by The Underground Caves are an underground area in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl that we can access through an Explorer Kit; This location was already available in the original video games on which the Remake was based, but this time we have changes and some new function such as the Pokémon Dens.
Something to keep in mind is that depending on where we are in Sinnoh, when using the Explorer Kit we will end up at a specific point (that is, each place in Sinnoh will take us to a different point in the Underground Caves) . Mentioned this, let’s see how we can access these caves.
HOW TO ACCESS THE UNDERGROUND GROTTOES IN POKÉMON SHINING DIAMOND AND SHINING PEARL
Luckily we will be able to access the subsoil as soon as we have played a few hours of play; The first thing we will do is get to the Old City (where the fight against Gardenia for the second medal takes place) and we will look for the Pokémon Center.
Well, if we enter the house that is right next to the Pokémon Center, we will find an NPC who looks like a grandfather called “Mole Man”. When talking to him, he will take us out of the building to give us an Explorer Kit and give us a mini tutorial on how to access the Underground Caves.
As you can see, it doesn’t have much of a mystery, you just have to look for the kit in the backpack or assign it to a button and we can use it practically anywhere, except inside buildings and caves (to get out of the Underground Caves, just we have to press the Y button to select upload).
MOLE MAN TRIALS
If we return to the interior of the house after leaving the Underground Caves, the Mole Man will give us a series of tests that will help us to learn the uses of the caves and will also give us the occasional little thing.
- If we look at the map of the Underground Caves, we will see that there is a kind of yellowish glow on some of the walls. If we approach and press the A button, it will give us the option to dig into the wall. Well, the first test is to extract minerals from the walls of the caves and as a reward the Mole Man will give you a drill .
- The second test is to create a secret base with the drill they just gave us. To do so we just have to approach any wall of the Underground Caves and press A and it will tell us if we want to use the drill to create the base at that point; When he returns with the Mole Man, he will give us Speedy Balls, Dusk Balls and Diving Balls.
- While digging in the caves, we will sometimes come across Pokemon statues and the third challenge is to find one and decorate our secret base with it. When we’re done, Mole Man gives you an XS Square Base.
The drill is for one use only. If you want to move the secret base you will have to exchange gems for a new one.
UTILITIES OF THE UNDERGROUND CAVES
From my point of view, the Underground Caves are one of the funniest things in the video game and they offer us many essential utilities for our adventure.
POKEMON DENS
If we go underground we will see a kind of room with a question mark; well, when we enter them we will observe a kind of mini-ecosystem in which we find the wild Pokémon walking freely (it will help us to capture Pokémon without having to go around the grass so much).
There are two types of zones, the caverns that are the big zones and the caves that are the small zones. Each one has a different environment (lakes, swamps, caves, etc.) and then we will make a list of all the Pokémon Dens:
- Clarostela Cavern (crystal zone)
- Glacial Cavern (ice area)
- Unfathomable Cavern (swamp area)
- Peñasco Cavern (mountainous area)
- Reflelago Cavern (lake area)
- Solana Cavern (grass area)
- Typhlosion Cavern (lava zone)
- Sandy Cave (mountainous area)
- Cueva Arroyo (river area)
- Caldarena Cave (volcanic area)
- Icicle Cave (ice area)
- Twinkle Cave (crystal zone)
- Flash Cave (crystal zone)
- Spacious Cave (sand area)
- Fluvial Cave (river area)
- Cueva Herbazal (grass area)
- Cueva Llama (lava area)
- Cueva Lodazal (swamp area)
- Magma Cave (lava area)
- Minor Cave (sand area)
- Cueva Nevisca (snow area)
- Swamp Cave (swamp area)
- Meadow Cave (grass area)
- Cueva Ribera (lake area)
- Rocky Cave (mountainous area)
- Cueva Témpano (ice area)
- Blizzard Cave (snow area)
EXCAVATION
It is a minigame that we can find in the Underground Caves; To dig we will have to look for a wall with a kind of yellow glow (on the minimap of the caves).
Once the point is located, we only have to dig and the minigame will begin. It’s like a kind of minesweeper, we have a mallet and a hammer and we have to demolish the wall in search of hidden objects.
With the hammer we will be able to dig in a small part without damaging the wall much while with the mallet we will be able to dig in an area, but we will do much more damage to the wall; When the bar above is completely cracked, the wall will collapse and we will obtain the objects that we have had time to dig up.
By doing this minigame, we can get the following rewards:
- Gems : Stones of different sizes and colors that we will use in exchanges with NPCs.
- Statues : Decorative objects for the Secret Base that increase the spawn rate of certain Pokémon Types (some can be Shiny).
- Evolutionary Stones : Essential objects for the evolution of some Pokémon (Ex: For Togepi to evolve to Togekiss we will need a Day Stone).
- Tables : Objects that enhance the movements of a certain type of Pokémon in particular (Ex: the Terror Table enhances the movements of the Ghost Type).
- Parts : Fragments of different colors that we can use in exchanges with NPCs.
If we are in online mode, sometimes we will see a blue flash instead of a yellow one; in this mode we can dig with another person who is playing at that moment (the minigame is the same, but the wall takes longer to collapse).
SECRET BASE
As we have already seen in the Mole Man missions, we can build a Secret Base in the Underground Caves using a drill. And what is the Secret Base for?
Well, as we dig, we’ll find Pokémon Statues and they’ll help us decorate our base with them. However, its use is not merely aesthetic; these statues increase the spawn rate of Pokémon depending on the type of the statues.
That is, if I have statues of Empoleon , Gyarados and Remoraid; I will be promoting the appearance of Water-Type Pokémon. To know what type of Pokémon is being boosted, we just have to check it in the sphere that is in our Secret Base (only one type can be boosted at a time).
DIGLETT AND DUGTRIO IN THE UNDERGROUND CAVES
Sometimes we will find a Diglett or Dugtrio on the roads, they will disappear and leave a shine on the ground. If we step on this brightness, we will see how points are added to a counter below the minimap of the Underground Caves.
And what is this for? When the counter reaches the maximum (40 points) we will obtain for a time a bonus of experience when fighting against wild Pokémon and a boost to the probability of finding a Shiny Pokémon Statue while digging.
If we find a Diglett they will give us one point and if we find a Dugtrio we will receive three points. As you can see, it is quite complex to reach 40 points (because when leaving the subsoil they are reset); but if you enter the Underground Caves in Online mode, the Digletts found by other players will count in our bar.
MOUNTAINEERS IN THE SUBSOIL CAVES
Very nice NPCs that we meet on the paths of the Underground Rifts. Each of them has different functions, which are the following:
- Rest : Heal our Pokémon team.
- Receive Objects : We exchange gems with the Mountaineer for Bases or MTs.
- Giving Items : We exchange items obtained by digging for gems.
- Expand Secret Base : It gives us the possibility of increasing the size of the Secret Base in exchange for many gems.
