How To Find & Catch Giratina in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Pokémon: Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl gives trainers another chance to battle, catch, and train Gen IV’s iconic Legendary Pokémon, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. While Dialga and Palkia are the games’ box Legendaries and are fought at the Spear Pillar in the climax of their respective versions, Giratina and its Distortion World are not featured as part of the games’ main story as they were in Pokémon: Platinum. However, Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl allows players to face a ton of Legendary Pokémon, and Giratina makes a grand appearance despite its absence from the games’ main plot. In addition, trainers hoping to add Sinnoh’s antimatter deity to their team will be able to find and catch this Pokémon in the wild as part of Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl’s postgame content.

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl promised to be packed with Legendaries with the inclusion of its new Ramanas Park, which allows players to face off with some of the franchise’s most powerful Pokémon. There are 18 Legendaries between both versions of the game, including those that can be caught in this postgame park and in the wild of the Sinnoh region itself. While Giratina also makes an appearance as the final Legendary that can be fought in Ramanas Park, players have to capture this Pokémon’s Altered Form in the wild before facing its Origin Form in the park’s Distortion Room.

Once players complete every entry in their Sinnoh Pokédex, they’ll receive the National Dex from Professor Oak, which allows them to catch all 493 of the Pokémon that had been introduced to the franchise as of Gen IV. This includes the Legendary Giratina, but it can only be found after players defeat the Elite Four and the reigning Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia. In addition, Giratina will no longer be waiting for players at the top of Mount Coronet as it was in Platinum but can instead be found in a hidden postgame area called Turnback Cave.

How To Catch Giratina In Pokémon BDSP

After claiming the title of Pokémon League Champion and obtaining Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearls’ National Pokédex, there will be a newly opened path on the right side of Route 214 just south of Veilstone City near a Psychic trainer. This path will lead them down Spring Path, which has Pokémon around level 50-55 that can be caught if players need to add some higher-level Pokémon to their team before they face Giratina. Turnback Cave is at the end of Spring Path, and players must use Defog once inside to clear the path ahead.

The ruins in the center of the room will cryptically inform players that three pillars within the cave must be found before entering a total of 30 rooms. The pillars spawn entirely at random, so there’s no set path to navigate the cave’s rooms. Instead, each pillar will tally how many rooms have been entered so far, letting players know how many they have left to enter before reaching the 30th room, which will send them back to the start of the cave.

After encountering the third pillar, Giratina will be waiting for the trainer in whichever room they enter next. Giratina is a level 70 Ghost/Dragon-type Pokémon, making it the only Legendary in the game that is weak to both of its types. It’s also weak to Ice, Fairy, and Dark-type Pokémon, but it’s resistant to Fire, Water, Grass, Poison, Bug, and Electric-types and has immunity to Normal and Fighting-type moves. Like Dialga and Palkia, Giratina has the Pressure ability, which causes its opponent to use more PP per move. Its move-set has also been updated since its original appearance in Platinum, as it now knows the following moves:

• Shadow Force
• Aura Sphere
• Dragon Claw
• Pain Split

Shadow Force and Pain Split are the moves that players need to watch out for most, as Shadow Force will do a massive amount of damage and prevent Giratina from taking damage for a turn, as it will vanish. Pain Split will also make this fight particularly tricky as Giratina will combine its current HP with its opponent and increase or decrease each Pokémon’s health by half of the total amount, making it difficult for players to keep its health low enough to capture it. This move can also cut a Pokémon’s health drastically if the player has managed to keep their own party’s health up through the fight when Giratina’s health is close to 1.

Dusk Balls are the most effective type of Pokéball for capturing Giratina as they’re more effective than Ultra Balls when used inside caves. These can be purchased at Pastoria City’s Pokémart as well as the shop in Celestic Town, and players can take advantage of their cheap price tag to stock up before their encounter. Players should also be sure to come prepared with plenty of medicines and defense-boosting items to withstand Giratina’s powerful attacks.

It’s a good idea to bring a Normal-type Pokémon along to switch in when Giratina disappears the turn it uses Shadow Force, allowing the player to negate its damage with the Normal-type immunity to Ghost-type moves. Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff are great options for this battle, as their Normal/Fairy-type can effectively counter Giratina’s Ghost/Dragon-type. Additionally, a Pokémon who knows the move Taunt will be able to prevent Giratina from using Pain Split for a few turns, giving trainers a window in which they can hurl Dusk Balls at it while it’s unable to regain HP.

Once players capture Giratina, they will also be able to obtain the Griseous Orb to change it from its Altered Form to its Origin Form. Giratina appears in its Altered Form outside of the Distortion World, which isn’t present in Pokémon BDSP. However, players can face Origin Form Giratina as the final battle of Ramanas Park in the Distortion Room once they’ve obtained the Distortion Slate, which can only be bought if they’ve caught Giratina in the wild. This level 100 Legendary can’t be caught, but once it’s defeated, players will receive the Griseous Orb, which will allow them to change their own Giratina into its Origin Form.

Pokémon: Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are available on Nintendo Switch.

About The Author