After months of anticipation, the long-awaited Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are finally here. Whether this is your first adventure in Sinnoh or you know the exact four tiles Feebas is most likely to spawn in, it’s been quite some time since the original Gen 4 games came out.

Because of this, it’s likely that even Pokemon veterans might be feeling a little rusty, especially given that Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl make several unexpected changes from what some of you might have played back in 2006.

Updated February 17, 2024, by Sean Murray: If you're looking for secret tips to get you started in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, then this guide has you covered. We've given it a refresh with our latest formatting and also given this guide a few more links to other helpful Pokemon BDSP topics too.

Whoever Your Starter Is, Build Around It

While we’ve also put together a guide on which starter to pick in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, the most important thing for you to do is choose the one you like the best. The only concession to this is that by picking Piplup, for example, you’re pretty much nullifying the need to have any other Water or Steel types on your team.

Instead, you should be opting for powerful Pokemon with different typings like Roserade, Luxray, and Houndoom to diversify your party. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter which starter you pick - what matters is you honor your choice by cleverly building a team around it.

The EXP Share Makes Leveling Up Your Team Easy

The great thing about building around your starter is that the automatic EXP Share in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl means you don’t even need to focus your energy on weak first-evolution Pokemon to raise them.

As long as you’re battling at all, every healthy Pokemon in your party will level up, making it easier than ever to train a team capable of taking on the Elite Four.

Don't be afraid to have weak Pokemon in your party - they'll get stronger simply by being along for the ride.

There Are Tons Of Powerful Pokemon You Can Pick Up Before You Even Beat A Gym

The EXP Share point is important because there are quite a few early-game Pokemon who grow into immensely powerful ‘mons later on. Starly, Shinx, Magikarp, and Budew can all be caught before you even earn your first gym badge. They evolve into the following Pokemon, which are fantastic endgame party members:

The Grand Underground Is Worth Exploring Immediately

Once you get to Eterna City, you’ll be able to visit the Underground Man’s house. After he gives you the Explorer Kit, you can go down to the Grand Underground yourself.

From mining walls and getting rare items to sell to exploring Hideaways to capture rare Pokemon like Houndour and Larvitar, this is an easy way to get rich quickly and add some of the most powerful Pokemon in history to your team before you’ve even picked up your second badge. It honestly feels a bit like cheating.

For more on the Grand Underground, check out our guide on the subject here.

Don’t Forget Your Poketch

The Poketch might not seem all that important, but it really can help you in a pinch. As well as being how you use HMs in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, the Poketch can locate hidden items, keep you updated on your party’s health, and so much more.

Never Avoid A Trainer Battle

This is the golden rule of Pokemon. While it might be tempting to steer clear of trainers out in the open, it’s always important to gain as much experience as possible if you truly want to build a competent team.

Fighting four Bug Catchers in five minutes isn’t the most riveting thing about Pokemon, but hey - thrashing Roark without receiving so much as a scratch in return is fun, right? Right.