This page includes strategies for fighting Origin Dialga and Palkia in Pokémon Legends Arceus (PLA).

For the final battle of the main story, you must battle Dialga or Palkia, in their Origin Form, at the Temple of Sinnoh.

Origin Dialga’s Info¶

Dialga’s Origin Form is brand new. It can change into this form after using the Adamant Crystal key item. Besides its different appearance, not much changes, besides swapping 20 points of Attack for Sp. Def.

Origin Dialga’s Weaknesses & Strengths¶

Like its previous form, Origin Dialga is weak to Fighting and Ground. Meanwhile, it resists Normal, Water, Electric, Grass, Fluing, Psychic, Bug, Rock and Steel, and is immune to Poison.

Origin Palkia’s Info¶

Palkia’s Origin Form is brand new. It can change into this form after using the Lustrous Globe key item. Besides its different appearance, not much changes, besides swapping 20 points of Attack for Speed.

Origin Palkia’s Weaknesses & Strengths¶

Like its previous form, Origin Palkia is weak to Dragon and Fairy. Meanwhile, it resists Fire, Water and Steel.

Origin Dialga & Palkia’s Attacks¶

Versus You¶

When battling Origin Dialga or Palkia head on, these are the attacks to watch out for.

To throw you off, there’s a high chance that Origin Dialga/Palkia will perform a teleporting attack at the beginning. It will crouch down, disappear and then immediately appear near you, before creating a red explosion. The moment Dialga/Palkia disappears, roll to the side. On rare occasions, it’ll skip this attack at the start and/or use this attack mid-fight.

Next, Dialga/Palkia will summon single meteors. It will look upwards while a ball of energy briefly appears near its mouth. A ring of red flames will appear below you. Move away or dodge twice to escape the ring. After a while, a meteor will crash into the ring, leaving behind a purple ring that inflicts damage. It will summon four meteors, but only one purple ring will persist.

After the meteor strikes, Dialga/Palkia will generate expanding energy waves around it. These will spread outwards–and the only way to not get hit is to dodge roll through them, like in the *Lilligant fight. There will be three energy waves.

From here, Dialga/Palkia will generally alternate between meteors and energy waves. However, there are multiple variants of the meteor attack, which it can use as the fight drags on.

The first variant is the lines of meteors. Instead of a single ring of fire, multiple rings will appear in a straight line centered on both you and Dialga/Palkia. Soon afterwards, meteors will fall down onto those rings, leaving behing a trail of damaging, purple flames. Dialga/Palkia will do this four times; likewise, only one purple line will persist. You can easily side-step to avoid being hit.

After performing this attack, the last line of purple flames will remain on the floor while Dialga/Palkia uses its energy wave attack. This will reduce the area you can dodge to half the arena. But that’s all the space you need.

There’s also a variant of this variant. Occasionally, the lines of meteors do not center on Dialga/Palkia’s position; they only center on your position. That means them less predictable, so you can’t just strafe around Dialga/Palkia to avoid the meteors. Otherwise, they’re fairly easy to avoid, so long as you’re paying attention to the ground below you.

The one that’ll most likely catch you out is a faster paced version of the single meteors. Every now and then, Dialga/Palkia may summon a ring below you that very quickly turns dark, followed by a falling and exploding meteor. If you dodge too early, there’s a high chance you’ll get hit by the explosion. Instead, dodge the moment you see the meteor land.

The final variant is the scariest-looking, but not too bad compared to the previous one. Dialga/Palkia will stand on its hind legs and gather energy, while three energy balls float above it. While this is happening, it’ll summon single meteors. Like in the *Arcanine fight, you must throw balms at Dialga/Palkia to destroy the balls or it’ll unleash a devastating, unavoidable attack. After stopping this attack, Dialga/Palkia will be stunned.

Versus Pokémon¶

When sending a Pokémon to fight Origin Dialga, it can use the following moves.

• Earth Power: A strong Ground-type attack.
• Iron Tail: A strong Steel-type attack, but has low accuracy. May lower the target’s defensive stats.
• Flash Cannon: A strong Steel-type attack. May lower the target’s defensive stats.
• Roar of Time: Dialga’s signature move. A very powerful Dragon-type attack, but has low accuracy.

When sending a Pokémon to fight Origin Palkia, it can use the following moves.

• Earth Power: A strong Ground-type attack.
• Aqua Tail: A strong Water-type attack.
• Hydro Pump: A strong Water-type attack, but has somewhat low accuracy.
• Spacial Rend: Palkia’s signature move. A strong Dragon-type attack with a high critical hit ratio.

Battling Origin Dialga & Palkia¶

Recommended Pokémon¶

If you’re good at throwing balms, you shouldn’t need to send out any Pokémon. However, just in case…

When facing Origin Dialga, we recommend Fighting and Ground-types. It’s tempting to use Palkia for story purposes, but it’s too risky, since Palkia is susceptible to Dialga’s Roar of Time. If you chosen Rowlet at the start, Hisuian Decidueye is a solid pick. Other suggestions include Ursaluna and Torterra.

Meanwhile, if your opponent is Origin Palkia, you can send out Dialga and rely on Roar of Time or, if you’re concerned about its accuracy, Dragon Pulse (you will need to change its moves, to swap Dragon Pulse back in). Besides that, there’s most Fairy-types, eg. Sylveon and Gardevoir. Or Hisuian Goodra.

Strategy¶

As the final boss fight, this fight can be somewhat tricky due to its chaotic nature. However, once you’ve learned the patterns, it’s a pretty straightforward fight, minus one section, which you can skip if you’re good.

Annoyingly, the very first attack is probably the hardest to dodge. Dialga/Palkia will frequently perform an instant-teleport attack, which can catch you off-guard and de-moralize you. When you see Dialga/Palkia crouch down, prepare yourself. The moment it leaves you sight, dodge!

From here, most of the meteor attacks and the energy waves are very predictable. Dialga/Palkia will always launch four sets of meteors, perform 3 energy waves and then cycle. The only unpredictable element is which meteor attack it’ll use. Initially, it’ll alternate between the singular meteors and line of meteors. Both are simple to dodge; just keep moving, while circling Dialga/Palkia.

When the fight drags on, Dialga/Palkia may use an annoying version of the single meteors, where some of the rings that appear beneath you are right near the end of summoning a meteor. You’ll notice these when the center of the ring darkens the moment it appears. Wait for the meteor to hit the ring, then dodge just before the meteor explodes. Dodge too early and the explosion will get you.

That said, the timing to avoid these fast-falling meteors is very difficult to get right. The easiest way to avoid them is to end the fight ASAP, so you don’t see them. In fact, if you’re good, you can finish this fight without sending in a Pokémon. Check out our video below to see how you can maximize your uptime.

The key to a fast victory is memorizing the attack patterns. Count the number of meteors (4) and energy waves (3) and use the openings between each meteor to throw balms. Remember that you can lock on with the ZL button to make aiming easier. This should prevent you from missing your balms while panicking, wasting your time.