Pokémon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl: How To Get Riolu And Lucario

For fans eager to jump back in to the Sinnoh region in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, there are a few favourites they’ll be keen to pick up straight away. Riolu and Lucario, two of the most iconic generation 4 Pokémon, but in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl there’s only one area in the game you can collect these popular mons.

How to get Riolu and Lucario in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

How to get Riolu

Get the Surf HM

First off, get the Surf HM from Cynthia’s grandmother in Celestic Town. She’ll give you this as part of the story, so if you’ve not received it yet, just keep playing. In order to use Surf outside of battle, you’ll need to defeat Crasher Wake in Pastoria City.

You’ll then want to head to Route 218 and use Surf to head west to Canalave City. Walk through the city until you reach a sailor in the bottom left. He’ll talk to you briefly before taking you to a new location, Iron Island.

Iron Island

Once on Iron Island, make your way into the cave and begin to explore. Once you make it to the second level, you’ll bump into a sharply dressed NPC named Riley. He’ll ask you to join him in order to rid Team Galactic from Iron Island, by teaming up with him in double battles.

Once you’ve left the cave, he’ll give you a Riolu egg.

How to get Lucario

Unlike most Pokémon, Riolu doesn’t evolve simply by levelling up. In order to get Lucario, you’ll first have to follow a few steps.

The first step is to raise Riolu’s friendship level. You can do this by battling with the Pokémon, having it walk outside its Poké Ball, or giving it berries.

Once you’ve achieved the first level of friendship, you need to level up Riolu during the day. Once you’ve done that, Lucario will be yours.

This article is part of our Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl walkthrough and guide series, which includes every version-exclusive Pokémon in each version of the game, advice on the best Sinnoh starter Pokémon to choose, and all the old and new Pokétch Apps, plus how to get specific Pokémon such as Mew and Jirachi, Rilou and Lucario, Manaphy and Phione, Arceus, Eevee, Leafeon And Glaceon, Cresselia, Rotom, Ditto, Spiritomb, Heatran, Regigigas, and — of course — the mighty Feebas.

We also cover how to catch 17 Legendaries in Ramanas Park, where to find the Defog HM and chain catching (or how to increase your chances of catching Shiny Pokémon), plus how to earn money fast, how to beat the Elite Four, how the Trophy Garden works, and how to get the DS sounds and Catching Charm. We also have a full and updated list of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Mystery Gift codes, plus we tell you how to unlock the Mystery Gift function, too.

And finally, Where to Buy Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl on Nintendo Switch, if for some reason you haven't yet picked up the game!