Most Pokémon trainers don’t think of Natures as something important when choosing the Pokémon they’re using in their battle party, but it can be an important factor in how smoothly your playthrough of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl goes.
Here’s everything you need to know about Natures and the best options for the Starter Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
What does a Pokémon’s Nature mean?
Natures are a mechanic that influences a Pokémon’s stats as it levels up. Introduced in Generation III, a Pokémon’s Nature is displayed on the summary screen. The Pokémon’s stats are affected by its Nature and are highlighted on their summary screens by a red text for an increased stat due to its Nature and its decreased stat is in blue text.
The stat increases and decreases are relatively small but may make a big difference in a close fight against a gym leader or the Elite Four. The Nature of a Pokémon usually increases one of its non-HP stats by 10 percent and decreases another by 10 percent.
A Pokémon’s Nature is determined when it’s encountered in the wild, obtained from an egg, or is given to the player by an NPC.
Best Natures for Chimchar, Piplup, and Turtwig
For the Starter Pokémon, physical attackers such as Turtwig and Chimchar have a recommended Nature of Adamant because it boosts the Attack stat and lowers their Sp. Attack. Piplup uses a lot of special attacks, so for the water Starter, you’ll want to aim for a Piplup with the Modest nature. That will give Piplup a boost to its Sp. Attack while decreasing its Attack.
Avoid Natures that decrease Speed since it’s not usually good to have a Pokémon lacking in Speed. This will make it harder to win fights since you’ll be attacking last and is almost never advised except in special circumstances such as higher tiers of competitive Pokémon. The Natures that decrease speed are Sassy, Quiet, Relaxed, and Brave.
To get the Nature you want for your Starter, save the game right before you enter the lake area and check the Pokémon’s Nature after you finish your battle with Starly. If it isn’t the Nature you want, close the game and re-open it and start all over again until you have the Nature you want.
Make sure before you start hunting for your Starter Pokémon’s Nature that you turn off the Autosave option in the game. Otherwise, the game may automatically save upon capture of the Pokémon and then you’ll have to delete the file and start over again from the beginning.
