This page explains how to obtain the National Pokédex in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (BDSP).

The Pokédex you received at the start only lists the 151 Pokémon found natively in the Sinnoh region. The National Pokédex is the upgraded model that covers all 493 Pokémon, across all regions (at the time of the original Pokémon Diamond and Pearl).

You can receive the National Pokédex from the visiting Professor Oak, when you speak to Professor Rowan in Sandgem Town, having seen all 150 Pokémon in Sinnoh, with the exception of Manaphy (since it’s a Mythical).

Although this may seem like a tall order, it’s actually not too hard. Unless you’ve done some crazy shenanigans, if you check the number of Pokémon you’ve seen, it should be above 100 through compulsory battles alone. If you’ve been diligent and fought every trainer, that number should be above 140. (This is because there isn’t much variety in Sinnoh.)

Where to Find the Missing Pokémon¶

Legendary Pokémon¶

The Pokémon you’re most likely to miss are the Legendary Pokémon besides the one you caught at the Spear Pillar. Obviously, if you’re playing Brilliant Diamond for example, you may have caught Dialga, but you’ll struggle to find a Palkia just wandering around.

What you need to do is return to Celestic Town, then visit Cynthia’s mother–the old lady–in her house near the back. She’ll show you the Legendary not found in your version.

Next, you may be missing the lake trio. So that’s potentially three more for your Pokédex. You can encounter the lake trio after dealing with the Spear Pillar incident. Please refer to the following pages for details:

• How to Catch Uxie
• How to Catch Mesprit
• How to Catch Azelf

Drifloon¶

You might not realize it at first, but Drifloon is probably the one that trips up players the most. The only way to encounter and catch Drifloon is during Fridays at the Valley Windworks. So during 6 out of 7 days of the week, there’s nothing you can do.

If you’re still early on (unlikely if you’re reading this page), there are trainers in the Hearthome City Gym that send out Drifloon. Trouble is, the design of that gym encourages you to skip all the trainers. Then once you’ve defeated the Gym Leader, the trainers will no longer challenge you.

Unown¶

Not as frustrating as Drifloon, but another Pokémon that’s off the beaten path. Unown is only encountered in the Solaceon Ruins and no trainer uses one. So if you haven’t been already, remember to take a trip there.

Other Pokémon¶

All other Pokémon can be encountered in the wild or via trainer battles. That said, it’s understandable if you use Repels to avoid wild Pokémon (or you’re plain unlucky) and/or you skip trainers to rush ahead or to stop your team from becoming over-leveled.

Here’s a list of all the Pokémon you can miss and their common locations: