Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl: What Is The Odd Keystone For? (2024)

Not all Pokemon can be caught in the wild in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and PokemonShining Pearl. Sometimes, players may have to buy and use an item at specific locations to spawn a Pokemon. Like Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl allow trainers to catch the rare Ghost/Dark-type Spiritomb, as long as they're looking in the right place. To get Spiritomb, they will need the Odd Keystone.

The Odd Keystone is a regular item that can be found in three different locations in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. When players have met a few requirements, they can use the Odd Keystone at the Hallowed Tower to summon Spiritomb and have a chance to battle/catch it. Unlike the original games, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl allows players to farm more than one Odd Keystone, but it may take some time.

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Updated February 15, 2022 by Russ Boswell: Many players have moved onto Pokemon Legends: Arceus but that doesn't mean there aren't players out there just now making their way through Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. With so much content to sift through, there is a lot to see and do in the remake, even more so thanks to the Grand Underground. One thing that many players end up struggling with is the Odd Keystone. These strange markers seem to serve no purpose but the Odd Keystone in BDSP is actually used to get a pretty strange Pokemon. To better help players understand how to find and use the Odd Keystones in BDSP, the following guide has been updated.

Odd Keystone Locations

The quickest way to get the Odd Keystone is to speak to an NPC on Route 208 outside of Hearthome City. This person can be found hidden by some trees located to the bottom right of a Honey Tree. He will give the player an Odd Keystone and tell them to go to Route 209 and "listen to the stone pillar." Route 209 is on the other side of Hearthome City and right before players enter Solaceon Town.

The second Odd Keystone can be collected once players have collected their fifth gym badge. Players will also need to have HM Surf and be able to use it outside of battle. First, get HM Surf from Cynthia's grandmother in Celestic Town. Then, battle Fantina at the Hearthome City Gym. Once all of this is done, use HM Fly to get to Twinleaf Town. At the bottom of the town is a body of water. Use HM Surf and go to the bottom left corner of the lake andinspect the tree to the left. This is the second Odd Keystone in the game.

Finally, players can farm an Odd Keystone in the Grand Underground by mining. This isn't a guaranteed way of getting the Odd Keystone and may take some time. However, if players have already collected the Odd Keystones from Route 208 and Twinleaf Town, this is the only way to get more than two Odd Keystones in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Using the Odd Keystone

Go to the far right of Route 209 and interact with the crumbling tower. Do not confuse this with the Lost Tower; the Hallowed Tower can be found by the river.

To use the Odd Keystone, players need to speak with 32 NPCs in the Grand Underground. Each time the player speaks with an NPC and meets a milestone, the message at the Hallowed Tower will change. When 29-31 NPCs have been spoken to, players will receive this message: "There is some sort of presence... It appears ready to emerge!"

Likewise, to get more than one Spiritomb, trainers need to have more than one Keystone. Unfortunately, this also means they will need to speak to an additional 32 NPCs (per Odd Keystone) to trigger Spiritomb's encounter.

Spiritomb's Best Build

Spiritomb is definitely one of the strangest Pokemon, although it does feature a pretty alluring design. This Ghost and Dark-type looks downright imposing but in reality it features midling stats and a rather low HP pool. That said, Spiritomb can still be used as a surprisingly capable defender, taking advantage of moves like Pursuit and Sucker Punch. Those that want to take the Pokemon into a competitive Pokemon battle and are looking for something a bit more offensive should consider a "Pursuit Trapper" build.

To craft this build, players try to find an Adamant or Brave Spiritomb and teach it the following moves:

• Will-O-Wisp
• Foul Play
• Pursuit
• Sucker Punch

This setup will allow Spiritomb to essentially trap weaker Ghost and Psychic-types, punishing them and knocking them out before they have a chance to flee. These four moves will give Spiritomb great type coverage against a variety of foes, and although it does have rather lower HP, it does have some decent defensive stats which should give it at least a little bit of survivability (especially against foes that it resists thanks to its dual typing).

Some players like to use Spiritomb as a "revenge killer" style attacker, since it can trap opponents with Pursuit. Many Ghost and Psychic-type Pokemon will flee and swap out at the idea of having to face a similar type, giving players a great opening with Pursuit. If an opponent goes to swap out because they don't wish to face Spiritomb, they'll be hit twice as hard (potentially knocking them out immediately depending on the type advantage).

Spiritomb's Stats

• Attack: 92
• Special Attack: 92
• Defense: 108
• Special Defense: 108
• HP: 50
• Speed: 35

Although Spiritomb definitely has some viability as a trapper or middling defender (thanks to Calm Mind, Rest, and Sleep Talk), it suffers from an abysmal HP stat and poor Speed. Even with fairly high defense and special defense, players will be hard-pressed to keep Spiritomb in the fight against heavy hitters, who will have no trouble whittling away its poor HP with powerful strikes. Its Pressure ability does cause opponents to consume more PP during battle but it's unlikely that Spiritomb will last long enough to see this ability be of much use.

Players should instead focus on using the Pokemon as a quick revenge killer or as a small defensive unit capable of stalling for short periods of time.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl are available now on Nintendo Switch.

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