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Side Quests
- There are several side quests in Pokemon Platinum that you can do, including the Jublife TV Lottery and the hunt for the Macho Brace, to obtaining new Player Cards and catching Drifloon.
Jublife TV Lottery
- Head to Jublife City and go north to the large building with the TV atop it. You can only enter if you have at least one badge. Talk to the lady at the front desk, and she'll give you a ticket with 5 digits. Starting with the far right digit, the game will scan your Pokemon for that number and continue to the next digit. There are five prizes, depending on how many numbers you matched:
- Match all five: Master Ball
- Match four: Max Revive
- Match three: EXP Share
- Match two: PP Up
- Match one: Background for Contests
Drifloon
- Drifloon, a new Ghost type Pokemon, only appears on Friday at the Valley Windworks east of Floaroma Town. It appears during the day, but stays until 12:00 AM on Saturday.
- To catch Drifloon, bring a lower level Pokemon(10 to 14 works well) who can damage Ghost types. False Swipe will not work.
The Newspaper Company
- Head to Solaceon Town's Pokemon Center and talk to the man at the desk - each day, he'll ask for one of the Sinnoh Dex Pokemon to write about. Once you talk to him, you only have until 11:59 PM to bring him the requested Pokemon - if you do, he'll give you three of any of the available balls in Pokemon Platinum.
- NOTE: You can not obtain Park Balls, Master Balls, or Cherish Balls from the Newspaper Company man.
- To help in determining what type of balls you get, save just before you hand him the Pokemon. If you don't get the type you want, reload and hand him the Pokemon again - you should get a different type.
Veilstone Pokemon Massages
- In Veilstone City, there is a pair of houses in the lower left section of town. The left-hand one is where the Pokemon Massage Lady lives - each day, she'll give one Pokemon a massage. This increases that Pokemon's Happiness, and you'll receive one of many contest items. You can obtain the following at random:
- Sparks
- Mystic Fire
- Glitter Powder
- Snow Crystal
- Shimmering FIre
- Pretty Dewdrop
- Determination
- Puffy Smoke
- Spring
- Wealthy Coin
- Humming Note
- Peculiar Spoon
- Eerie Thing
- Poison Extract
- Seashell
- Shiny Powder
- Again, if you save before you get the massage, you can control what item you get by reloading if you don't get the one you want.
Seven Star Restaurant
- South of the gate at the Lake Valor Lakefront Resort is the Seven Star Restaurant. The trainers here change each day, and it is open from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM. There are a few important things to make note of:
- All battles that take place in the Seven Star Restaurant are 2 on 2.
- You don't obtain any items from defeating all of the trainers per day - it's simply a great way to increase your EXP.
- All the trainers are high level 20s to 30s.
- NOTE: To drastically improve the amount of EXP a Pokemon receives, place all but one in the box on Someone's PC and fight the 2 on 2 battles as 2 on 1.
Berry NPCs
- There are three NPCs that will give you a random berry each day. These NPCs are located in the following locations:
- Floaroma Accessory Shop: The brunette woman to the right as you enter. She gives out common berries.
- Route 208: He gives out random berries, mostly common with a few exceptions.
- Pastora City: In the house near the entrance to Route 212. She gives out less common berries.
- If you want to have some control over which berry you receive, save before you talk to them and reload the game until you get the berry you want.
Effects of the National Pokedex
- There are three things that will occur once you get the National Pokedex.
- First, the Trophy Garden will expand. Talk to the owner of the mansion in the right wing to have up to two Pokemon appear - again, this is somewhat controlled by saving before talking to him. There is no time limitations on the Pokemon here, either.
- Secondly, swarms will begin to occur in random places in Sinnoh. You can find out where they are by talking to Dawn's sister, or watching the TV. It changes every day at 12:00 AM and is not controlled by saving and reloading.
- Last, the Pal Park opens on Route 226 - from there, you can transfer Pokemon from GBA games every 24 hours. You have to wait a full 24 hours before transferring from that game again - changing the DS clock resets the countdown until you can trade again.
Free Great Balls
- A bald man in the Celestic Town Pokemon Center will give you a Great Ball if you have a Pokemon with a high Happiness rating each day. By the time you get there, it's pretty useless, but free is free.
Trendy Man Quest
- You can learn new words to say in certain interviews to unlock different things. To learn them, head to Snowpoint and enter the house on the far right side. Talk to the man inside to get a new word - you can do this once a day, and like other timed events, save before you talk to him to control what word you get.
Belt Man Quest
- On Route 221 in a house near the water is an old man who gives you different belts. He works like the Jublife Lottery in that it is based on a number, only with Pokemon levels. Saving and reloading does not allow you to change the outcome of the decision, but you can do this once per day to try to get one of the following belts:
- Black Belt
- Expert Belt
- Focus Sash
- The first time you have a matching Pokemon, you will get the Black Belt, the second time the Expert Belt, and the third time the Focus Sash. After that, the items reset to the Black Belt item. Be sure to place the Pokemon that matches the number at the front of your party in order to claim the prize.
Seals
- If you head to Sunyshore City, you'll find a store that sells seals depending on what day it is. The seals are determined by the day, so you can only get one per day. You'll need a Seal Case to buy them, which can be obtained by doing the following.
- Head to Solaceon Town, then go east of the town.
- Work your way through the jumping maze until you find the house with the Unown Seals Boy and his mom.
- Talk to the boy's mom to receive the Seal Case.
- Once you have the seals, you can obtain the following seals on their days:
Master Club
- After you defeat the Elite 4, head to the Resort Area and you'll find a club that can be accessed after you obtain eight Ribbons for at least one Pokemon. There's a spa on the top floor for one Pokemon that increases its Happiness more than a massage from Veilstone.
Ribbon Lady
- In Sunyshore City, in the upper right house is a lady named Julia who gives you Ribbons for telling her a story. You only have to use one word to tell her the story, and it doesn't matter what the word is. The Ribbon you get it determined by the day, and is given to the Pokemon at the front of your party.
Obtaining New Trainer Cards
- There are six different Trainer Cards that you can obtain.
- Red: Starting Trainer Card - you begin the game with this
- Bronze: Win a contest on Master Rank to obtain this
- Silver: Play Capture the Flag(CTF) at least 50 times while in the Underground area
- Gold: Have 482 Pokemon caught in your Pokedex, not counting unobtainable(ie. Mew)
- Black: Win 100 times in a row at the Battle Tower
- The ways to obtain each card work towards a Star system - for each that you do, you get a star that counts towards obtaining the next level card. For example, if you still have a Red card but win 100 consecutive battles in the Battle Tower, you will receive the Bronze card, not the Black card. Another way to look at it is that in order to obtain a card lower on the list, you must do everything above that card as well.
Honey Tree Quest
- There are Honey Trees scattered throughout the game that attract Pokemon after you slather them with Honey. First, you'll need to have some Honey(obtained from the Floaroma Meadow for 100p). Another method for obtaining Honey is to use Combee's "Honey Gather" ability to get some after a battle. There are 21 Honey Trees to find in Sinnoh, listed below are the locations and how many are in each area:
- Route 205: Two
- Route 206: One
- Route 207: One
- Route 208: One
- Route 209: One
- Route 210: Two
- Route 211: One
- Route 212: Two
- Route 213: One
- Route 214: One
- Route 215: One
- Route 218: One
- Route 221: One
- Route 222: One
- Floaroma Meadow: One
- Valley Windworks: One
- Fuego Ironworks: One
- Eterna Forest: One
- Press A while facing a Honey Tree, and you'll be asked if you want to slather Honey on it. Select "yes", then wait for 8 to 12 hours(or grind for some levels while waiting). You'll notice when you come back that the tree is shaking - check it to encounter one of several random Pokemon, as follows:
- Wurmple: Common
- Combee: Common
- Silcoon: Uncommon
- Cascoon: Uncommon
- Burmy: Uncommon
- Aipom: Uncommon
- Cherubi: Uncommon
- Heracross: Rare
- Munchlax: Rare
- The Pokemon attracted by the Honey don't stay forever - after about a day, they disappear. Saving and reloading doesn't affect the type of Pokemon you encounter, but does alter the gender and level. Also, changing the DS clock will not help in regards to finding specific Pokemon.
Amity Square Items
- In Amity Square, you can bring out certain Pokemon and walk them around. Those Pokemon are:
- Pikachu
- Psyduck
- Pachirisu
- Buneary
- Drifloon
- Clefairy
- Happiny
- Skitty(with National Dex)
- Torchic(with National Dex)
- Shroomish(with National Dex)
- Jigglypuff(with National Dex)
- The purpose of walking your Pokemon around is to collect the items lying about, including TM43(Secret Power) and TM45(Attract). You can also find the Spooky Plate, which is used to turn Arceus into a Ghost type here, as well as the Amulet Coin hidden in one of the northeast buildings.
- You can also collect a lot of Contest items by walking 200 steps, then talking to your Pokemon to obtain a random contest item. You can use the Pedometer on your Poketch to count your steps.You get different items from different Pokemon, as follows:
Happiny and Buneary
- Common Items:
- Pink Scale
- Shed Horn
- Shed Claw
- Snaggy Pebble
- Black Fluff
- Pink Fluff
- Yellow Feather
- Pamtre Berry
- Cornn Berry
- Nomel Berry
- Magost Berry
- Uncommon Items:
- Big Leaf
- Jagged Boulder
- Green Scale
- Rare Items:
- Black Stone
Clefairy and Skitty
- Common Items:
- White Feather
- Small Leaf
- Round Stone
- Blue Scale
- White Fluff
- Orange Fluff
- Uncommon Items:
- Big Scale
- Thin Mushroom
- White Beard
- Rare Items:
- Stump
Psyduck and Pachirisu
- Common Items:
- Brown Fluff
- Rounder Stone
- Black Moustache
- Jagged Boulder
- Shed Horn
- Snaggy Pebble
- Rabuta Berry
- Pamtre Berry
- Uncommon Items:
- Mini Stone
- Green Scale
- Narrow Scale
- Rare Items:
- Thick Mushroom
Drifloon and Torchic
- Common Items:
- Yellow Feather
- Red Feather
- Narrow Scale
- Black Beard
- White Fluff
- Pink Fluff
- Uncommon Items:
- Shed Claw
- Narrow Leaf
- White Moustache
- Rare Items:
- Purple Scale
Pikachu and Shroomish
- Common Items:
- Small Leaf
- Brown Fluff
- Yellow Fluff
- Orange Fluff
- Red Feather
- Yellow Feather
- Uncommon Items:
- Big Scale
- Glitter Stone
- Black Moustache
- Rare Items:
- Purple Scale
Jigglypuff
- Common Items:
- Pink Scale
- Thin Mushroom
- Blue Scale
- Blue Feather
- White Feather
- Jagged Boulder
- Uncommon Items:
- Big Leaf
- White Beard
- Round Pebble
- Rare Items:
- Black Beard
Floaroma Flower Shop Trading
- There are several items you can get from the Floaroma Flower Shop by trading in a certain number of specific Berries. Those items, as well as what Berry to trade and how many, are listed below.
- Red Flower: 10 Razz Berries
- Pink Flower: 10 Bluk Berries
- Orange Flower: 15 Magost Berries
- Yellow Flower: 15 Rabuta Berries
- Googly Specs: 20 Nomel Berries
- Black Specs: 20 Wepear Berries
- Blue Flower: 30 Cornn Berries
- Sweet Candy: 30 Nanab Berries
- Confetti: 30 Razz Berries
- Gorgeous Specs: 40 Pinap Berries
- Colored Parasol: 50 Magost Berries
- Old Umbrella: 50 Pamtre Berries
- Spotlight: 80 Nomel Berries
- Standing Mike: 80 Bluk Berries
- Carpet: 100 Spelon Berries
- Retro Pipe: 120 Pamtre Berries
- Fluffy Bed: 150 Watmel Berries
- Surfboard: 180 Wepear Berries
- Photo Board: 200 Belue Berries
- Cape: 250 Cornn Berries
- Mirror Ball: 250 Durin Berries
Mr. Goods' Quests
- In Hearthome, you'll find a house near the Pokemart - above it is Mr. Goods. He'll give you items for your base in the Underground area if you accomplish certain tasks. The following items are obtainable from Mr. Goods:
- Globe: Use the GTS once
- Gym Statue: Obtain all 8 badges
- Smart Cup: Beat Master Rank for Smart Contests
- Tough Cup: Beat Master Rank for Tough Contests
- Beauty Cup: Beat Master Rank for Beauty Contests
- Cute Cup: Beat Master Rank for Cute Contests
- Cool Cup: Beat Master Rank for Cool Contests
- Yellow Crystal: Use 100 traps on people successfully
- Blue Crystal: Talk to 100 people in the Underground area
- Red Crystal: Obtain 100 Rare Bones or Fossils in the Underground area
- Pink Crystal: Give 100 items to others in the Underground area
Underground Quests
- In Eterna City to the right of the Pokemon Center you'll find the Underground Man. He'll give you some side quests you can do that let you get some free items and make a secret base in the Underground area.
Grow Spheres
- Head back Underground, open your inventory, and choose the Sphere option.
- Select the Sphere you want to bury, press A, and a message will ask if you want to bury the selected Sphere. Select "yes".
- Head back up and talk to the Underground Man to get the Digger Drill, which you can use to make your secret base.
Decorate
- Head back to your Underground base, and enter it.
- Access the PC and move any item from the PC to the base.
- Head back up and talk to the Underground Man to receive a Doll.
- Completing all of these missions opens a new dialogue option - talk to the Underground Man after completing all of them to learn how to move the boulders inside your base.
In-Game Trading
- There are four NPCs you can trade a specific Pokemon with. They are listed below by location, with the Pokemon you need and the Pokemon you receive from the trade.
- Oreburgh City: In the second condo, a woman will trade you an Abra with an Oran Berry for a Machop. You can find Machop on Route 207.
- Eterna City: IN the condo near the Pokemart is a trainer who trades you a Chatot for a Buizel. You can catch a Buizel on Route 205 or the Valley Windworks.
- Snowpoint City: The house in the upper left corner houses a trainer who wants a Medicham in exchange for a Haunter holding an Everstone. You can catch a Medicham on Route 217, but be forewarned that the Haunter will not evolve due to the Everstone.
- Route 226: There's a house in the middle of the Route where a Hiker will trade you a special German Magikarp for a Finneon. You can catch a Finneon on Route 205, 218, 219, or 220 after you obtain the Good Rod or better for fishing.
The Macho Brace
- The Macho Brace doubles the amount of EV given, but lowers your Speed by a bit. In order to obtain it, you must do the following.
- Obtain three Burmies - Burmy is a somewhat rare Pokemon that you catch from the Sweet Honey Trees. You can also trade for it on the GTS.
- Burmy changes its form after battle depending on where you battle - the default Plant form is what you'll catch in the wild. To get the Dirt form, battle Burmy in a cave(Mt. Corenet for example).
- To obtain the Trash form, battle Burmy inside(a Gym, Galactic hideout, etc.). You'll need the Plant, Dirt, and Trash forms all in your party at the same time.
- Head to Pastora City and enter the house north of the Pokemart. Talk to the Bug Trainer and he'll give you the Macho Brace.
Breeding Pokemon
- Breeding Pokemon has been a feature since the Gold and Silver series - using two Pokemon with different genders that share an egg group, you can create a new Pokemon, contained in an egg that you must hatch. The basics for breeding two Pokemon are as follows:
- You'll first need to find the Pokemon Breeding Center, which is in Solaceon Town, located between Route 209 and Route 210.
- Keep in mind what abilities the Pokemon you're breeding can learn, what Nature you want them to have, and what Gender they are(assuming it isn't a Pokemon that always has a certain gender). You have a 50% chance of getting the ability to drop, but gender is dependent on the Pokemon - some Pokemon with different genders have a differing percentage of how often it will be male or female. Genderless Pokemon or Pokemon that always have the same gender aren't too difficult.
- The Nature of a Pokemon affects certain stats and which Pokeblocks they'd like. Keep in mind how you'll be using the Pokemon(if you want to battle it in multiplayer, for example) and give it a Nature that helps its stats. You can increase the chance for getting your chosen Nature by having the mother with the Nature you want hold an Everstone(this also works for Ditto).
- Natures, abilities, and gender are predetermined once you get the egg, so saving and reloading before it hatches doesn't help you control the outcome. You can breed multiple times to get several eggs, and carry 5 at a time to increase the chances of getting one with the Nature, abilities, and gender that you want.
- Certain abilities, like Flame Body and Magma Armor, decrease the amount of steps you need to take to hatch an egg by half. Slugma and Magcargo are two Pokemon who have these abilities - keep them in your party while hatching an egg to make the process faster.