Guides

The Sinnoh Bible

Our essential guide for all important things Sinnoh!

Hey everyone!

In light of the exciting announcement earlier this year of the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl remakes, we here at PokéCommunity have been preparing a special little something for you: the Sinnoh Bible!

That’s right, we’ve put together a compendium of what we consider to be the most essential things needed to maximise your enjoyment of these upcoming remakes and all rather handily in this one article too! Now we’ve cut out all the silly things such as competitive play, Gym walkthroughs and the such – we’re covering THE most important topics and challenges which will face Trainers all over the word.

Let’s jump straight into it, shall we? For ease of access, please see what will be covering today in our handy Contents below:

  1. Choosing Your Starter – The Best Choice for Everyone?
  2. Making the perfect PoffCorn – What Poffins are best?
  3. Get Your Game On! – How to Maximise Profits at the Game Corner
  4. The Best Pokétch Apps

Choosing Your Starter – The Best Choice for Everyone?

So before setting off on your grand adventure, you’ll need a trusty sidekick to accompany you through the thick and thin. The Robin to your Batman, the Garth to your Wayne, the Goose to your Maverick and so on. Therefore this needs to be someone truly remarkable, if they’re going to be with you for the whole journey, right?

So why does everyone pick Chimchar?

There is a reason that, until postgame, there are two – yes TWO – Fire Type Pokémon (and their respective lines) available. Because they suck. Both of these have been put in to be a token representation of sorts (starter pick in the case of Chimchar and Generic Wild Pokémon #424 in the case of Ponyta) and not much else, so why do people cling to Fire Types so much?

So they can deal with Steel, Bug and Ice Types? Big deal. Firstly, Turtwig final evolution Torterra can deal with Steel and Bug Types very easily, and you have 5 more Pokémon in your team that can deal with an Ice Type Pokémon. Chimchar starts off as a pretty generic monkey design before evolving into the equally generic and now edgy Infernape. Like helloooooo, we’ve already seen this before in Mankey and Primeape? Not to mention that it even just gets the same Fire/Fighting dual Type that starters were starting to see in the series, not very innovative for the first Pokémon you’re supposed to choose.

Meanwhile, there’s Turtwig. A great defensive Grass Type, is extremely adorable and an innovative/unique take on the turtle concept in Pokémon. Its evolutionary line ends up with it being a colossal and freakin’ badass WALKING TERRARIUM. Discworld turtle, anyone? It also gains an exciting and bold dual Type in Grass/Ground to match this theme and therefore a range of interesting learnsets/movesets to boot. Also it generally has a better time with the Gym Leaders of Sinnoh, whereas Chimchar already struggles at the first Gym, with its advantage only really showing once you get to Eterna City. Turtwig however crushes the first and fourth Gyms, boasts an IMMUNITY to the last Gym’s ace and generally has nothing to fear in terms of weakness throughout.

Needless to say, Turtwig will be your starter of choice. Gone are the days of picking “cool” Pokémon and in are the days of practicality and cuteness. Leave the Chimchar for your rival, so you can infinitely flex on them as you crush the type disadvantage every single time.

Making the perfect PoffCorn – What Poffins are best?

So you’ve made your way to the Contest Halls and no matter how much you try, your overly adorable Turtwig just isn’t managing to beat that stupid Ponyta (remember, Fire types suck!).

Well I have the solution for you! Curated by none other than myself, read on to see the top 5 recipes that will guarantee maximum success.

For context – you cook Berries (either by yourself or with others) to create Poffins, which improve your Condition and Sheen and therefore ultimately your chances of success. The flavours and textures depend on what Berries you put in, as well as how quickly and efficiently you cook them. Each Nature will enjoy different Poffins. See below for what they look like and which Nature likes what Poffin.

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However we’re actually throwing that out of the window, as these 5 recipes will guarantee maximum Condition if fed in the correct order. However as they say, one’s a bit lonely, it takes two to tango, three’s a crowd and four’s a Poffin Party! You will need three other friends for these recipes, so go get some friends if you want your Turtwig to be storming those Contest Halls. Also VERY IMPORTANT – these must be eaten in this exact order, otherwise the culinary enjoyment is cut by 50%!

Anyway, before I get carried away, here’s my Top 5 Poffin Recipes!

  1. Pomeg + Watmel + Shuca + Liechi Berry
  2. Kelpsy + Durin + Coba + Ganlon Berry
  3. Qualot + Belue + Payapa + Salac Berry
  4. Hondew + Spelon + Chople + Petaya Berry
  5. Grepa + Pamtre + Kebia + Apicot Berry

There are some minor details to consider but, honestly, it’s cooking right? Just chuck ’em in, blend ’em up and see how it goes! Just make sure that those Pokémon haven’t already had Poffins/Pokéblocks previously otherwise this will all be for naught!

That concludes our extremely comprehensive and concise guide on how best to make that PoffCorn for movie nights Contest Perfection. Now it’s time for our next section.

Get Your Game On! – Success at the Game Corner

So you wanna be the master of gambling! Do you have the skill it takes to be number one?! You will once you’ve read through our very own Game Corner guide! We guarantee that after one week of starting this, you’ll be the richest person in Sinnoh! Interested? Well ignore the last sentence cause I just wanted to reel you in, but please do continue!

So you’ll be wanting to maximise your chances of getting the best combination possible as many times as you can, whilst also abusing the bonus Clefairy rounds. Sounds almost impossible to handle that many randomised variables, right? WRONG! All you need are two things and you’ll be good to go.

Item #1 – Pikachu

That’s right, Pokémon’s very own darling mascot in fact condones gambling. Not so cute and innocent now, is it… anyway. So our little rodent friend here is for one purpose only: to short-circuit the machines into always stopping on those Lucky 7s. The more trained the better, as this means your Pikachu has less of a chance of having a power surge and blowing up the Game Corner. The aim here is to have Pikachu introduce a small shock to the machine whilst it is spinning, causing it to think you’ve hit the Jackpot and therefore it automatically lands on the 7s.

The key is having it so Pikachu isn’t noticed doing so, otherwise you’ll be out of there quicker than a Swift Swim Ludicolo in the rain! I would personally recommend waiting about 3-4 seconds from your initial spin to give you the biggest window of opportunity.

Item #2 – Moon Stone

So the second item needed is our Moon Stone, an item which causes Clefairy to evolve into Clefable. This is exclusively for the bonus mini-game in which the Clefairy appears on the machine, allowing you 15 or so bonus spins to potentially win big prizes including TM64, Explosion! Again this is normally heavily randomised and against the player, but our Moon Stone is here to do the trick! All you need to is simply place the Moon Stone in the tray where your winnings come out of and watch as it resonates with the Clefairy on the machine, causing it to activate some power (I don’t know the specifics OK, I just know it works!) which causes the maximum payout every time.

Oh and one more piece of advice – I would pick the machine nearest the exit if you can. There’s nothing special about it, but if you do need to make your escape then the closer the better, right?!

The Best Pokétch Apps

The PokéWatch, or Pokétch for short, is a very handy gizmo which essentially prefaced those smart watches you see today. Someone might want to have a word with Apple about that…

Boasting an entire 25 apps, this thing has you covered for literally every aspect of your Pokémon journey! Now we’ve handily picked out the most essential Pokétch apps for any aspiring Trainer just for you! Carry on reading below to see how your adventure can be improved by exactly 2000%!

#5 – Matchup Checker

Do you just love playing Cupid with your Pokémon, do you want to create the most bizarre Egg possible or are you boring and breed Pokémon like no tomorrow for that glorious 5IV Pokémon you’ll never get? Whichever one of these you are, this app is perfect for you! Chuck your two desired Pokémon in, hit that heart button and watch those hearts fill up. The more hearts filled, the more likely you’ll get an Egg!

This is only readily available in Pokémon Platinum however – once you’ve captured five Pokémon in one Safari game, you can then obtain this app near the entrance to the Great Marsh.

#4 – Day-Care Checker

Tying in with the previous app, gone are the days of having to constantly travelling to the Day Care to check up on how your Pokémon are getting on! This handy app tells you the levels, species and genders of up to two Pokémon in the Day Care, as well as showing an Egg is one has been produced. This is a super handy app, especially if you’re trying to maximise the efficiency of the Day Care!

To get it, simply go into the Day Care in Solaceon City.

#3 – Berry Searcher

Who remembers the days of old, where you had to plan out a route of each Berry spot you had Berries in, Fly to each spot, pick Berries and repeat? I do and it was horrible! The Pokétch comes with this absolute godsend of an app, the Berry Searcher! It’s very simple to use – if there are matured Berries in an already visited location, they will appear on this map!

Go to the Berry Master’s house on Route 208 to obtain this app, but make sure to answer “Yes” to the question!

#2 – Dowsing Machine

PROBABLY the most overused app for the Pokétch? This app is a must for those treasure hunters, as it allows you to detect otherwise hidden items nearby. Simply give it a tap and you then essentially echolocate items, which show up on the app as a dot relative to your position (being the centre). As you approach the item, it will start to blink more and move closer to the centre, until you are on the item itself.

Depending on the game, you will be given this by Dawn/Lucas either at the junction on Route 206 (Diamond and Pearl) or at Mt. Coronet (Platinum).

#1 – Colour Changer

Not much to say here, but this is the BEST Pokétch app because what’s better than being able to make your already hip and happening gizmo even more fresh and funky with a personalised splash of colour!


There we have it – a comprehensive guide containing the most important and essential information to heighten your Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl experience to their maximum, ready to generate that hype between now and the impending remakes! Now go forth with this newfound knowledge Trainer and remember: Praise Arceus!

Edited by Aldo, bobandbill.
Pokétch and Poffin images provided courtesy of Bulbapedia.
Credits to Kitty for coming up with these ideas!