Though very little of the Platinum exclusive content ended up making its way into Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, the game's mascot, Giratina, still makes an appearance. Together with Palkia and Dialga, Giratina is one of the series' original Creation Trio, and, like its peers, boasts an impressive base stat total of 680. This, together with its ability to shift between two distinct forms, makes it one of the strongest Legendary Pokemon in the entire Pokemon universe.

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Unlike the original games, in which players are restricted to Giratina's Altered Forme, Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl players will be able to switch between the Pokemon's two forms whenever they like with the help of an item known as the Griseous Orb. Sadly, getting this orb will require them to jump through an awful lot of hoops, and will likely be the very last thing that most players do in the remakes. Even so, for those desperate to get their hands on an Origin Forme Giratina, this likely won't be too much of an issue.

Updated March 31, 2022, by Tom Bowen: Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl may be a few months old at this point, but there are still plenty of people playing the games. Those who are will likely want to catch Giratina at some point if they haven't already, as it's one of the strongest Pokemon in the gen 4 remakes. This guide has been updated to provide a little more information on the Pokemon, including its stats and type-effectiveness as well as some of the best natures for Giratina in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl.

Where to Find Giratina in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

In order to find Giratina, players will first need to beat Cynthia and then unlock the national dex by finding all of the Pokemon that are native to the Sinnoh region. After doing so, players should make their way to the newly accessible Spring Path, which can be accessed by heading east from Route 214. Eventually, players will need to use Rock Climb to scale a wall and must then do so again on the opposite side to drop back down and enter the Turnback Cave.

Upon entering the cave, players should use Defog and will then need go from room to room and find three special pillars, entering no more than 30 rooms in the process. The layout of the cave is completely random, so it really doesn't matter too much which doors choose. Most tend to repeatedly head north though, and this strategy seems to pay off more often than not. Players may also want to bring some Repels with them just to speed up the process, as the random encounter rate is fairly high throughout the cave.

How to Catch Giratina in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Eventually, players will find themselves face to face with an Altered Forme Giratina. Like most of the other post-game Legendaries, it's level 70 and so is more than capable of dealing some serious damage to the player's party if they're not careful. It also has two attacks that can make catching it a little more difficult: Shadow Force, which makes it impossible to throw a Poke Ball at it and thus can force players to either use an item or a non-damaging move, and Pain Split, which splits the current HP of the two active Pokemon evenly between them.

With this in mind, it can be a little tricky to keep Giratina's HP in the red zone and so it's definitely a good idea to bring a Pokemon that's able to put it to sleep if that's an option. Of course, it is still possible to catch Giratina while it's still awake, but players will find themselves at the mercy of RNG more than they otherwise would. Whichever method they choose though, players should eventually be able to catch Giratina and add it to their team.

How to Unlock Giratina's Origin Forme in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Those who prefer Giratina's Origin Forme are going to have to work pretty hard for it, as getting hold of the Griseous Orb that's needed to make the transformation happen is a lot easier said than done. First, players will obviously need to have caught Giratina and will then need to make their way over to Ramanas Park. There, they'll need to catch all thirteen of the available Legendary Pokemon, which is going to require a whole lot of Mysterious Shards.

After catching Giratina, the slate exchange counter will begin to stock Distortion Slates, which, like the other slates, will set players back either three small Mysterious Shards or one large one. Once they've made the trade, players should then make their way to the Distortion Room on the east side of the park and place the Distortion Slate in the Enigmatic Pedestal, which will summon a level 100 Giratina.

Unfortunately, players will not be able to catch this second Giratina and so should instead focus on knocking out. After they've done so, the entire room will be inverted, as too will the player's controls, and the Griseous Orb will appear in a Pokeball on the floor (now the ceiling). If players then give the orb to Giratina to hold, it will transform into its Origin Forme. As in other games, taking the orb back will revert the Pokemon to its Altered Forme.

Giratina's Stats in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

While in its Altered Forme, Giratina is geared more towards defensive play styles, with 40 of its 680 base stat total being used to bolster its physical and special defense stats. Upon transforming into its Origin Forme, however, these stat points are switched from defense to offense, with the Pokemon's physical and special attack stats being raised at the expense of a little durability. Both forms have 150 HP and 90 Speed.

Giratina's Best Nature in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Giratina's best nature depends not only on which form players plan on using most, but also on the moves that they plan on teaching it. Attack-minded players who plan on using Giratina's Origin Forme will ideally want a Brave nature if they plan on using physical attacks or a Quiet nature if they'd rather focus on special attacks. Given that Giratina's learn pool includes powerful physical attacks like Shadow Force and Dragon Claw though, most will probably opt for the former.

Those looking to make Giratina a little more robust by sticking with its Altered Forme must also make a choice between physical and special. A Relaxed nature will boost the Pokemon's physical defense while a Sassy nature will favor special. Considering that many of the best Giratina counters in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are Dragon-types and that many of the best Dragon-type attacks like Roar of Time, Draco Meteor, and Spacial Rend are special attacks, Sassy is arguably the better of the two.

When it comes to getting the right nature, there are a few different strategies for players to try. The first is to save right before the battle with Giratina (which players should really be doing anyway unless they plan on catching it with a Master Ball) and then reload if they don't get the nature that they want. Alternatively, they can instead go to the Battle Tower and purchase a Nature Mint for 50 BP. It can be a bit of a grind to accumulate that many Battle Points, but players can at least guarantee that they'll get the exact nature that they want rather than having to rely on hitting a one in 24 chance like with the reloading strategy.

Giratina's Type Effectiveness in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

As a Ghost / Dragon-type Pokemon, Giratina is weak to Ghost, Ice, Dragon, Dark, and Fairy-type attacks and resistant to Poison, Bug, Fire, Water, Grass, and Electric. Both of its forms are completely immune to Normal and Fighting-type attacks, with the Pokemon's Origin Forme also being immune to Ground-Type attacks on account of its Levitate ability. As mentioned above, Giratina is best countered with other powerful Dragon-type Pokemon like Rayquaza, Dialga, and Palkia. On the flip side, Giratina can be great for dealing with the likes of Ho-Oh, Kyogre, and Normal-type Arceus, as well as some of its fellow Dragon-types.

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