Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Gift Pokemon & NPC trades: Where to get Free Pokemon

by Quinton O'Connor on 25 November, 2021

Every Pokemon has a handful of special non-player characters scattered throughout its game world that help you out tremendously on your journey, and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are no different. Perhaps the coolest NPCs of all are those that give you free Pokemon - allowing you to pick up a gift Pokemon and add it straight to your team!

In the new Switch version of Diamond and Pearl, some of these gift Pokemon are particularly rare, also - so you'll want to make sure that you don't miss any. Usually, the only way to find these Gift Pokemon naturally is to talk to absolutely everybody you meet just in case they have a present for you - but on this page, we list all gift Pokemon in BDSP so you can follow this guide and nab all of the give-aways without stressing. These are some of the most helpful NPCs in the game, alongside the Name Rater and Move Tutor, Deleter, and Reminder.

It's worth noting that a small handful of the Gift Pokemon have certain requirements, like save games from previous games. Others will require a trade. There's eleven NPCs who hand over Gift Pokemon in total, which means that there's eleven entries to your Pokedex for little to no effort. Here's where to get them all:

Gift Pokemon & NPC Trades in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

There are also 10 NPCs in Briliant Diamond & Shining Pearl who will gift you a Pokemon, either in exchange for a different Pokemon, in recognition of a past accomplishment, or a save file from another Pokemon game, or via some other parameter. Here's a list of each of the 10 NPCs, plus the steps involved.

Chatot: Catch a Buizel and head to the house that's situated directly beside the Poke Mart. Bid your Buizel farewell in the trade and say hello to Chatot.
Abra: Catch a Machop and enter the building by the Poke Mart. There's a guy here who will give you his Abra for it. While Abra is catchable already at this point in the game, doing so can be a hassle, since it always teleports away on the first turn.
Mew: In Floaroma Town, there's an elderly couple with the magical ability to sense whether or not you have save data from previous Pokemon games on your Switch. If you have a file from Let's Go Pikachu/Let's Go Eevee, the lady hands you a Mew, no questions asked.
Jirachi: The husband's just as kind. If you have save data from Sword & Shield, Jirachi's all yours.
Riolu: Once you've reached Canalave City, take the boat to Iron Island. After some events play out alongside a temporary buddy, Riley, he'll give you a Riolu Egg. Just wait for it to hatch!
Magikarp: Catch a Finneon and surf across Route 226. You'll find a self-proclaimed "Meister" who will offer his Magikarp in exchange. No, we're not sure why this is supposed to be a good deal, either.
Happiny: Journey to Hearthome City and trek over to Route 209. A Hiker stands at the edge of the city/start of the route, and he'll happily provide you with a Happiny Egg. Hikers are apparently nice people; you also get your first Hidden Move from a Hiker, as a gift.
Haunter: We've got to warn you, the trainer you receive this Haunter from in Pokemon BDSP is meme material. The Haunter will be holding an Everstone, meaning it won't evolve when traded to you — which defeats the entire point of trading for a Haunter in the first place. But if you feel like doing so anyway, catch a Medicham and speak with Mindy in Snowpoint City.
Eevee: You'll need to have become Sinnoh League Champion already in order to get your Eevee from Bebe, who will award you with one of these foxy cuties at her home in Hearthome City. You'll also need the National Dex.
Manaphy: Purchasing Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl before February 21, 2022, is necessary for this one. If you've done so, you can download a Manaphy Egg through the game's Mystery Gift feature. Bear in mind, Mystery Gift won't unlock until after you've defeated the third Gym Leader, Maylene.