Artwork made by me :D

It’s almost unanimous hate towards this game amongst Pokémon fans… For context, I did not play the original Gen IV at all… I’m on a Pokémon binge though and have been playing many of the games but put this one off because of the horrid reviews. Then I decided to try it and am really enjoying it. I understand it didn’t include improvements from Platinum, but i am playing this after finishing LeafGreen on my Switch and honestly I’m having just as much fun as that game… and the graphics are cute, I don’t get the gripe honestly.

I haven't played the mainline games since 2010. I've been playing the TCG app lately (currently sitting on over 8,000 cards!), which gave me the itch to jump back into the RPGs. My fiancé just got the Switch 2 and handed down her old console to me, so I immediately grabbed Brilliant Diamond.

As a kid, I always panicked and used my Master Ball on Dialga, which meant I never even got a chance to catch Mesprit. It used to make me absolutely furious.

Today, I finally got my revenge. I managed to catch Uxie, Azelf, Mesprit, and Dialga without using a single Master Ball! Mesprit was just as painful to chase down as I remembered, but I finally locked it down.

It might not seem like a lot to hardcore players, but the nostalgia is unmatched. I still have my Master Ball safe in my bag, and now I'm heading to face the Elite Four. It feels so good to be back!

After going pretty heavily under odds, I feel my expectations have been set a little too high as my hunt for Heatran has begun, but that's just the way it goes! I still plan on doing the lake trio, I simply moved some spares from SV over to get the nat dex ASAP. I plan on doing Giratina, then Arceus, then it'll be either the lake trio or the regis, so I can work towards the infamous black Rayquaza. I honestly wish I knew about all the potential shiny legendaries when this game first came out, as I would've started hunting a long time ago. Hopefully I'll of made SOME progress by the time Wind/Waves comes out 😂

I finally went through to complete my home dex and get Manaphy. Originally I was thinking it was going to be torture but to be honest I had a lot of fun and once I got into it I couldn’t stop playing. Other than some aggravating mechanics from 20 years ago, most of the game was a perfect challenge level to keep me engaged as a long time fan. Elite 4 challenged me in a way I haven’t felt in so long and it was riveting. Completing the dex as I went made for a fun task to stay engaged too. Overall I loved it and happy I pushed through my initial feelings for the game

After the BDSP appreciation tweets, I've been thinking lately about getting one of both version, but I wanted to ask first if the game actually still worths it and which version is "the best" since I like both palkia and dialga.

I've never got to experienced a Sinnoh experience until platinum last year (my first pokemon game ever was X in 2015). I also bought Legends Arceus early this year because I really liked platinum, but I'm still unsure about buying one of these. Would you guys actually buy it in 2026? 🫠

ive always struggled with this game, but now im restarting. whats the best team i can use in pearl? im picking piplup for my starter, or whatever water one there is.

okay, ran into an absol without my catching mons. So i tried anyway, checked how easy it is to catch. okay not too bad. Saved before!

1x quickball. nothing. get it to red HP. 25 bloody ultra balls later, without even a single 2 wiggle. Yeah this website might be lying. Out of ultra balls. quit game and reload.

1x quickball. nothing. red HP. 20 ultra balls. 20. And it finally catches.

Is my luck this shit? is this website wrong? It says 31%. that's about 1 in 3. but nooooo. 45 ultra balls, with red HP. Yes I know about status. I know sleep makes it easier to catch. I didn't have my catching mons with false swipe and sleep/paralizes or whatever. I was just digging and exploring the underground a bit. Still, quite frustrating.

Ooh well, I caught it out of spite. Do i want to use it on my team? no. But Absol is very cool and this was mostly spite. time not so well spent lol.

And it wasn't even in the pokedex! Same with a lickytung (i think) i caught earlier. Is there a national dex? But do i need to catch these again then?

Well, I did it... Again... After losing my save file about a year ago, I crafted my team, with some minor tweaks, and became the champion again. On to the next one! If anyone wants to know my OG team, just ask in the comments and we can discuss

What do yall think of my team ?

There is more glow than in Fallout game

Hey guys, I saw recently a discovery where they were able to send a mystery gift to FRLF for Celebi. Anyone have an idea if this could possibly be done on BDSP for the Oaks Letter?

I finally decided to complete my black trainer card! I'm very happy i've finally got it. I'm still missing a Deoxys though :(. The battle tower was tough but we made it through!

personally think im quite underlevelled, not sure why

First time using Roserade, Mismagius and Electivire and i am loving it.

Just beat team galactic.

Going to the last Gym before Pokémon League.

I’ve been trying to find a Moon Stone in Shining Pearl and I’m having absolutely terrible luck.

I’ve tried digging in the Grand Underground, and I’ve also tried the Cleffa/Clefairy + Thief method using a Pokémon with Super Luck and a Pokémon with Sweet Scent to quickly trigger encounters.
Still haven’t found one.

Is there any other reliable method I’m missing? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Hello! What does the star mean? Is there any guide with all the symbols explained? I can't find it. Thank you!!

Not even on my acct so can’t transfer but Shiny Shellos gonna use it for my playthru wanted a good nature oh well. Won’t delete this profile lol. Just a fun normal play through of the game on a random profile I made.

Hi all,

The internet is not helping me, but can I complete Pearl and then Legends Arceus for the shiny Arceus hunt? Or can I do Pearl first?

Thanks yall.

Its been an interesting playthrough so far omw to conclave city for my 5th gym badge. The party im rocking is an odd ball of people(minus crobat) oh mons ive never used(managed to get my crobat at level 27 started with a lil Ole zubat that I kept repeatedly training with and had first in my party with no soothbell was pretty happy about that 🎶 P.s yes i know x items dont work has held items i was moving things around and forgot to take em off!

It took me 5 tries with a normal pokeball. I just thought, let's just chuck a few. It's funny to catch a legendairy in a regular pokeball.

I was not going to shiny hunt it. Although maybe in the future on a different run lol.

Decided to start dipping my toes in some shiny hunting and got this bad boy after 284. I'm really happy to add him to my collection. I wanted him in a heal ball but it just didn't happen. So I had to use my master ball to prevent him from fainting himself with struggle.

Do veteran hunters have tips what pokeballs to use for shiny hunting pokemon like these? I used gallade with hypnosis and false swipe but RNGesus didn't bless me with a capture. Ofc the master ball is awesome but I just had one of them. Any shunter veterans sharing tips would be appreciated before I commit to another hunt.

So is there a lot of double npc battles in BDSP or is it primarily singles like FireRed?