In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl's Grand Underground, trainers can collect Pokémon Statues to decorate their own Secret Base in the subterranean tunnels beneath the Sinnoh region. The Grand Underground brought back the ability to dig for items in the tunnels’ walls from Diamond & Pearl, and players can find Pokémon Statues buried among the other great treasures that can be uncovered. While Pokémon BDSP are extremely faithful to the original titles for the Nintendo DS, the Underground got some major improvements in the remakes, including the introduction of Pokémon Hideaways, and players can use Pokémon Statues to affect the Pokémon that appear in these Hideaways.
Along with their aesthetic value, these Pokémon Statues can be placed in a Secret Base to increase the spawn rates of Pokémon in the Grand Underground’s Pokémon Hideaways, giving players a better chance of encountering a specific Pokémon or type of Pokémon in these caves. Pokémon Statues will cause more Pokémon of their type to appear, and some statues can boost more than one type. However, only one type of Pokémon can receive the boost at a time, and players can place multiple Statues of the same type to stack their effects.
Statues in Pokémon BDSP can be found in Pretty Stone Boxes and Gorgeous Stone Boxes that can be uncovered from the Grand Underground’s many digsites. Gorgeous Stone Boxes contain Shiny Statues, which are green and are listed separately from the other Statues in the Secret Base’s menu. The primary type of Pokémon inside is represented by the symbol on the lid of the box. However, the box must be fully uncovered before the wall collapses, or else it will be lost with the rest of the rubble, so players have to dig strategically in order to recover it.
Using Pokémon Statues In Pokémon BDSP’s Secret Base
Placing Pokémon Statues in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl’s Secret Bases makes it much easier to find specific Pokémon or type of Pokémon to complete the Pokédex or fill a certain role in the trainer’s team, and the more statues a player places in their Secret Base, the higher they can boost the spawn rates of that type. By interacting with the crystal orb to the right-hand side of the base’s entrance, trainers can check the type and strength of the Statues’ effects. Up to 18 statues can be placed in the Secret Base in Pokémon BDSP, and the spawn rates can be increased even more by placing Shiny Statues in the base, which have twice the effect of regular Pokémon Statues.
For players who want to get a little more creative with the design of their Secret Base, there are a variety of Pedestals available that can be used to put Pokémon Statues on display rather than just placing them on the ground. Pedestals can be purchased from the fourth floor of the Veilstone Department Store, and the Grand Underground’s vendors will also sell them in exchange for Spheres, which can be found while digging. While these Pedestals don’t affect the Secret Base’s encounter-rate boost, they add a fun decorative element to Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl’s new and improved Grand Underground.