Pokémon BDSP: What to do After the Elite Four

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are faithful remakes, to say the least, in terms of the base-game content and how many of us remembered it back from 2006. It’s a game that appeals to casual and hardcore fans, even some critics. For those who want to stick around and see what the game has to offer beyond the Elite Four, here is what is in store in BDSP.

What to do after beating the Elite Four in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (BDSP)

Like all Pokemon games, the game doesn’t end once you defeat the champion of the Elite Four in a Pokemon battle. It really does depend on what you want to do after you hit those credits, though. You can be the type of trainer who wants to be a collector, a completionist, a competitive player, and more!

Explore the Grand Underground

One of the revamped aspects of the game compared to its 2006 counterpart is the Grand Underground. It’s essentially what the Underground was from the original Diamond and Pearl, but with a bunch of new Pokemon to encounter that aren’t exactly native to the Sinnoh region.

The Grand Underground is where you can find fossils, evolution stones, and Mysterious Shards. All of these items are of high value because fossils can be given to the museum in Oreburgh City where you can receive all the fossil Pokemon, of course with some version exclusives.

As for the evolution stones, those can be useful for evolving an Eevee, Growlithe, and others that require the use of such items. Finally, Mysterious Shards are needed to trade for slates at Ramanas Park.

Catch the legendary Pokemon at Ramanas Park

An exciting new feature added into Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is the ability to catch a majority of the legendary Pokemon from the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions. Ramanas Park can be accessed off the eastern exit from Route 221, but you’ll have to beat the Elite Four and complete your Sinnoh region Pokedex before being granted entry.

Here, you’ll also need to earn Mysterious Shards which you can then trade to the vendors. They’ll have a few selections of slates that you’ll have to complete, starting with the Regis. Depending on which version of the Sinnoh remakes you play, you’ll have access to either the legendary Kanto birds or the Johto dogs.

Complete your Pokedex

Fortunately for those who wanted a more pure Gen IV experience, the Pokedex only goes up to 493. This doesn’t include any Pokemon from games like Black/White and so on.

You can catch a majority of the Pokemon that are available in the 493 presented. This includes the starter Pokemon from each region and a majority of the legendaries. There is some obvious trading you’ll need to do like the version exclusives and Pokemon who only evolve when trading.

It currently isn’t possible to legitimately catch and own all 493 Pokemon. There are obvious missing ones like Mew and Jirachi if you do not have saved data from the Let’s Go games or Sword and Shield. Other Pokemon like Deoxys, Darkrai, Shaymin, and Arceus are unobtainable unless you exploit or hack your game at the moment.

Bake Poffins and partake in Pokemon contests

While this does seem more like a casual endgame activity, Pokemon contests can be rather tough to actually get into. You can join five different categories like Cool, Beauty, Toughness, Cleverness, and Cuteness. However, before you can even think of partaking in these contests, you’ll need a Pokemon with a certain taste for food types.

Noting that, you will have to create Poffins. These can be fed to your Pokemon to raise one of the five aforementioned category stats. Poffins, though, will require berries to make. In order to get more berries, you’ll need to plant them and find them all throughout Sinnoh. You can make note of what berries contribute to in terms of bitterness, sweetness, spiciness, and so forth.

Rematch the Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and your rivals

If you want to test your team’s strength after the Elite Four, Roark will notify you that he and the other seven Gym Leaders are awaiting a rematch. They’re much more formidable and have Pokemon that aren’t from Sinnoh. Their teams almost feel like they’re on par with the Elite Four, so they really aren’t playing around this time.

As for the Elite Four, they’ll receive two significant upgrades to their teams. The first rematch will consist of level boosts and new evolutions like Aaron will have Yanmega, Flint will have Magmortar, Lucian will have Gallade, and so forth. In Pokemon BDSP, the Elite Four will actually have a third team after beating them in the first rematch.

As for your rivals, they’ll gradually have better teams depending on endgame activities you take on, like battling Heatran at Stark Mountain.

Fight your way through the Battle Tower

Many Pokemon games have a Battle Tower in their endgames. Battle through a series of gradually stronger opponents and win points that you can trade in for prizes. The higher your streak, the more points you’ll get.

In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, you’ll be able to battle familiar faces along the way like your Rival’s father, as well as some returning members of Team Galactic and even NPCs you tagged along with.

Build competitive teams for online battles

If you feel like every other option just isn’t for you, but like to be the competitive type, there is a competitive scene for you. EV and IV training are staples in competitive play for Pokemon. Getting the max stats for your Pokemon and taking on other trainers online can be really fun.

After beating the Elite Four in Pokemon BDSP, this can be done passively while you achieve other tasks. With the return of Nature Mints and Hyper Training, a lot of this can be expedited.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are out now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.