A huge network of tunnels stretches beneath Sinnoh, accessible from anywhere on the surface. You dig its walls to find fossils, evolution stones and Plates, set traps, and build your Secret Base. Here is everything you need to know to make the most of it.
The Underground exists only in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum. You can play it alone, but it was designed for multiplayer: up to eight players could meet there over local wireless.
In the Underground, your Pokémon do not battle: you move around alone, with your Explorer Kit, and a menu specific to the tunnels replaces the usual one.
⛏️Getting the Explorer Kit
The Underground Man lives in Eterna City, in the house east of the Pokémon Center. He gives you the Explorer Kit, then entrusts you with missions that teach you each activity, with rewards at stake. Go back and see him regularly.
To go down, choose the Explorer Kit in your Bag, on any route or in a city, outdoors. The Underground is divided into several zones: some do not connect, and you then have to go back up to the surface to get from one to the other.
💎Digs
- On the map on the top screen, sparkling dots show the walls where you can dig.
- Get close and touch the touch screen to pinpoint the exact spot to dig, then press A facing the wall.
- Scratch with the pickaxe (precise, one hit per square) or the hammer (wider, but it quickly weakens the wall).
- The wall cracks with every hit: when the bar at the top of the screen is full, the dig ends. Clear the most valuable items first.
You can find fossils (Skull Fossil or Armor Fossil, then those from Kanto and Hoenn after the National Pokédex), evolution stones (Fire, Water, Thunder, Leaf, Moon, Sun, Shiny, Dusk, Dawn, Oval), the Plates that boost a type, Shards, Heart Scales, held items and spheres.
🔮Spheres
Spheres are the currency of the Underground. They come in five colors: red, blue and green, the most common, then pale (more common in Pearl) and prism (more common in Diamond). Each sphere has a size: the bigger it is, the more it is worth.
- Buried in the ground of a tunnel, a sphere grows over time, after a day or more.
- You can bury several spheres of the same color in the same place: they merge, but only the first keeps its full size.
- Spheres can be traded to the Hikers for traps, treasures and decorations for your Secret Base.
🪤Traps
Traps are hidden in the tunnels, set by the game or by other players. If you get caught, you have to free yourself with the stylus or even by blowing into the microphone. Touch the touch screen to spot the traps ahead of you, then disarm them by pressing A right in front of them: they join your Bag.
🏠The Secret Base
By following the Underground Man’s missions, you get what you need to dig out your own Secret Base in a wall. Decorate it with the items you get from the Hikers or buy at the Veilstone Department Store. Your flag is planted there: in multiplayer, other players can come and steal it, and you can steal theirs.
👻The Underground and Spiritomb
Spiritomb only shows up after you have talked 32 times to other players in the Underground, over a local connection (talking to the same player several times counts), and placed the Odd Keystone in the Hallowed Tower on Route 209. See Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
To get rich from the Underground, find the rarest fossils and succeed at every dig, read our Premium feature The Underground: Fortune and Fossils.
