HOW EASILY CAN YOU COMPLETE A LIVING NATIONAL DEX IN POKEMON BRILLIANT DIAMOND/SHINING PEARL?

With the release of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, I took the ultimate test to see just how difficult to would be to not only complete the entire Pokedex, but to catch a Living Dex - a Pokedex that contains every individual Pokemon. Today we're going to find out how easily you can complete a Living National Dex in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl! This video took a lot of time and effort to put together, so I'd really appreciate it if you shared this with a friend. If you have any suggestions for the next video, leave it in the comments below! Have a great day :)
_________________________________________________________________
Follow me on Twitter!
/ johnstoneyt
Follow me on Twitch!
/ johnstone
Follow my Twitch Highlights Channel!
/ johnstonelive
HERE IS THE BDSP LIVING NATIONAL DEX GUIDE:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

[@TheRampantTragedy]

John: Please, honey trees, can I have a Heracross? Honey trees: Best we can do is 30 mangos.

[@minefish]

XD

[@DarkenedRaven]

Meanwhile my first honey tree was a Heracross.

[@tsyumamatsuthehavenofguard32]

And a fishing suit

[@wabb1e156]

go underground theres alot of them. Also my first tree was a heracross

[@Sauron17011]

I got 2 munchlax on different trees before I got a heracross.

[@casheverett6300]

Its my dream to see a full living shiny dex in all generations. That would be amazing but near impossible.

[@genuinegenie7078]

Especially in the first generation

[@machina188]

Just gen em in

[@allen2reckless676]

A drive has done it tho

[@KryptCeeper969]

@@machina188 might as well photoshop a certificate stating that you are the best pokemon trainer ever also.

[@machina188]

@@KryptCeeper969 No I want a weal pokieman certificate uwu But yeah, might as well. Just as valid.

[@tsyumamatsuthehavenofguard32]

It's surprisingly easier to do now because of the fact the national dex is cut down to just these two games

[@allen2reckless676]

Oh I read that bad. U mean how the National dex is cut down to just 4 generations and basically all the Pokémon from all 4 gen’s and be caught in this game.

[@cadenchung4493]

@@allen2reckless676 what he mean is that in the previous games if u want to complete the national dex u need to have more than the current 2 version u have. Take example: if u want to complete the x and y poke dex u need dpp b2w2 and both x and y

[@allen2reckless676]

@@cadenchung4493 oh okay. My bad

[@user-do1gm9qg7n]

@@cadenchung4493 actually no, you dont need gen 4 and 5 games to conplete gen 6 national dex. Disregarding Mythicals, you can catch every pokemon with only gen 6 games. What sucks is that you need every gen 6 game, due to exclusives, but, you can always risk with the GTS. I am speaking from experience

[@Griffnix]

@@user-do1gm9qg7n You can catch every Pokémon in Gen 3, 4, and 6 without outside gen games. Gen 7 would need the most would Pokémon transfered.

[@calamity8465]

I found not one but TWO munchlaxes on TWO DIFFERENT honey trees before I found a SINGLE heracross two days after the second one. Needless to say the trees don't like me.

[@DanielPereira-ey9nt]

I had the same happen in platinum, i found 2 Munchlax both holding leftover before i got a female Combee (didnt know you could reset for gender)

[@darknessscythe1]

I found a Heracross on my 3rd tree in Brilliant Diamond, I was floored.

[@Jewao]

@@darknessscythe1 I found one on my second tree ever, God looked out for us

[@JadeJoules]

Heracross was my first tree. He is also the main powerhouse of my team.

[@brandikins11]

I’ve probably slathered honey on a hundred different trees looking for Heracross. This morning I said “here we go again” as I began to check my first one. Low and behold, a Heracross appeared. But with that kind of luck buddy (two Munchlax) you need to go to Vegas. 😂

[@teelo12000]

When I was Feebas hunting on original Ruby back in the day, I found a Shiny Carvanha before I found a Feebas.

[@brendanmemmott1597]

Yo i found a shiny magikarp doing the same thing in emerald. Was sad i couldn't get a shiny feebas

[@krisiverse]

In Emerald I got a shiny Ralts while trying to find a Seedot on route 102... and I still never found Seedot 😂

[@StickMaster500]

I still remember going on Route 225 and using my Action Replay to collect each and every Pokemon in Pokemon Pearl in order to complete the National Dex. Those were good times.

[@AtomicX160]

I did the same right outside of Canalave City

[@eksmad]

Ooooh and I still remember YOU! :D

[@kingkmtso5107]

My spot was the route above solaceon Town

[@andrewlessard1574]

Vivid memories of me leaving Hearthome and using my action replay.

[@excalibur493]

Those were the days

[@mrjimi1]

FYI, the effect of the luxury ball works even if the pokemon inherited the luxury ball through breeding. So, you can get the luxury ball effect while also starting at 120 friendship from hatching. Not as nice as the friend ball effect, but paired with a soothe bell, stat reducing berries and the 100 steps thing, you can get it high very quickly.

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

WHAT?!

[@chloukscolor7905]

So you’re telling me someone can in fact complete a living National dex solo ? (Except for trade evolutions). Unprecedented. Wonderful. I want all future games to enable that, even if it’s only small scale.

[@martl6115]

@@andrews2115 really? can you do trade evolutions with pokemon home?

[@expo_pkmn]

@@martl6115 nope

[@monkeymask9596]

i love that theyre making the national dex not necessarily easier, but more cost efficient, if you buy sword+shield and the dlcs you have a massive chunk done right there, a lot of what youre missing is in this game as well, so the grind is still there but theyre all very focused into a couple games now.

[@RVIU11]

Yeah and now I am at a point where I am missing Celebi, Darkrai and Arceus... which I can´t get unless I had taken part in a 30 day Pomo event that happened in April. At which point I didn´t even have a switch. Kinda pissed. I can´t even trade those Pokemons from Pokemon Go.

[@kariemacmackin5915]

@@RVIU11 have you considered getting legends arceus? You can get darkrai if you have save data from bdsp, and arceus is part of the stor7

[@wolfetteplays8894]

Honestly, I hate it. It’s spitting in the face of veteran players to cater to the kleptomaniac zoomer mentality that destroyed X & Y

[@zoroearc2582]

If I'm not mistaken, datamines of the SV DLC have shown that the only Pokémon you can't get on Switch are the Patrat line, the Elemental Monkeys and Furfrou

[@greythomas5113]

​@@wolfetteplays8894Skill issue?

[@yoshifighter727]

19:16 “I feel like I’m in a MATH PROBLEM!” -Johnstone 2021

[@curtymac7]

That moment when John has a living national dex before you have your starter cause your shiny hunting

[@bcav712]

Are you still shiny hunting?

[@curtymac7]

@@bcav712 NOPE! AFTER 180 hrs I got my turtwig hahaha

[@aidenbustos8625]

@@curtymac7 best starter

[@bcav712]

@@curtymac7 found a shiny Turtwig in Arceus! I know it’s not as impressive as what you did but I love the little guy!

[@Crxsseyed1]

@@curtymac7you should totally shiny hunt the other 2 lmao

[@kandyeggs]

I was recently inspired by you to attempt the Alola regional dex… I forgot my how useful/horrible Pokémon calling allies was! I’ve got more than half before the end of the story, so it’s going strong!

[@gogetenks001]

I just started this same challenge but on the supernova sun rom hack, and the sos is the bane of my existence 😅

[@netherwarrior6113]

I completed the Pokédex around December for my ultra moon then a few days ago accidentally deleted 2 months of progress so I have to recatch and evolve more than 100 pokemon

[@rayflyers]

He caught 'em all, including all the mangoes! Also, Budew in Platinum was my first shiny, so I love seeing your shiny Budew here.

[@NatTheNewt]

Love that you keep the "but how'd I do?" Even though we just saw u catch them all 😄

[@samanthabackman1444]

Johnstone falling for the Haunter trade gave me way too much joy

[@thelionsshare8530]

at first I thought he was making a joke about it like "woah chat look!!! a Completely Good Trade!" but then he reacted so surprised 😭

[@ani3168]

@@thelionsshare8530 he was joking and it was pretty obvious

[@sebastiencote1565]

Really cool! I didn’t know it was called a living dex, but I have been doing this for every game since Yellow! I’m only missing Heracross and Feebas (for obvious reason) in BD (and a few Trophy garden/Swarms exclusives). Waiting for my friend with SP for the trade Pokémon.

[@aceofriddles]

That thing with finding Munchlax on the tree before finding Heracross also happened to me when I was hunting for Heracross in Platinum. Makes me wonder if Heracross is actually the super rare one

[@lumbagovideosnew5915]

Munchlax was the 1% chance back in DP, heracross is now the rarest honey tree encounter now I believe

[@Crxsseyed1]

@@lumbagovideosnew5915no, it’s still munchlax, it’s just that munchlax is now available outside of honey trees, while heracross isnt

[@DungForever]

Whenever I do a Living Dex, I always fully evolve everything then breed it to get the previous forms. I hate catching duplicates of the same Pokemon. It's also easier to just spend a day hatching eggs and leveling them up in a few battles.

[@EmptyPeace]

That's not a living dex then.. Living dex is having one of each. Not just completing the Dex which is what you're doing.. there's a difference.

[@cecilienielsen1881]

@@EmptyPeace If you breed for the previous evolutions after you're done evolving you still have a living dex.

[@EmptyPeace]

@@cecilienielsen1881 if you have one of each evolution then yes. If you have a pre evolution and evolve but dont catch another of the pre evo you dont.. You have a completed national dex. A living dex is having one of each so if you bring them to another game you have them all not just the evolution, then you'd still have to get the pre evos for the dex. Its different

[@rennnnnnnnnnnnn]

@@EmptyPeace No i think this person was saying something different. They were saying that they would rather (for example) catch a magikarp, then evolve it into a gyarados, and then breed the gyarados to get another magikarp rather than just catching two magikarp to begin with. So its still a full living dex 👍

[@aaronlaughter6471]

Thanks for the stroll down memory lane, I still have my living dex in Pokémon home, all of which I been collecting sense Platinum (I been playing sense red, never transferred until it was gen 4 to 5), man Heart Gold and Soul Silver where amazing.

[@danthemaninapan]

Mathematically, when trying to get a Feebas, fishing each square once is a better strategy than fishing it two or three times. The probability of catching a Feebas on your first tile is 4/528 * 1/2. That is, 4/528 chance of being on the correct tile, and 1/2 chance of seeing the Feebas there. This equates to about a 0.3% chance. However, if we fish on that tile and see a different pokemon, we have new information about that tile, which means the probability of finding a feebas there updates. Using a formula for conditional probability (i.e. the probability of seeing a Feebas given that you've already seen another Pokemon on that square), the new probability of finding a Feebas on that square turns out to be about 0.19%. Because the probability of finding Feebas on that one tile decreases after seeing another Pokemon, the probability of finding Feebas on some other tile must increase, which means investigating a new tile is always better than investigating the same tile again.

[@wabb1e156]

someone just trade me one

[@ZZ-ex8py]

@@wabb1e156 just use the lottery number method

[@cameronmarshall800]

@@wabb1e156 I have one extra

[@goblez5900]

Theres literally a tool online to help you catch one. Idk why so many people still don't know that it's linked to your lotto number

[@Math.Bandit]

That might lead to a faster time on average, but also leads to a lot more outlier scenarios where it takes twice or three times as long. If you miss 4 coinflips (which is a 1/16, not crazy unlucky) then you end up having finished the whole lake and now you are back to the start with zero information.

[@devantimbol1255]

I stumbled on this video a couple of months back and started working on a living dex as well. I revisited my old games and imported them to home, which was a mess since I did not sort my boxes at all. Right now, I'm about 30 Pokémon left to complete the living Dex in BD and it has been a fulfilling and fun experience!

[@xoasis3214]

I summoned heracross, I told him I found mine and the next tree he checked he found his. It’s thanks to me John was able to find it. You’re all welcome. Seriously tho even tho I watched like 90% of all the streams this video was absolutely fantastic. The content you put out is always fantastic and I can’t wait for more. Keep it up John :)

[@mr.c207]

Can’t wait for the professor oak’s challenge in this game. It’s gonna be insane with the underground.

[@LeamonPuppy]

I can’t remember how but I used some weird site to figure out the spots where feebas was in on the particular day I was on. I think it had something to do with the lotto ticket day number and you would put the number on the site and it would tell you the spots it was in, thats too bad you didn’t know about that it would have helped a ton lol. And heracross was a huge pain for me

[@mariana.2103]

congrats john!! great video as always :))

[@jddunham8738]

As always, I respect the determination. You crazy, crazy s.o.b. Can't wait to see you hit 300k brother!

[@ConnorKrohnicles]

About the Feebas tile change, I’m fairly sure it doesn’t work quite the way he said. I entered the room to start fishing at 11:58pm and finally found it the next day at around 4pm without closing the game. After catching a bunch of feebas to trade my friends (I’m all out of feebas please don’t ask me for any) AND taking a screenshot of my location so I could continue to fish after trading in the same day, I went back to catch more feebas. To my surprise, even though it was still the same day and I went to the same tile, there was no feebas. I’m confident that the feebas tiles are locked upon entry to the room and if the time rolls to the next day, the tiles are only reset when you exit the room. Because I entered the room 2 minutes before the switch, the tiles were already primed to switch as soon as i left, but didn’t actually switch because i stayed in the room. If this is the case, it means you could fish in the same spot for weeks and still get feebas because the tiles don’t change. TLDR; Feebas tiles don’t spontaneously switch when the next day rolls over. They switch when the next day rolls over AND you leave the room.

[@ConnorKrohnicles]

Also also, in terms of your experience in the video, this means you could’ve just stayed in mt coronet and continued fishing for feebas because the tiles wouldn’t switch until you leave the room.

[@tornadey018]

"I feel like a math problem!" Accurate 🤣

[@Marik745]

“How many times can I speedrun these games while eating 30 mangoes?”

[@donavin415]

this spreadsheet will be so helpful, love the content bro!

[@kartoffel2714]

I completed basically everything besides daily pokemon a week ago, since then I've been searching for leaf stones and kabuto fossils in the underground with no luck. But hey, atleast I have 50 thunder- and fire stones.

[@nando5340]

So you can catch everything with regular poke balls wow respect

[@TheBuckeyefan18]

Saw some of the stream as well! Video turned out fantastic

[@10Bendog]

I was watching this video as I was going around in Legends and just as you showed the Shiny Budew you got, I found one myself at an outbreak. Almost missed it too because it was under a tree's shadow, making the colors more difficult to spot, and I didn't hear the sound either, lol.

[@Nudah]

your videos are genuinely so good

[@Qihte]

poke nerd nudah?? i love it

[@anthonyt4053]

Brilliant checklist I'm about to reset on my diamond copy to attempt this so I applaud the effort you to man.

[@Ylurple]

re: feebas, i learned that suction cups is bugged to do nothing, but no guard or arena trap will make you land a fish every time. also there's a calculator where if you input your lottery numbers from the jubilife lottery, you can narrow down your feebas tiles

[@isabellabiagioli4757]

I caught munchlax as my first honey tree encounter and thought of you. I felt like you did when you found the feebas :)

[@DeinBleistift]

YES! YES! YEEEEEES! I was hoping so much you would do this video! I plan on completing the national Dex for the first time ever in these games. I'll try on my own, but if i ever get stuck i might just get here again and look for advice. Thank you!

[@1998Haris]

Falls du einen Diamant Tauschpartner brauchst, sag Bescheid! 😊

[@DeinBleistift]

@@1998Haris Bin selbst Diamant-Spieler, aber danke für's Angebot :)

[@Sam20309]

I’ve almost completed my living dex for this game. I was following the platinum dex though and now the only Pokemon I need are nosepass and probopass, swarms are a pain haha.

[@super_noob8151]

This dude takes gotta catch ‘em all to a whole other level

[@apocritas]

I like that fixing your pen broke your Switch. Blowing on it just passed the broken-ness on to the next available object

[@samuelstannard730]

The Professor Oak challenge in this game is going to be wild!

[@Quortezz3]

Yo awesome for the shiny Roserade, one of my favorites ever. Great vid as always!

[@adhdweirdo4314]

Love how during the intro you played like, the best route music

[@LTDextel]

My Feebas hunt only took like an hour and a half. Great content. Wonderful vid

[@RasenRendanX]

I havent seen your videos in like.. a year so its kool to see your face and that you stream now! Ill be looking forward when Arceus is out and what videos you make for that

[@slackerofhell]

That Heracross grind was just evil lol! Took me a lot longer than it should've because I kept forgetting to check the trees hahaha!

[@ExSpectre]

Fun fact, you can get a Spiritomb as soon as you get to the broken tower thing. It takes way way longer since you have to rely A LOT more on rng, but it’s doable.

[@mmikeyy]

Kricketune with a master ball killed me. LMFAO

[@slypii9362]

I love how normie in a math question “John has 30 mangos” is

[@skydragonfire93]

Nobody is safe from Mindy and her Haunter holding an Everstone.

[@realar]

I hate her.

[@hrideshkumar414]

Who dont

[@brandonc422]

THE LEGEND IS BACK!

[@dddrones]

1:26 you're the 4th person I've seen have a shiny during this encounter that's absolutely wild to me

[@55yamy]

So I started the game on the 27th of november and got Heracross on the 4th of december with 7 badges. It's so hard to find. Really nice video.

[@liampouncy7808]

You're looking really good btw, dude. I'll have to watch the vid to know whether that part is good. :P

[@PROrangeV2]

The madlad has done it again!

[@baahblo]

I really hope he does another excel tutorial, the first part of the video was really helpful

[@joemorris6544]

This video is gold. Hilarious and informative

[@SimplyPlatano]

Watching this video is making me want to make my own living dex.

[@ThuggyMacho]

Beating the game in 20 minutes? There's no way.

[@DIVERofLIFE]

This was the first stream of yours i popped into and i clicked on this video so fast

[@WooffleDee]

35:15 Oh man I wondered who traded that Spinda with the funny name (which you all should do on Twitch by the way)

[@slateportraichu5416]

Thank you for the video, I had a great time=)

[@rizu-kun9687]

"If Johnstone asked for mango slices and received 30 mangoes, how long will it take for him to catch a Feebas?"

[@ichigohaatsu]

Watching the Feebas part and I am so glad there's the poke lotto method... saved me so much time

[@pukie2323]

Bomb videos 🔥💪🏻

[@WayWardWonderer]

I just KNEW that Troll-Trainer with the Haunter was still in the game, so I didn't even bother to talk to her!

[@fernandodbdarkmaster4116]

Watching the video: sure John 😃 Watching THE STREAM: LET'S GO

[@EruptedCamerupt]

Good stuff John

[@Dark_Side_Productions]

This is what I’m gonna do next in BDSP! Thank you for the advice John, love your content.

[@mostlyreliable]

Great video john

[@thomassantos3684]

Wouldn't have pegged John as a Claire fan, but that's pretty darn cool.

[@CrushedParagon]

I see you made the same mistake I did and had an Octillery in front for Feebas, suction cups no longer helps with fishing; no guard, however, does

[@ludicolo15]

Congrats on 9 views john :)

[@davidvanholland2026]

Hey man wanna say thanks for the google doc it has been very helpful however I do want to let you know about a mistake in there, it says to get a wynaut you need to breed a wobbuffet holding an odd incense but it actually needs to hold a lax incense

[@HogEnjoyer]

The next extra challenge you add with be a shiny living dex.

[@NXTIM3]

greatest video out on this platform

[@Zeroshiki]

I haven't even started playing yet because I can't get shiny Turtwig, this man got the National Dex completed, probably more than once. 💀

[@1998Haris]

You came too far, no giving up man! 👊🏼 I respect you, good luck

[@LeiaSoBoushhie]

thanks for the great content :)

[@ansonadams3480]

you already finished?! LEGEND

[@bigppgamer9140]

Finally, its out. I was never able to make it to the streams

[@Zuk0559]

I come back to this video once so often just to watch the mango part. Lmao funny everytime 😂

[@hitavi4965]

"That's so many mangos dude, I feel like I'm in a math problem!" -John 2021

[@WinslowSmith96]

I smell a Professor Oak challenge on the horizon

[@ahsoka_tano_98]

Love the thumbnail John

[@argadiamon5693]

Congrats on your National dex, Mangoman

[@xyznihall]

great video brah

[@desposyy]

I thought everyone knew that haunter was holding an everstone... very convincing if that was a bit

[@beanie4969]

Something interesting: John finally caught a Heracross on route 214, which just so happens to be Heracross' national dex number

[@HandMadeHippo]

Finally made it into a video pretty pog

[@user-nn1mf8lr2w]

Yay! Johntent!

[@VirtuesOfSin]

"A maximum of 11 poffins" Wow sir, you suck at cooking! xD Joking Aside: Poffins usually have a smoothness of 16 (depending on the berries you use) and Pokemon can have a Sheen of up to 255 (You can overfeed them on the final Poffin though), so you should (on average) get 16 Poffins before you're Pokemon is Full... Unless you're making a LOT of mistakes (burn/spill) and/or are using inefficient berries. Justin made a good video guide on making Poffins - super easy to get to 255 stats on every block without filling your Sheen.

[@isaibro]

Yay! I love these

[@Erick-uh3ij]

Currently watching you stream at the moment this went up

[@ja3621]

16:20 tips for great marsh 21:45 chain exclusive pokemon

[@joeyteter9383]

Man, I got exhausted just listening to everything you’ve gotta do to complete it lol

[@RsDAgility]

Lets go john!!

[@Xzeihoranth]

'Super fun to take on', after that near-breakdown over the pen breaking.

[@maganhassan2627]

Looking forward to see you do professor oak challenge in this game