Pokemon Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl Add Arceus Encounter

Starting very soon you can claim the legendary Arceus in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl--but you'll need a save file for Pokemon Legends: Arceus to get it. The cross-promotional freebie will be available with the new 1.3.0 update to BDSP. Similarly, next month you'll be able to claim Darkrai.

The requirements to claim Arceus means you'll have to completed both games. You'll need a Pokemon Legends: Arceus save on your Switch system that has cleared all the main missions. In BD or SP, you'll need to have joined the Hall of Fame and obtained the National Pokedex. With both of those save files in tow, you'll be able to find the Azure Flute in your bedroom in Twinleaf Town. Then just head to the top of Mount Coronet to meet Arceus and dethrone god, as you are wont to do.

If that's not enough legendary for you, a limited-time event will let you capture Darkrai in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl too. That will be a limited-time mystery gift available from April 1-30. Like the Arceus requirement, you'll need to have entered the Hall of Fame and gotten the National Pokedex, with the additional wrinkle that you'll need to have completed the in-game event to obtain Cresselia.

Arceus is known in Pokemon lore as the original Pokemon, and possibly the creator of the entire world. It's a major part of the story in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which takes place in the Hisui region, the area of the Pokemon world that is now known as Sinnoh. The Sinnoh region serves as the modern-day setting for Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, so there are thematic similarities and the two games released back-to-back. Darkrai, meanwhile, is a mythical "pure-black Pokemon," and serves as the final Pokemon in the Hisui Pokedex.