Is Darkrai Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Event-only Dark legendary. AbilityBad Dreams damages sleeping opponents every turn. MoveDark Void puts both opponents to sleep. If available, Darkrai trivializes everything. The Bad Dreams and Dark Void combination is one of the most oppressive in any Pokemon game. Unobtainable for most players.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Gardenia's team.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Darkrai resists most of Crasher Wake's coverage and hits back hard.
Darkrai resists most of Fantina's coverage and hits back hard.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Darkrai resists most of Candice's coverage and hits back hard.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Volkner's team.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Darkrai resists most of Lucian's coverage and hits back hard.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Jupiter's team.
Darkrai resists most of Saturn's coverage and hits back hard.
Darkrai has the type edge here and should clean up Cynthia's team.
Trade
Darkrai cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- LV 66DarkDark VoidPower —Accuracy 80%PP 10
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
- LV 84PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 93DarkDark PulsePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Darkrai in Diamond & Pearl
Darkrai haunts Newmoon Island, but the boat there only sails once you hold the Member Card. That card was an event-only item, so Darkrai is locked behind a distribution most players never got.
1 location to catch Darkrai
Badge 8How to Get Darkrai in Diamond & Pearl
How to Get Shiny Darkrai in Diamond & Pearl
Darkrai relies on the Member Card event that never reached Diamond or Pearl, so a shiny one has to be brought in from another game. See every game where Shiny Darkrai can be hunted
The ALAMOS event Darkrai was not shiny. Newmoon Island holds a Lv 40 Darkrai, but the Member Card needed to reach it was never distributed for D/P.
Shiny Darkrai Evolution
Does Not EvolveDarkrai Weakness
Darkrai's Dark typing leaves it vulnerable to Fighting and Bug. It shrugs off Psychic-type attacks completely. With 70 HP and balanced defenses, Darkrai can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fighting, Bug |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Ghost, Dark |
| 0x (Immune) | Psychic |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Darkrai Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Darkrai
 Heracross BugFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Darkrai View Heracross builds →Focus Punch 2x155-182%KO Megahorn 2x124-146%KO | ||
 Hariyama Fighting | B | |
 Breloom GrassFighting | A | |
 Infernape FireFighting | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Lake Verity Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Darkrai View Infernape builds →Focus Punch 2x132-155%KO U-turn 2x42-49% | ||
 Toxicroak PoisonFighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Darkrai View Toxicroak builds →Focus Punch 2x134-158%KO X-Scissor 2x48-57% | ||
 Machoke Fighting | C | |
 Pinsir Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Darkrai View Pinsir builds →Focus Punch 2x103-122%KO X-Scissor 2x83-98% | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Oreburgh City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Darkrai View Armaldo builds →X-Scissor 2x83-98% Brick Break 2x52-61% | ||
 Scyther Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Darkrai View Scyther builds →X-Scissor 2x74-87% Brick Break 2x47-55% | ||
 Riolu Fighting | C | |
Obtain MethodIron Island Gift | ||
 Medicham FightingPsychic | C | |
 Yanmega Bug | B | |
 Volbeat Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Darkrai View Volbeat builds →Focus Punch 2x65-77% U-turn 2x47-56% | ||
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Darkrai View Parasect builds →X-Scissor 2x66-78% Brick Break 2x42-49% | ||
Darkrai Evolutions
A Dark-type mythical at 600 base stats, Darkrai can't breed or evolve. Event distribution is the standard way to obtain one. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
DP Darkrai Best Moveset
Sleeping opponents take 12.5% damage per turn from AbilityBad Dreams, and MoveDark Void puts targets to sleep at 80% accuracy. 135 Sp. Atk at 125 Speed fires special Dark attacks before almost anything moves. The moveset is banned from standard play for making competitive games unplayable.
Best Build
Darkrai best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Dark Void
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Nasty Plot
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
STAB runs through Dark Pulse and Thief for the basics, but Darkrai's real strength is the 10-type coverage spread. Ghost and Normal hit common defensive types, and the movepool keeps going.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
52 of 56 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It can lull people to sleep and make them dream. It is active during nights of the new moon.
Folklore has it that on moonless nights, this Pokémon will make people see horrific nightmares.
Darkrai Event Distributions
In Diamond & Pearl, Darkrai has seen a few separate Mystery Gift events rather than a steady stream of them.
De opkomst van DarkraiDiamondPearlNot shiny
Der Aufstieg von DarkraiDiamondPearlNot shiny
Dear Pokemon Trainer:HeartGoldDiamondPearlNot shiny
Mysterious DARKRAI!DiamondPearlNot shiny
The Rise of DarkraiDiamondPearlNot shiny
The Rise of DarkraiDiamondPearlNot shiny
Darkrai, the Mythical Pokemon Full of MysteryDiamondPearlNot shiny
Darkrai Diamond & Pearl Guide
Darkrai is a static encounter at Newmoon Island in Diamond & Pearl. Darkrai appears at level 40. Prerequisite: Requires Member Card. Save before the encounter. These one-shot Pokemon don't respawn if you knock them out or run out of Poke Balls.
Darkrai isn't catchable in Diamond & Pearl. Obtain it through event distribution in Platinum, then trade it to Diamond & Pearl.
In Diamond & Pearl, use Darkrai as a sweeper. Special attacks are the main output. It outspeeds most threats,
For Diamond & Pearl, build your team around Kyogre, Dialga, and Deoxys Speed. These have the highest co-usage rates with Darkrai in competitive formats. They cover each other's weaknesses.
For Diamond & Pearl, run Timid on Darkrai. +Speed is what matters, and the -Attack cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the sweeper role.
Game Availability
Introduced in Diamond & Pearl, Darkrai shows up in 13 games across 6 generations. Mythical status keeps it locked behind events or specific story content in most appearances.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DPDebut
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Darkrai.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List