Where to find Dialga and Palkia Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

To celebrate the DLC release of The Indigo Disk, Dialga and Palkia Tera Raids are coming to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet for a limited time.

From Dec. 7 at 6pm CT until Dec. 21 at 5:59pm CT, Dialga Tera Raids will be appearing in Scarlet, while Palkia Tera Raids will be appearing in Violet. These special Tera Raids will all be five-star events, with both of the bosses packing the Dragon Tera Type.

As two rare Legendaries that were introduced all the way back in Gen IV, you may want to hop into this event so you don’t miss out on adding them to your collection of Legendary ‘mons. Here’s everything you need to know about Dialga, Palkia, and their Tera Raid event in the Gen IX games.

How to find Dialga and Palkia Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Before the Dialga and Palkia Tera Raids can pop up in your game, you’ll need to make sure you have five-star Tera Raids unlocked by completing the story. If you have that taken care of, follow these steps to find Dialga raids in Scarlet and Palkia raids in Violet.

• During the event period, connect to the internet and make sure your Poké Portal news is updated.
• Open up your map and look for the special Tera Raid icon with the Dragon Tera symbol. Set that as your destination, and fly to the nearest Pokémon Center or landmark.
• Follow the orange flag to your destination.
• Interact with the Tera crystal and check if it’s a five-star raid with the silhouette of either Dialga or Palkia.
• You may also join online Dialga and Palkia Tera Raids hosted by other players using the Tera Raid Battle Search function in the Poké Portal, but you’ll need a Nintendo Switch Online membership.

How to catch Dialga and Palkia in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Currently, the only way to catch Dialga and Palkia directly in the Gen IX games is by clearing their Tera Raids during the event period. Dialga raids will naturally be found in Scarlet, and Palkia raids will naturally be found in Violet, but you can still catch both even if you only own one version.

To do this, you need to join a Tera Raid hosted by a player with the opposite version from you. In other words, if you have Scarlet, look for a Violet-exclusive Palkia Tera Raid using the online raid search feature in the Poké Portal. Likewise, look for a Scarlet-exclusive Dialga Tera raid to join if you have Violet.

After the event period, you’ll have to transfer Dialga and Palkia via Pokémon HOME if you want them in Scarlet and Violet. That’s the only other way to obtain the Sinnoh Legendaries in the Gen IX games unless the DLC or another event provides us with more opportunities to catch them in the future.

Can you catch more than one Dialga and Palkia in the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Tera Raid event?

Like previous Tera Raid events, you may only catch one of these special Dialga and one special Palkia per save file. You can still rechallenge their Tera Raids if you want to farm the rewards, but the game will not allow you to catch additional Dialga or Palkia from this event.

If you absolutely need to have multiple Dialga and Palkia in Scarlet and Violet, you’ll have to transfer other ones from games like Legends Arceus, Brilliant Diamond, or Shining Pearl via Pokémon HOME.

What is the best Nature for Dialga and Palkia in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

As Legendary Pokémon, Dialga and Palkia both have great stats all around, but their best stat is Special Attack at 150. To go all out on special offense, they would benefit most from a Modest Nature, which boosts Special Attack while lowering Attack. 

Although Dialga and Palkia can make good physical or mixed attackers, they have incredible Special Attack with tons of special moves that can be boosted by a Modest Nature, and it’s too much power to pass up on. It will also maximize the damage of Dialga’s signature attack, Roar of Time, and Palkia’s signature attack, Spacial Rend.

If you have access to their Origin Formes with the Adamant Crystal and Lustrous Globe, you can build a bulkier Origin Dialga or a faster Origin Palkia if that suits your playstyle. Boost Origin Dialga’s physical Defense with a Bold Nature (+ Defense, – Attack) or its Special Defense with a Calm Nature (+ Special Defense, – Attack). Boost Origin Palkia’s Speed with a Timid Nature (+ Speed, – Attack).