Key Takeaway
First, you need to beat the Pokémon League and get the National Pokédex so that you can reach Route 224. Once you’re there, you need the event item, Oak’s Letter, to open up the Seabreak Path—which leads to the Flower Paradise where Shaymin resides. If you don’t have Oak’s Letter, the only other way to legitimately get a Shaymin in BDSP is by trading for one online.
Like in the original Generation IV games, you need an event item in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl to get Shaymin. And, if you have it, you also need to meet some other criteria to find this elusive Grass-type Pokémon.
Table Of Contents
How to Reach Route 224
Before you can reach Shaymin’s location, you first need to get to Route 224. This area is the spot where you need to interact with Professor Oak to unlock the path to the Flower Paradise where Shaymin lives.
You must first defeat the Pokémon League at least once and obtain the National Pokédex to get to Route 224. That first part is pretty straightforward, however, it may take a little while to get the National Pokédex. After that, you need to travel through Victory Road’s eastern exit.
How to Get the National Pokédex
Thankfully, you don’t need to catch every Pokémon in the Sinnoh region—just see them in battle. Once you’ve seen all 151 regional pocket monsters, go to Professor Rowan’s lab in Sandgem Town. When you speak to Rowan with a complete Sinnoh Pokédex, Professor Oak will show up to upgrade it into a National Pokédex.
The Event Item You Need to Get Shaymin
You need the event item known as Oak’s Letter to reach Shaymin’s Flower Paradise. This item was released worldwide for Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl between February 27, 2022, to March 27, 2022. If you didn’t get it in that time period, then, sadly, you can’t obtain Shaymin yourself legitimately.
It’s not impossible for Oak’s Letter to be distributed again in the future. However, considering that it was only ever released once in the original Generation IV games…the chances aren’t high.
Can You Get Shaymin With Glitches in BDSP?
At one point, you could use glitches to obtain Shaymin in BDSP. However, this was in earlier versions of the game. Since then, patches have been released that prevent players from using such glitches.
There are some players out there who try to reset their game to pre-patched states with varying levels of success. While it’s possible to reset your game cartridge, it isn’t recommended.
To trick modern games like this, you need to tamper with some important features, which can corrupt your save data and even core game files. Worse yet, you can risk damaging the cartridge, which can lead to it becoming unusable.
How to Get Shaymin With Oak’s Letter
If you have Oak’s Letter, you can get Shaymin pretty easily once you reach Route 224. Head to the northmost part of the area and you’ll see Professor Oak standing next to a white rock. When you speak to him, he’ll tell you to interact with the nearby pale boulder.
Do so and you will get a chance to type in one word. It doesn’t matter what you type in. Afterward, there is a cutscene that shows Shaymin appearing and running across the newly formed Seabreak Path. When the cutscene ends, you can follow Shaymin north across the Seabreak Path and into the Flower Paradise.
In the Flower Paradise, there is only a flower-covered hill and a Shaymin in Land Forme. They are at level 30, so battling them won’t be difficult. Be sure to save before you try to catch them just in case things go wrong.
Alternate Way to Get Shaymin
Besides using Oak’s Letter, the only other legitimate way to get Shaymin is by trading for one online. However, you can’t breed Shaymin. Therefore, there won’t be many up for trade. Your best bet is to ask a friend to trade their Shaymin to you—possibly with a trade-back deal in mind.
