Of all of the big changes found in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, those connected to the Underground are perhaps the most notable. Now called the Grand Underground, this sizeable subterranean area is home to a plethora of Pokemon, including many that can't be found anywhere else in the Sinnoh region. Though not quite as drastic a change, observant players may also have noticed a mysterious counter prominently placed beneath the player's mini-map.
When players first enter the Grand Underground, this counter will read 0/40, leading many to believe that it's simply keeping track of how many areas they've visited so far. As they begin to explore, however, they'll quickly realize that this isn't the case at all, which can leave players wondering what the counter does and how one goes about filling it up. As it happens, the answers to both of these questions are fairly simple.
How Do You Fill Up the Meter in the Grand Underground?
As players explore the Grand Underground, they'll occasionally come across Digletts poking out of the ground in the corridors connecting the main rooms. As players get closer, however, the Digletts will disappear, leaving behind a trail of pink sparkles that dissipate entirely a second or two later. If players walk into them before they vanish, however, they'll be able to collect them, which will cause the counter to increase by one. Should players stumble across a Dugtrio, which are much rarer, the counter will instead go up by three.
What Does the Diglett Counter in the Grand Underground Do?
Once the counter reaches forty and the meter is full, a message reading "Something good may happen in the Grand Underground!" will appear at the top of the screen. After it does, a few different bonuses will kick in, with the best one being an improved chance of finding a Shiny Pokemon. The chances of finding a Shiny Statue while digging also increase dramatically too, and these can be used to increase the chances of finding certain Pokemon down in the Grand Underground.
Sadly, this bonus only lasts for four minutes, so players will need to be quick if they want to make the most of it. If they plan on digging for the Gorgeous Stone Boxes which contain Shiny Statues, they should exit the digging session as soon as they've dug up a box. If they plan on hunting for Shiny Pokemon, on the other hand, they should run away as soon as they're able to confirm that a Pokemon isn't shiny and move straight onto the next one.
How to Fill the Diglett Meter Quickly
There are a few different methods for filling the Diglett counter quickly, but some are a lot better than others. The most efficient involves building a Secret Base right next to one of the spots where Digletts spawn and then simply running in and out of the base repeatedly until the meter is full. Before actually building the base though, it's worth checking the spot a few times just to make sure that it's one where Digletts will spawn consistently. It's also worth noting that returning to the surface at any point will reset the meter to zero.