Continuing Pokemon Platinum Coverage…

By: Water Pokémon Master · Posted Sep 11, 2008 at 7:41 PM · 0 Comments

For those of you who are TCG fans, scroll down to the next news story for information on Galactic’s Conquest, the next Japanese set.

This is a continuation of our previous Pokemon Platinum news story (we have repeated some information from it in case you have not been here the last few hours). If you want to read about the game from beginning to end, read the first news story from the very bottom to the top, then read this news story from the very bottom to the top. All of the information is from newest to oldest.

I’d also like to take this time to ask that if you use our information or images anywhere that you please provide proper credit. We’ve already seen several websites, wikis, and forums take a chunk of this information all at once without one bit of credit. It has taken us hours and hours to play this game and both collect and translate what we discover. This isn’t an easy thing to do, especially when we put our normal lives aside to obtain the information for you, so please have some common courtesy. Thank you.

It looks like the Trainer Card is unchanged from D/P. You get a Star for each of the following achievements:
Beating the Elite 4 (first time)
Completing the National Dex
Getting a 100-battle streak in the Battle Tower
Obtaining Master Rank in all contests
Winning 50 games of capture-the-flag in the Underground.
We originally thought that our second star was obtained by completing the Battle Frontier. Actually, we’d obtained the Battle Tower star without realizing it. At this point, we’re not sure what the reward is for obtaining all five Gold Prints.
We’ve finished decorating the villa in the Resort Zone. It cost over 1,000,000poke–thank goodness for Amulet Coins! Dawn visits the villa once you have 2 pieces of furniture, Rowan when you have 7, and Gardenia when you have 9.
Marley’s Pokemon: LV.61 Ninjask, LV.61 Electrode, LV.62 Crobat, LV.63 Weavile, LV.65 Arcanine
Buck’s Pokemon: LV.61 Shuckle, LV.61 Torkoal, LV.62 Umbreon, LV.63 Dusknoir, LV.65 Claydol
We now have full information concerning Rotom’s new forms.
Each copy of Platinum comes with a special insert that depicts one of Rotom’s new forms, along with sillhouettes of the remaining four. On the insert, players are instructed to activate the game’s Mystery Gift feature by entering the phrases “Everyone Happy” and “Wi-Fi Connection” at the Jubilife TV station. Once the feature is activated, the Secret Key can be downloaded either via wi-fi or from a retailer.
After you obtain the Secret Key via the Mystery Gift feature, head off to Eterna Galactic building and talk to the wall. A new room will open. Ensure you have a Rotom in hand, and talk to any of the five appliances inside the room–oven, refrigerator, fan, washing machine, or lawnmower. Rotom will enter the device, change form, and immediately learn a new move. This move will change if you talk to a different device. If you talk to the one you already switched to, Rotom will turn back to normal and its special move will disappear.
Once Rotom enters a device, the device disappears. So, while it is possible to have a full team of Rotom, you can never have more than one of any form. All of Rotom’s different forms are considered to be the same species, so you can’t enter more than one Rotom in the Battle Tower, Castle, or Roulette events. However, you can use two different Rotom on the Battle stage.
Rotom reverts to its normal form inside the Union Room, Wi-fi Club, etc. It behaves just like Giratina Origin Forme and Shaymin Sky Forme in this respect.
The journal in the secret room belongs to Pluto. As a child, Pluto lost his toy robot. While looking for it, a Pokemon popped out of a lawnmower, surprising him. He befriended the Pokemon, naming it “Rotom” because of its origin. As much as he liked Rotom, Pluto could never hug it because it constantly discharged electricity. One day, Rotom got startled and shocked Pluto, knocking him unconscious. When Pluto awoke, Rotom was gone. He searched all day, but couldn’t find it. As the sun set, he noticed his toy robot laying in a pile of garbage. The robot’s eyes sparkled, and Pluto realized that Rotom had gone inside the robot. Rotom’s electricity was contained by the robot’s motor, and Pluto could finally hug it.
The first time you transform Rotom, Professor Rowan appears to examine it. He says that when a Rotom goes inside an appliance, it fuses with the motor, becoming a creature that’s half Pokemon and half machine. He also tells you that long ago, there was a Pokemon that went inside a toy robot, just like your Rotom went inside the appliance. Could it be that Rowan was once friends with Pluto?
We’ve finally unlocked one of the hidden Poketch applications–the Luvdisc Love Checker. The Love Checker lets you compare any two Pokemon in your party to see if they can produce an egg. Very useful for when you don’t have a list of breeding groups on hand! To obtain the Love Checker, simply enter the Great Marsh and start throwing PokeBalls. If you catch at least 5 Pokemon before time runs out, you’ll automatically receive the Love Checker as you leave the park.
Professor Oak is preoccupied with the mystery of the Legendary Birds, and won’t check your Pokedex until after you’ve captured them. Once you catch them, he’ll congratulate you, but he doesn’t give you any clue as to why the Birds came to Sinnoh in the first place. On the plus side, he will start asking to see your Pokedex again, and if you’ve completed the National Dex he’ll give you a star for your Trainer card. You must catch the roaming Legendary Birds to trigger this event. Transfering Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres from another game will not work! You can’t fool Professor Oak!!!!
Double battles on the Battle Stage are kind of interesting. You need to enter two Pokemon that are the same species. Your opponent uses two Pokemon, also the same species. The levels of your Pokemon are not adjusted, and both of your opponent’s Pokemon are scaled in accordance with your highest level Pokemon. Use two Pokemon that are the same level for the best results.
When you take an event Regigigas to the caves at Iron Island, Mt. Coronet, and Route 228, you’ll notice a major change in the caves’ interiors. Large statues have appeared at the back of each cave, and the floors sport strange markings, which are identical to the markings on the Hoenn Regis. If you walk across the markings and then talk to the statue, a battle will begin. Registeel appears at Iron Island, Regice at Mt. Coronet, and Regirock at Route 228. Note: This only works with a Regigigas that was received from a Nintendo event. We have tried to trigger the event with a Regigigas imported from D/P, and it does not work! All 3 Regis are at Level 30. They don’t have any special items, attacks, or anything else of interest.
Once you’ve captured the Regi trio, you can add them to your party and visit the Snowpoint Temple to activate the Regigigas there. Of course, since you need a Regigigas to obtain the Regi trio, this event is kind of redundant…
We have completed the Battle Frontier by obtaining all 5 Gold Prints. The reward for doing this is a gold star on the Trainer Card. In Emerald, players received rare berries for collecting all of the silver and gold symbols, however we haven’t noticed any similar rewards in Platinum so far. We haven’t talked to all of the NPCs, so there’s still a strong possibility that we’ll find something.
The Battle Stage can be found in the north-west corner of the Frontier.
Points:
1 vs 1 single battles, 2 vs 2 double battles. A multi battle option is available. For double battles, both Pokemon must be of the same species.
Dialga, Mew, etc. are banned.
Items are allowed.
Your Pokemon’s level is unchanged. The opponent’s Pokemon are scaled to your Pokemon’s level.
Pokemon are healed after battling. Items are reset.
Once you’ve selected your Pokemon, you have to stick with it for the entire challenge. You can’t change your team in between streaks like you can at the Battle Tower, etc. If you change Pokemon, your number of consecutive wins will be reset to 0.
You get to pick your opponent’s type from a list. The opponents start out at rank 1. If you beat the rank 1 opponent in a particular type category, the next Pokemon in that category will be rank 2, rank 3, and so on, all the way up to rank 10. After you beat the rank 10 opponent, you can’t challenge that category again.
The opponents start out with a level handicap. Whatever your level is, the rank 1 opponents will be scaled to 70% of that level. They’ll gain 1-2 levels with each rank up. As you progress, the rank 1 opponents gradually become stronger, resulting in stronger opponents at the higher ranks.
After 50 consecutive victories on the Battle Stage, you’re challenged by Stage Madonna Kate. She has a random Pokemon that’s the same level as your Pokemon. If you defeat her, you receive a Silver Print.
You get 1BP for each 10-win streak, and 20BP for beating Kate. After 40 battles, the prize increases to 2BP. After 70 battles, the prize increases to 3BP, after 110 battles it increases to 4BP, after 120 battles it increases to 6BP, after 150 battles it increases to 8BP, after 160 battles it increases to 10 points.
After clearing all categories (170 consecutive victories), Kate challenges you again, with another random Pokemon. If you defeat her, you receive a Gold Print and another 20BP.
After you beat Kate for a second time, all of the categories become selectable again. The Pokemon are capped at rank 10, and are the same level as your Pokemon. You can only challenge each category once before it gets blacked out again. When you clear all 17 categories, they reset. From battle 180 on, you gain 12BP per 10-win streak. Starting with battle 191, the animation at the beginning of the challenge changes. Normally the opening animation is a pan of the Battle Stage, showing the crowd of spectators, and a small image of your Pokemon on the overhead monitor. The secret animation is a full-screen picture of your Pokemon with fireworks in the background.
There are four classes of Pokemon that can be found at the Battle Stage: Weak, Medium, Strong, and Powerful. While fighting through the ranks, your opponents appear in this order: Weak, Weak, Weak, Weak, Weak, Medium, Medium, Strong, Strong, Powerful. Kate’s Pokemon are always from the Powerful class, and after you beat Kate for the second time, all of your opponents are pulled from the Powerful class.
We got our fourth gold! The Battle Factory works the same way as it did in Pokemon Emerald.
Points:3 vs 3 single battles, 3 vs 3 double battles. A multi battle option is available.
No Legendary Pokemon appear.
Pokemon come equipped with items.
Choice of Level 50 or Level 100 battles.
Pokemon are healed after each battle. Items are reset.
You are shown 6 random Pokemon, you choose 3, and then at the end of each battle you may switch one of the Pokemon you used with one of your opponent’s Pokemon. A major change from Emerald is that before you trade, you’re given a list of the Pokemon that will appear in the next battle. This makes it a lot easier to decide which Pokemon to choose. Every seven battles the Pokemon reset and you get a new, random team.
Initially, the Level 50 tournament features unevolved Pokemon and underused Evolved Pokemon. Most of the Pokemon have terrible attacks, so the first few rounds are generally a race to trade for something with good base stats, like a Beautifly or Kangaskhan. Around battle 22 or so, you’ll start seeing powerful Evolved Pokemon. The movesets aren’t perfect, but they’re pretty good–during one of my streaks I used a Focus Sash Houndoom with Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Endure, and Reversal. I’ve also seen an Infernape with Fake Out, U-Turn, and CloseCombat, and an Electivire with Thunder, Rock Slide, DynamicPunch, and an attached Wide Lens (among other things). At this point, the Pokemon are pretty evenly balanced as far as strength, so the battles become a lot more strategic. In the Level 100 tournament, the Pokemon are very strong right from the start. The Level 100 tournament can be considered “hard mode” to Level 50’s “normal mode.”
During your first streak (battles 1-7) you’re given the names of all 3 Pokemon you’ll be fighting in your next battle. During the second streak (8-14), you’re only given two of the three Pokemons’ names, and during the third streak (15-21) you’re only given the name of the leading Pokemon, but you’re also informed of its strongest attack. During the fourth streak (22-28), you’re only told the leading Pokemon’s attack. From the fifth streak on, you’re only told when the opponent favors a particular type.
After the 20th battle, you’re challenged by Factory Head Nejiki. He has a random team of Pokemon. If you defeat him, you receive a Silver Print.
You get 5BP for each 7-win streak, and 20BP for beating Nejiki. After 35 battles, the prize increases to 7BP per 7-win streak.
After 48 consecutive victories, Nejiki challenges you again, with another random team. If you defeat him, you receive a Gold Print, and another 20BP.
The Pokemon in the Battle Factory are culled from the Pokemon used by the CPU in the Battle Tower, Battle Castle, and Battle Roulette game. If a few of them seem familiar, well, now you know why!
I’d like to repeat again that we will put all of this information on to individual pages within the next week or so. As of now, we only have three pages: Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and the P.C. Storage System wallpaper. It takes us a while to make the pages because we put a lot of effort and time in to them, so it’ll be a while before they are all up. For now, just use CTRL+F to find something you want to know about.
We just obtained our 3rd gold at the Battle Tower. Battle Tower is still the same as it was in Diamond and Pearl. Palmer has the same teams as well.
Points:
3 vs 3 single battles, 4 vs 4 double battles. A multi battle option is available. If you don’t have another person to play with, you can battle with a CPU controlled partner–Marley, Mira, Cheryl, Riley, or Buck.
Dialga, Mew, etc. are banned.
Items are allowed.
All Pokemon are set to Level 50.
Pokemon are healed after each battle. Items are reset.
The Battle Tower consists of staightforward battles with no gimicks. You fight opponents one after another, with breaks after every 7th match.
After the 20th battle, you’re challenged by Tower Tycoon Palmer. He has Milotic, Dragonite, and Rhyperior. If you defeat him, you receive a Silver Print, a Copper Trophy, and an Ability Ribbon for each of the three Pokemon that was on your team when you faced him. Of course, the Ability Ribbon is identical to the one in D/P, so if you already received the ribbon there, you won’t get another one.
You get 3BP for each 7-win streak, and 20 for beating Palmer. After 28 battles, the prize increases to 4BP per 7-win streak, after 35 battles it increases to 5BP, after 56 battles it increases to 7 points.
After 48 consecutive victories, Palmer challenges you again, this time with a team of Heatran, Cresselia, and Regigigas. If you defeat him, you receive a Gold Print, another 20BP, and a Great Ability Ribbon for each of the three Pokemon that was on your team when you faced him.
After 50 battles, you receive a Silver Trophy.
After 100 battles, you receive a Gold Trophy.
Mira’s Pokemon: LV.61 Porygon-Z, LV.65 Alakazam, LV.63 Togekiss, LV.62 Magnezone, LV.61 Gengar
Riley’s Pokemon: LV.61 Absol, LV.62 Metagross, LV.61 Ursaring, LV.65 Lucario, LV.63 Salamence
The Underground minigame is unchanged from D/P.
Dang, this news story is messy. We’ll try to make pages over the next few days capturing all of our Platinum information.
Some people have e-mailed us saying our Rotom sprites are miscolored because of other websites having different colors on their’s. Ours are in fact not miscolored – you can see for yourself by comparing them to the pamphlets given out in Platinum’s packaging. Other websites must have made a mistake when extracting them from the rom. Rotom Heat is supposed to have a red border, not a yellow.
The official Japanese Pokemon website has announced that a patch for My Pokemon Ranch will be released soon so that you can use it with Platinum. It will be free to people who have already bought the WiiWare game. For now, it seems like the patch will only be available in Japan (until Platinum comes out here, of course).
And now our Gym Leader and Pokemon Gyms page is up. It took six hours to make. XD We’ll update our pages with the new Pokemon sprites at a later time. Right now, the Trainers sprites are the Platinum ones, though.
The Poketch does not have any new applications in the game data. However, the Luvdisc Love Meter, Voltorb StopWatch, and Loudred Alarm Clock are programmed into the data. All three applications were in Diamond and Pearl’s data, but were never unlocked or given out. Will they be given out at a Nintendo event in the future? PUSA guys, if you’re reading this, a lot of people go to Worlds. Get into contact with your Japanese counterparts and arrange something! :D
Jason has looked into the ROM data for Poketch, and it appears to be unchanged. Appliations 23-25–the hidden Love Meter, Stopwatch, and Alarm Clock–are still coded into the game, but how to get them remains unclear. We’ll keep an eye out!
Next in line for discussion is the Battle Castle. It can be found in the south-west corner of the Frontier.
Points:
3 vs 3 single battles, 3 vs 3 double battles. A multi battle option is available.
Dialga, Mew, etc. are banned.
Any items attached to your Pokemon are returned to your bag for the duration of the event.
All Pokemon are set to Level 50.
Pokemon are not healed after battling. However, if a Pokemon is Knocked Out, it will be revived with 1HP.
When you first enter the castle, the butler, Cochran gives you 10CP (Castle Points). Before each battle, you have an opportunity to spend your points. For example, you can pay to have your Pokemon healed or rent an item for your Pokemon to hold. You can even use your points to get an advance look at the opponent you’ll be facing. Initially, you’ll only be able to do a few things with your points, but you unlock more options by upgrading your rank (this costs points).
Battles take place in a shining ballroom. Miss Katreya watches from above, and after each battle, she summons Cochran into the room and instructs him to give you more Castle Points. The number of points you receive appears to be random. I’ve received as few as 11 and as many as 32. Castle Points carry over from round to round, so don’t feel like you have to spend them right after you get them.
After 20 consecutive victories in the Battle Castle, you’re challenged by Castle Butler Cochran. He has an Empoleon, Staraptor, and Houndoom. If you defeat him, you receive a Silver Print.
You get 3BP for each 7-win streak, and 20BP for beating Cochran.
After beating Cochran for the first time, a “Pass” option is added to the menu. For 50CP, you can skip your next match.
After 35 battles, the prize increases to 5BP per 7-win streak.
After 48 consecutive victories, Cochran challenges you again, this time with a team of Entei, Empoleon, and Gallade. If you defeat him, you receive a Gold Print and another 20BP.
If you lose at any time during your challenge, your Castle Points are reset to 0.
Here are the items and services that you can buy with your Castle Points:
Rental Items
Cheri/Chesto/Pecha/Rawst/Aspear/Persim Berry – 2CP
Lum/Sitrus Berry – 5CP
Rank Up 1 (unlocks hold items below) – 100CP
Power Herb – 5CP
King’s Rock/Metronome/Light Clay/Grip Claw/Big Root/Toxic Orb/Flame Orb – 10CP
Quick Claw/Shell Bell/Light Ball/Thick Club – 15CP
Rank Up 2 (unlocks hold items below) – 150CP
White Herb – 5CP
Focus Sash – 10CP
Focus Band – 15CP
Leftovers/Brightpowder/Scope Lens/Wide Lens/Zoom Lens/Choice Band/Choice Specs/Choice Scarf/Muscle Band/Wise Glasses/Expert Belt/Life Orb – 20CP
Healing (per Pokemon)
HP – 10CP
Rank Up 1 (unlocks the ability to heal PP) – 100CP
PP – 8CP
Rank Up 2 (unlocks the ability to heal Both) – 100CP
Both – 12CP
Opponent (per Pokemon)
View Pokemon’s species and HP – 1CP
View Pokemon’s item, nature, ability, and stats – 2CP
Rank Up – 50 CP (unlocks the ability to view Pokemon’s attacks)
View Pokemon’s attacks – 5CP
Raise Pokemon’s level by 5 – 1CP
Reduce Pokemon’s level by 5 – 15CP
Jason has extracted all of the P.C. Storage System Wallpaper from Platinum, including the hidden ones in the coding. The last eight wallpapers are all awesome! Please do not steal these images – it took us several hours to extract them.
We’re starting our expanded Battle Frontier converage tonight. First up is the Battle Roulette game. It can be found in the south-east corner of the Frontier.
Points:
3 vs 3 single battles, 3 vs 3 double battles. A multi battle option is available.
Dialga, Mew, etc. are banned.
Any items attached to your Pokemon are returned to your bag for the duration of the event.
All Pokemon are set to Level 50.
Pokemon are healed after each battle. Items are not reset.
Before the battle begins, both Trainers’ Pokemon are displayed on a large monitor. So, you know what your opponent’s Pokemon are in advance.
Before each battle, you play a “roulette” game. The roulette screen consists of a 4×4 grid with various smbols on it. A cursor passes over the symbols, and you can either stop the cursor by tapping the touch screen, or allow it to stop on its own. Depending on where the cursor stops, you’ll go into battle with some sort of effect in place. These can be beneficial (your Pokemon might be given items or Level boosts), detrimental (your Pokemon go into battle with their HP at 75%, or with a Special Condition), or neutral (you go into battle with a Sandstorm in effect). As you move up in rank, the roulette wheel becomes stacked in your opponent’s favor, but you can still control it to some point.
After 20 consecutive victories in the Battle Roulette game, you’re challenged by Roulette Goddess Daria. She has a Ludicolo, Medicham, and Dusknoir. If you defeat her, you receive a Silver Print.
You get 2BP for each 7-win streak, and 20BP for beating Daria. After 35 battles, the prize increases to 4BP.
After 48 consecutive victories, Daria challenges you again, this time with a team of Togekiss, Zapdos, and Blaziken. If you defeat her, you receive a Gold Print and another 20BP.
Legendary Pokemon start appearing with regularity once you hit battle #50.
After 56 consecutive victories the prize increases to 6BP per 7-win streak.
Here’s a list of the roulette effects we’ve encountered:
Each of your/your opponent’s Pokemon gains 3 Levels
Each of your/your opponent’s Pokemon goes into battle at 75% health
Each of your/your opponent’s Pokemon goes into battle afflicted by Paralysis/Burn/Poison
One of your/your opponent’s Pokemon goes into battle afflicted by Sleep/Freeze
Each of your/your opponent’s Pokemon is given a random berry/item to hold
You go into battle with Sandstorm/Rain/Hail/Sun/Fog/Trick Room in effect
You switch teams with the opponent
You skip the battle
You earn 1BP
No effect/no effect, but the cursor moves randomly the next time you play roulette.
Look ‘ma, I made a page for Pokemon Platinum! Check out our Platinum Elite Four page!
Our coverage has slowed down because there isn’t much left in the game that we have access to. We’ll try to have a list of all of the Frontier Brains and their Pokemon later. The only other thing we can do at this point is to try to get 400 Pokemon seen in the PokeDex, as Professor Oak requests. We’ll work on doing that, but it’s not going to happen today.
All three Regi’s are at Level 30, which was revealed a few months ago.
Mesprit is at Level 50. It has its own battle music, just like it did in DP.
Three mysterious caves have appeared around Sinnoh! The Iron Island Cave is empty save for a Metal Coat. The Mount Coronet Cave is empty save for a Nevermeltice. The Route 228 Cave is empty save for a Hard Stone. What could this mean? What could this mean?!?!? We’ll let you know after we trade over our Regigigas. :P
Cresselia is at Level 50. When you encounter it, the battle begins like any other battle–there’s no special music like there is with the Birds. Cresselia flees on the first turn, just like in D/P.
The third Move Tutor is in the Survival Area. He teaches Mud-Slap, Rollout, Superpower, Iron Head, Aqua Tail, Gastro Acid, Wring Out, Outrage, Ancientpower, Signal Beam, Earth Power, Gunk Shot, Twister, Seed Bomb, Iron Defense, Bounce, and Heat Wave.
We took Mew to the Move Tutors in Snowpoint and Pastoria, and now have complete lists of moves for those two.
Pastoria Move Tutor (found on Route 212): Dive, Fury Cutter, Icy Wind, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Ominous Wind, Air Cutter, Zen Headbutt, Vacuum Wave, Trick, Knock Off, Sucker Punch
Snowpoint Move Tutor (found in the North East section of Snowpoint City): Snore, Spite, Helping Hand, Synthesis, Magnet Rise, Last Resort, Swift, Uproar
Uxie can be found at Lake Acuity, at Level 50. The entrance to Lake Acuity has changed since D/P, and can only be accessed by using Rock Climb. Mesprit is at Lake Verity, and runs from you as usual. Azelf is at Lake Valor, at Level 50.
The Legendary Birds are at Level 60. They have their own battle music, so it’s easy to tell when you’re about to battle one, and they flee from battle on the first turn. They can be tracked on the Marking Map just like Mesprit and Cresselia.
The Legendary Birds can be obtained post Elite Four. When you talk to Oak at his house in Eterna City (after obtaining the National Dex and the PokeRadar Poketch application), he asks you about your Pokedex and gives you an Upgrade to help you fill it out. “Changing the subject, lately the rare Pokemon known as Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres have been flying around the Sinnoh Region. Perhaps you’ll see them one of these days!” Why are the Legendary Birds in Sinnoh? Oak doesn’t know himself…but I bet we’re going to find out!
As in D/P, your rival can be battled on Saturday and Sunday. He’s stationed outside Buck’s house. His Pokemon are a LV.61 Staraptor, LV.61 Heracross, LV.63 Snorlax, LV.59 Rapidash/Floatsel/Roserade (two of the three), and LV.65 Torterra/Infernape/Empoleon.
One of the most popular features from FireRed & LeafGreen makes its return in Platinum–The Elite Four are upgraded after you obtain the National Dex. Here are their new teams:
Aaron: LV.65 Yanmega, LV.69 Drapion, LV.66 Vespiquen, LV.67 Heracross, LV.65 Scizor
Bertha: LV.66 Wiscash, LV.69 Gliscor, LV.68 Hippowdon, V.71 Rhyperior, LV.68 Golem
Flint: LV.68 Houndoom, LV.73 Magmortar, LV.71 Flareon, LV.69 Rapidash, LV.71 Infernape
Lucian: LV.69 Mr.Mime, LV.75 Gallade, LV.72 Alakazam, LV.71 Espeon, LV.70 Bronzong
Cynthia: LV.74 Spiritomb, LV.74 Milotic, LV.78 Garchomp, LV.74 Roserade, LV.76 Lucario, LV.76 Togekiss
Spiritomb’s new battle animation shows it emerging from the Odd Keystone. Definitely one of the nicer animations!
Cresselia is on FullMoon Island, though like in D/P, you have to chase it around Sinnoh to capture it. To get to the island, take the ship in Canalave City. When you encounter it, it is at Level 50.
Just went back to Stark Mountain, and Heatran is there. It’s at Level 50. In the D/P storyline, Buck took the Magma Stone, and Heatran wouldn’t appear until after you went to his house and convinced him to return it. In Platinum, Buck returns the stone before you visit his house. I wonder if the programmers forgot to change the event trigger?
Now for the explanation of the strange sign on the door of Buck’s house: It’s been transformed into an exclusive club for top trainers! Of course, you’re welcome too. Between two and four trainers will appear in the house each day, and you can battle them if you’d like. Their Pokemon are much stronger than they were the first time you faced them.
Gym Leaders
Roark: LV.62 Aerodactyl, LV.63 Rampardos, LV.65 Tyranitar, LV.61 Golem, LV.61 Probopass
Gardenia: LV.61 Jumpluff, LV.65 Roserade, LV.62 Cherrim, LV.61 Bellossom, LV.63 Torterra
Fantina LV.61 Banette, LV.61 Drifblim, LV.63 Mismagius, LV.65 Gengar, LV.62 Dusknoir
Maylene: LV.62 Hitmontop, LV.63 Medicham, LV.66 Lucario, LV.64 Machamp, LV.62 Breloom
Wake: LV.61 Sharpedo, LV.62 Gyarados, LV.63 Floatsel, LV.65 Ludicolo, LV.61 Quagsire
Byron: LV.61 Skarmory, LV.65 Aggron, LV.61 Steelix, LV.62 Magnezone, LV.63 Bastiodon
Candice: LV.62 Weavile, LV.61 Mamoswine, LV.65 Glaceon, Lv.63 Frosslass, LV.61 Abomasnow
Volkner: LV.61 Jolteon, LV.62 Luxray, LV.61 Raichu, LV.63 Lanturn, LV.65 Electivire

Other
Cheryl: LV.61 Wobbuffet, LV.61 Drifblim, LV.65 Blissey,LV.63 Wailord, LV.62 Hariyama

It’s safe to assume that Marley, Riley, Mira, and Buck himself also appear. Since I haven’t finished all of the game’s sidequests, certain characters are still “locked.”
Neither the Magma Stone nor Heatran are inside Stark Mountain. Hmmmmm.
So, now that the the threat of Heatran waking up has passed, it’s time for us to go wake Heatran!
When you catch up to Pluto, he’s already grabbed the Magma Stone. He laughs at you, saying you’re too late, that Heatran will now awaken, granting him the power to make the volcano erupt. He’s going to use the destructive power of the volcano to extort money from the people of Sinnoh. Just as he says this, a Croagunk appears from out of nowhere and snatches the Magma Stone away from him! A nearby rock throws off its disguise, revealing Handsome. Since all of the other Galactic commanders are out of the picture, Handsome has shifted his investigation to Pluto. The two Galactic grunts panic at the sight of the international police officer and run away, leaving Pluto to helplessly deny his involvement with Team Galactic. The Sinnoh police arrest Pluto, and you leave the cave with Handsome and Buck. Handsome thanks you for all your help, but expresses concern about Heatran. He says that according to legend, if the Magma Stone is moved, Heatran will awaken and the volcano will erupt. Buck says not to worry, and takes the stone from Handsome to return it to its rightful place. While Buck is gone, Handsome explains that after parting ways at Mt. Coronet, he went back to the Galactic Base and learned about Pluto’s scheme. That’s how he knew to stakeout Stark Mountain. Handsome hopes that Pluto’s arrest will be the end of Team Galactic, and the end of his mission. Buck returns, saying that the stone is back in place and Heatran doesn’t appear to have woken up. He leaves, inviting you to visit him in the Survival Area, then Handsome says farewell, leaving you alone at the entrance to Stark Mountain.
Stark Mountain has the same layout as in D/P, but everything in the cave has a reddish tint, as if being lit by the magma. The rocks that make up the walls appear to be smoldering.
In D/P, you find Buck waiting for you in the second room of Stark Mountain. In Platinum, he runs up behind you as you enter the room. He partners up with you as usual, but this time it’s to defeat Team Galactic, and not to obtain the Magma Stone for himself.
Buck’s house (in the Survival Area) is locked up. A sign on the door says “Not accepting new clients.” Huuuuuuhhhhh? O_O
Pluto calls the girls arrogant rookies, and gloats about finally gaining control of Team Galactic. He says that money is their first priority, so he and the two grunts head deeper into the cave to look for the Magma Stone.
After you defeat Jupiter, Mars decides that she’s going to go after Cyrus, even if he is in the Torn World. She says a sarcastic goodbye to Jupiter and quits Team Galactic! Jupiter grumbles that she hates to agree with Mars on anything, but a Team Galactic without Cyrus is too boring. She quits too, telling Pluto he can do as he wishes with the Team.
When you step inside the Stark Mountain cave, the two grunts, Mars, Pluto, and Jupiter are all waiting for you. You’re immediately cornered by Mars, who demands to know where Cyrus is. She doesn’t believe you when you tell her about the events inside the Torn World, and decides to beat the truth out of you. Her Pokemon this time around are a Level 58 Bronzong, Level 58 Golbat, and Level 60 Purugly. (Still no Crobat?!?! I guess it’s hard to max Golbat’s Tameness stat when I keep beating it up!) After being defeated, Mars wonders how she could lose when fighting for Cyrus’ sake. Jupiter says that Mars is a weakling, and she’s ashamed to be on the same Team as her. Jupiter attacks you next, with a Level 58 Bronzong, Level 60 Skuntank, and Level 58 Golbat.
Stark Mountain is now an active volcano, complete with pools of lava and billowing steam. It’s worth noting that all of the rocks in Fight, Survival, and Resort Area look like lava rocks, as opposed to the generic rocks that appear elsewhere in the game.
TEAM GALACTIC IS AT STARK MOUNTAIN!!!! As you approach the cave entrance, you overhear two grunts discussing the future of the Team. Pluto has taken over in the wake of Cyrus’ disappearance, but the grunts aren’t sure if he can replace their old leader.
On the way to Stark Mountain, you run into your rival, who’s training with Crasher Wake. The rival says that he needs to get stronger so he can challenge the Battle Brains. Wake warns you about the strong Pokemon inside Stark Mountain, then the pair heads back to the Survival Area.
In the Resort Area, a man offers to give you his villa. Apparently he was asked to take care of it by the previous owner, but now he’s passing it on to you. The villa is initially unfurnished, but you can order furniture from a catalogue and decorate the interior as you see fit. When your rival sees your new home, he becomes jealous and runs off to tell everybody about your good fortune.
The Pal Park itself is unchanged.
The Pokemon Mansion has received a slight visual update. Instead of a brick wall, it’s surrounded by an ornate metal fence. The Trophy Garden remains unchanged. If you talk to the maid who’s blocking the east hallway, she’ll tell you it’s off limits, just like in D/P. If you talk to the maid who’s blocking the west hallway, she’ll invite you to take the Maid’s Tournament Challenge. You can repeat this challenge once a day. The trick is to defeat all five of the mansion’s maids in a set number of turns–this number changes with each challenge. The maids all use Clefairy of varying levels, and since they know Endure, beating them on the correct turn can be difficult. If you complete the challenge, your reward is an opportunity to battle Miss Sayaka (presumably Mr. Backlot’s daughter). It’s not much of a reward, but you do get 5000 Poke for beating her.
We just realized that the Galactic Scientist promoted with Handsome before the game was released is actually Pluto.
The GBA transfer feature (before your Pokemon are uploaded to Pal Park) functions exactly as it did in D/P. The transfer screen is a different color than it was in D/P, and new music plays during the transfer process.
-Jason has extracted the new Rotom forms from the rom. They are officially called: Wash Rotom (the washing machine), Frost Rotom (the refridgerator), Spin Rotom (the fan), Heat Rotom (the oven), and Cut Rotom (the lawnmower). As we said before, they are all Electric / Ghost. Please do not take these sprites without providing proper credit (or any info below, for that matter). Thanks.
I also caught Palkia with a regular Poke Ball. After your battle, its pink portals disappears, and Spear Pillar is left empty.
I thought if I walked out of Spear Pillar and walked back in, Palkia would appear. It did! There is a pink portal next to where the blue portal was, and when you walk up to it and hit A, your battle with Palkia initiates. It is also at Level 70.
I caught it with just a Poke Ball. Palkia is no where in sight, yet…
I made my way back to Spear Pillar again, since I now have the Sinnoh PokeDex. What did I find? A small, blue portal. I walked up to it and hit A, and right away, the screen changes to a battle with Dialga! It’s at Level 70.

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