Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl: Unlocking the Mystery Gift

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl announced a really cool Mystery Gift alongside the game’s launch. Anyone who plays the game before a set point in February can use the Mystery Gift feature to get a free Manaphy in their game.

This is pretty awesome because Manaphy is one of the rarest Mythical Pokemon ever. It also does something no other Mythical or Legendary is capable of; it can breed. And when you hatch the egg it leaves behind, you get a Phione, a different rare Pokemon. And if you leave your Phione in the nursery with a Ditto you can get more Phiones which is great for shiny hunters.

The problem is I genuinely got through three gyms before I even realized I missed the ability to unlock the Mystery Gift and have the Manaphy in my party. So how do you get it? How do you not suffer for your hubris as I did? Let’s go.

After you leave Jubilife City to head towards Floaroma Town you’ll find Professor Rowan and his assistant dealing with Team Galactic goons. Defeat them and, instead of continuing on, head back to Jubilife City.

Once there, look for the Jubilife TV building. Previously, there was a clown blocking the door (you know, like all businesses have sometimes) but that clown is now just walking about allowing you to enter the place.

Make your way up to the third floor and you’re going to find a producer. When you talk to him, he’ll ask you to state your opinion on the kind of thing people want to see. There will be three regular options and then, in all caps, you’ll see “EVERYONE HAPPY WIFI CONNECTION”.

When I saw this I facepalmed so hard for forgetting this from 2006. In the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl games, you had to find him and enter this as a code to unlock the Mystery Gift. So picking it now will get you a message like “You seem like someone in the know.” And then he’ll unceremoniously unlock Mystery Gift. From that point on, any time you open the menu, the previously blank corner will now have a gift box there.

From there, tell it to check the internet for Mystery Gifts. If you do it at the time of writing, you’ll find two. One for a Manaphy egg and one for an outfit. The outfit gives you the winter outfit from Pokemon Platinum. The outfit won’t be able to be used until you unlock the clothing options all the way out in Veilstone, the ninth gang town you get to so don’t worry about that for now. But as for the egg, put it in your party and just walk about till it hatches.

It won’t take long because you get it in a state where it’s close to hatching. It’s honestly almost a shame because it comes in a really cool-looking egg.

But from there you’ll have a Manaphy which you can either put in your party as I did, drop off at a nursery when you get a Ditto, or, like most people do with Mystical Pokemon, put them deep in their boxes where it will be frozen in time until it’s awoken in the far future like so much Demolition Man.

Manaphy is a pretty near Water-type Pokemon though. Not only is it cute as a button, but it also has the Hydration ability which means that whenever it’s raining it’s cured of any status ailment meaning if you’re rocking a team that utilizes Rainy Day it’s not going to sleep any time soon. To make it better, it can also learn the move “Heal Bell” which cures your entire party of any status ailments meaning that this is a pretty great kid to have on your team if you find yourself flying through Antidotes and Paralz Heals.