Outside of being given your starter, most Pokémon games have at least a handful of other Pokémon that NPCs will entrust to you throughout your journey. These Pokémon, commonly referred to as “Gift” Pokémon, can be anything from species that you won’t find nearby, aren’t native to the region, or even Legendary and Mythical Pokémon that will join you on your quest.
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl actually have very few proper Gift Pokémon, but you can still get at least five additional team members if you know where to look or have some outside help.
Starting early, after completing your first leg of the Gym challenge in Oreburgh City, you should end up heading North towards Floaroma Town. The quaint, flower-covered location has a lot to offer, but specifically in BDSP, it holds a very special gift for certain players.
In the bottom left-hand area of Floaroma, an elderly couple will be seen standing among some of the colorful flowers strewn around the town. If the player has previous save data on their Nintendo Switch from Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu or Let’s Go, Eevee and Pokémon Sword or Shield, you can grab two Mythical Pokémon.
With the Let’s Go data, the elderly woman will give the player a level one Mew. Meanwhile, Sword or Shield data will get you a Jirachi from the older gentleman. Those are two very powerful Pokémon you can get essentially for free if you have played previous Pokémon games. And that doesn’t even count the Manaphy Egg you can get via Mystery Gift for a limited time.
The next two Gift Pokémon are staples of the original Diamond and Pearl, with both involving Eggs.
Once you reach Hearthome City, just before you leave the city you can speak to a Hiker and he will give you an Egg. Once hatched, you will obtain a Happiny, the pre-evolution of Chansey and Blissey, defensive powerhouses that will serve you well in any team—especially if you want to play competitively.
The next Egg is pretty far away from the Happiny, with players needing to battle their way through the lowest levels of Iron Island, a training ground just off the coast of Canalave City, alongside a man named Riley and his Lucario. Once you make it through and defeat the Team Galactic Grunts that are causing the Pokémon to act aggressively in the area, Riley will give you an Egg, which will eventually hatch into Lucario’s pre-evolution Riolu.
Those are the only four Gift Pokémon you can receive prior to beating the main game, but there is one more notable gift you can get after unlocking the National Pokédex.
Traveling back to Hearthome City with the NatDex in hand, you can visit Bede in her home near the Pokémon Center. She will gift you a level five Eevee, which you can then use to help complete the NatDex.
