.
2. Go to the Galactic Warehouse just left of the HQ and use the Storage Key to get in. Fight your way past Scientist Frederick down a set of stairs. You’ll see two Poke Balls on the ground in this room; the one on the left is the Galactic Key.
3. Run back to the HQ and use your newly acquired key. Make your way through and you’ll eventually battle Cyrus and then Commander Saturn. Exit the building.
4. Head to Mt. Coronet from Route 207 and traverse through to the peak, fighting Grunts along the way. Once you’re at the top, Cyrus will summon Dialga or Palkia and you’ll have to fight Commanders Jupiter and Mars.
5. After beating them, it’s time for your second showdown with Cyrus. Kick his butt and then Professor Rowan will appear. You can now challenge and catch your version’s Legendary.

The Pokemon Company / ILCA

The method is the same for both games.

How to see both Legendary Pokemon for your Sinnoh Pokedex

Depending on which version of BDSP you have, you will be missing the other Legendary by the end of the story. For example, if you own Brilliant Diamond, you will have Dialga in your Pokedex but you will not have seen Palkia.

You can trade with another player to register the other one if you want to, but you don’t have to. You can actually register the missing one in the post-game:

1. Defeat the Elite Four and become the Sinnoh Champion.
2. Fly to Celestic Town and find Cynthia’s grandmother in her house.
3. She will show you a picture of the other game’s Legendary Pokemon, which will count as being “seen” without having to own it yourself.

ILCA / The Pokemon Company

In the post-game, you can see the Legendary Pokemon missing from your game.

Now that you know how to get Dialga and Palkia, take a look at some of our other Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl guides and walkthroughs:

How to get Regigigas | How to get Shaymin | How to get Jirachi | How to get Mew | Version exclusives | All Legendary Pokemon | How to get the Poketch | Best starter to pick | All Styles | How to beat all Gym Leaders | How to walk with your Pokemon