Is Riolu Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Riley gives you a Riolu egg on Iron Island after the Team Galactic encounter. Fighting baby that evolves into Lucario through friendship during the day. Available during the story with mid-game timing. One of the best gift Pokemon in any generation.
Riolu has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Riolu trades roughly evenly with Gardenia's team.
Riolu trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Riolu trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Fantina's team hits Riolu's weaknesses hard.
Lucario has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Lucario resists most of Candice's coverage and hits back hard.
Lucario has the type edge here and should clean up Volkner's team.
Lucario has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Lucario has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Lucario has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Lucario trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Lucario resists most of Mars's coverage and hits back hard.
Lucario resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Lucario has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Lucario trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Gift
Riolu is given to you as a gift on Iron Island at Lv 1. Received as an Egg from Riley after completing Iron Island B3F together.
Recommended Moves
- LV 11FightingForce PalmPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Gardenia
- TM52FightingFocus BlastPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15Oreburgh Gate (basement)
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- After Maylene
- TM60FightingDrain PunchPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 5Prize for defeating Maylene
- After Fantina
- TM84PoisonPoison JabPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 212
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Riolu to Lucario
Riolu evolves into Lucario with high friendship. Friendship is usually high enough before you reach Byron.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM52FightingFocus BlastPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15Oreburgh Gate (basement)
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- LV 37FightingAura SpherePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- TM91SteelFlash CannonPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Byron
- LV 42FightingClose CombatPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Riolu in Diamond & Pearl
Riolu is an egg gift, not a wild catch. Beat Riley on Iron Island and he hands you the egg, which hatches the aura pup at level 1 with no route or cave involved at all.
1 location to catch Riolu
Badge 5How to Obtain Riolu in DP
- Step 2Evolve into LucarioBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Riolu egg.
How to Get Shiny Riolu in Diamond & Pearl
Riolu is handed over as an egg on Iron Island, but a shiny is faster to breed via the Masuda Method at 1 in 1,638. Compare Shiny Riolu odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Riolu Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,639 on each try.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 173-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 472-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 1,136-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 3,773-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
For time estimates and charm math, open the Diamond & Pearl shiny odds calculator with Riolu already selected.
Riolu Weakness
Riolu's Fighting typing leaves it vulnerable to Flying and Psychic. Its Fighting typing keeps the defensive matchups simple. Only 2 weaknesses makes it relatively easy to build around defensively.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Flying, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Bug, Rock, Dark |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Riolu Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Riolu
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | C | |
 Drifblim Ghost | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Drifloon (Valley Windworks Interact Encounter) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Riolu View Drifblim builds →Fly 2x143-170%KO Dream Eater 2x116-137%KO | ||
 Kadabra Psychic | A | |
 Staraptor Normal | B | |
 Mr. Mime Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Riolu View Mr. Mime builds →Dream Eater 2x190-225%KO Aerial Ace 2x43-52% | ||
 Dodrio Normal | C | |
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift | ||
 Lunatone RockPsychic | C | |
 Girafarig NormalPsychic | C | |
 Grumpig Psychic | C | |
 Farfetch'd Normal | C | |
 Gliscor Ground | B | |
 Medicham FightingPsychic | C | |
 Yanmega Bug | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Riolu View Yanmega builds →Dream Eater 2x141-167%KO Aerial Ace 2x93-111%KO | ||
Riolu Evolutions
Riolu is the baby form here. It evolves into Lucario by leveling up, but you can't breed it directly. Hatch one by breeding the evolved forms instead. The evolved forms gain up to 240 total stats over Riolu. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
DP Riolu Best Moveset
Baby Lucario with 70 Attack and 60 Speed. AbilityInner Focus prevents flinching. The moveset has Fighting attacks at low power. Evolve for the Fighting/Steel dual typing.
Best Build
Riolu best EVs are Attack and Sp. Def
Bulky Support Moveset
- Bullet Punch
- Crunch
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The natural movepool does the job, but Agility and Bite from the egg pool give Riolu something extra. Pair those with Focus Punch and High Jump Kick for STAB and coverage across 8 types for reach, and the kit fills out nicely.
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
34 of 36 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The aura that emanates from its body intensifies to alert others if it is afraid or sad.
Its body is lithe yet powerful. It can crest three mountains and cross two canyons in one night.
Riolu Event Distributions
In Diamond & Pearl, Riolu is a one-time Mystery Gift event Pokemon rather than a repeat giveaway.
Dear Pokemon Trainer:HeartGoldDiamondPearlNot shiny
Riolu Diamond & Pearl Guide
In Diamond & Pearl, Riolu does the job early-game if you need a Fighting type on your team. Evolve it into Lucario before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Riolu first appeared in Diamond & Pearl and has been available in 14 games across 6 generations. Obtainable through catching or hatching as a base form in most titles where it appears.
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
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