Underground Guide

Introduction
Activities in the Underground

Introduction

Miles below the surface of Sinnoh lies a vast underground field ready to be explored, so pick up a shovel and start digging. Who knows what you'll find in this treasure-laden part of Sinnoh?

Activities in the Underground

There are three main things to do in the Underground: treasure hunting, secret base activities, and the multiplayer Capture the Flag game.

Treasure Hunting:: Using a hammer and a pick you can dig at the walls of the Underground in hopes of finding rare items, such as Spheres, which can be traded to specific people you meet in the underground for Secret Base items, Fossils that can be restored to obtain certain Pokemon, Shards that can be traded for particular TMs, and useful battle items.

Secret Base:: The Underground allows players to build Secret Bases: rooms that can be furnished to a player's preference.

Capture the Flag:: The only actual multiplayer aspect of the Underground. Here players compete with each other in stealing others' flags that are located in their secret bases in hopes of being rewarded with a higher flag rank, which ultimately determines how far you can go in personalizing your Secret Base.

Each of these will be tackled in more detail one way or another throughout this guide.

All players begin their digging career by first obtaining the Explorer Kit from the Underground Man in Eterna City. From here you'll be assigned six missions; it's your decision if you'd like to complete these missions or not, but generally they give you a good idea about the workings of the Underground so it's to your advantage to complete them.

Once underground, you'll notice that the DS top screen will be filled with a rough but detailed map of the whole Underground. Where you are will be denoted by a red dot, treasures by an orange dot, and your secret base by a red square. The bottom screen will be where the "real" action takes place. Tapping the touch screen sets off a radar that detects nearby treasure/traps. A good rule of thumb to follow here is that those dots you see on the floor are either traps or buried spheres and those on the walls are treasures that haven't been dug out yet.

Treasure Hunting

Items you obtain by digging:

Battle items
Evolution-inducing Items
Heart Scales
Pokemon Fossils (Bring all your fossils to the Oreburgh Mining Musuem to witness their restoration to their previous Pokemon form.)
Spheres (There are three kinds of traders in the Sinnoh Underground; look for them to trade your spheres for items you can use to decorate your Secret Base.)
Shards (Trade off all your Shards to the girl on Route 212 for rare TMs. You can also trade them in to move tutors in Platinum.)

Remember those dots I told you about? Well underneath all that sparkling on the walls lie treasures waiting to be dug out. You can use a combination of pick and hammer blows to successfully dig through the wall. Each tool has its own advantages and disadvantages. With the hammer you can dig large areas quickly, but the impact it causes results in the wall collapsing much more easily than when using the pick. The pick is more of a focused digging instrument: it allows you to work on a small specific area carefully. You don't have unlimited time to dig through the wall to obtain the treasures, as the walls have a tendency to collapse upon too much pressure from use of both tools. You can get a good idea of how much time you have by looking at the cleft above the digging area. Each time you use one of the tools this cleft will go from right to left. Once it reaches the left part the wall collapses and the treasures hidden behind it are buried forever. So be sure not to waste any particular blows to the wall, as you never know when you might need them to completely dig out a particular item.

The stuff you dig out of the Underground is automatically placed in a special bag that can only be accessed when you're underground, the Loot Sack; be sure to move those items you want to use outside of the Underground to your primary bag. Needless to say, the Loot Sack does not have unlimited carrying capacities, so be sure to transfer items frequently.

Underground Treasures

Here's a complete list of all the available things (decorative and battle items) you can find while digging in the Underground.

Battle Items

Armor Fossil - Pearl only
Blue Shard - More common in Diamond
Blue Sphere
Claw Fossil - More common in Diamond (after National Dex)
Damp Rock
Dome Fossil - More common in Pearl (after National Dex)
Dragon Plate
Dread Plate
Earth Plate
Everstone
Fire Stone - More common in Diamond (after National Dex)
Fist Plate
Flame Plate
Green Shard - More common in Pearl
Green Sphere
Hard Stone
Heart Scale
Heat Rock
Helix Fossil - More common in Diamond (after National Dex)
Icicle Plate
Icy Rock - More common in Diamond (after National Dex)
Insect Plate
Iron Plate
Leaf Stone - More common in Pearl (after National Dex)
Light Clay - More common in Diamond (after National Dex)
Max Revive
Meadow Plate
Mind Plate
Moon Stone - More common in Pearl (after National Dex)
Old Amber
Pale Sphere
Prism Sphere
Rare Bone
Red Shard - More common in Pearl
Red Sphere
Revive
Root Fossil - More common in Pearl (after National Dex)
Skull Fossil - Diamond only
Sky Plate
Smooth Rock - More common in Pearl (after National Dex)
Splash Plate
Spooky Plate
Star Piece
Stone Plate
Sun Stone - More common in Diamond (after National Dex)
Thunderstone - More common in Diamond (after National Dex)
Toxic Plate
Water Stone - More common in Pearl (after National Dex)
Yellow Shard
Zap Plate

Decorative Items

Alert Tool 1 - Goods Trader
Alert Tool 2 - Goods Trader
Alert Tool 3 - Goods Trader
Alert Tool 4 - Goods Trader
Alert Tool 5 - Goods Trader
Beauty Cup - Mr. Goods
Big Bookshelf - Goods Trader
Big Oil Drum - Goods Trader
Big Smoke Tool - Goods Trader
Big Table - Goods Trader
Bike Rack - Goods Trader
Binoculars - Goods Trader
Blue Crystal - Mr. Goods
Blue Cushion - Goods Trader
Blue Tent - Goods Trader
Bonsai - Goods Trader
Bonsly Doll - Veilstone Department Store
Bronze Trophy - Battle Tower
Bubble Tool - Goods Trader
Buizel Doll - Veilstone Department Store
Bulbasaur Doll - Goods Trader
Buneary Doll - Goods Trader
Charmander Doll - Goods Trader
Chatot Doll - Veilstone Department Store
Chikorita Doll - Goods Trader
Chimchar Doll - Goods Trader
Clear Tent - Goods Trader
Clefairy Doll - Goods Trader
Container - Goods Trader
Cool Cup - Mr. Goods
Crate - Goods Trader
Cupboard - Goods Trader
Cupboard Box - Goods Trader
Cute Cup - Mr. Goods
Cyndaquil Doll - Goods Trader
Dainty Flowers - Goods Trader
Display Shelf - Goods Trader
Drifloon Doll - Goods Trader
Ember Tool - Goods Trader
Feathery Bed - Goods Trader
Fire Tool - Goods Trader
Flower Tool - Goods Trader
Foam Tool - Goods Trader
Game System - Goods Trader
Glameow Doll - Goods Trader
Glittering Gem - Underground Man
Globe - Mr. Goods
Gold Trophy - Battle Tower
Green Bike - Goods Trader
Gym Statue - Mr. Goods
Happiny Doll - Goods Trader
Healing Machine - Goods Trader
Hole Tool - Goods Trader
Iron Beam - Goods Trader
Jigglypuff Doll - Goods Trader
Lab Machine - Goods Trader
Lavish Flowers - Goods Trader
Leaf Tool - Goods Trader
Long Table - Goods Trader
Lovely Flowers - Goods Trader
Mantyke Doll - Veilstone Department Store
Maze Block 1 - Goods Trader
Maze Block 2 - Goods Trader
Maze Block 3 - Goods Trader
Maze Block 4 - Goods Trader
Maze Block 5 - Goods Trader
Meowth Doll - Goods Trader
Mime Jr. Doll - Veilstone Department Store
Minun Doll - Goods Trader
Mudkip Doll - Goods Trader
Munchlax Doll - Veilstone Department Store
Mystic Gem - Underground Man
Oil Drum - Goods Trader
Pachirisu Doll - Goods Trader
Pikachu Doll - Goods Trader
Pink Crystal - Mr. Goods
Pink Dresser - Goods Trader
Piplup Doll - Goods Trader
Pit Tool - Goods Trader
Plain Table - Goods Trader
Plusle Doll - Goods Trader
Pokecenter Flowers - Goods Trader
Pokecenter Table - Goods Trader
Potted Plant - Goods Trader
Pretty Flowers - Goods Trader
Pretty Gem - Underground Man
Pretty Sink - Goods Trader
Red Bike - Goods Trader
Red Cystal - Mr. Goods
Red Tent - Goods Trader
Refrigerator - Goods Trader
Research Shelf - Goods Trader
Rock Tool - Goods Trader
Rockfall Tool - Goods Trader
Shiny Gem - Underground Man
Shop Shelf - Goods Trader
Silver Trophy - Battle Tower
Skitty Doll - Goods Trader
Small Bookshelf - Goods Trader
Small Table - Goods Trader
Smart Cup - Mr. Goods
Smoke Tool - Goods Trader
Snorlax Doll - Goods Trader
Squirtle Doll - Goods Trader
Test Machine - Goods Trader
Torchic Doll - Goods Trader
Totodile Doll - Goods Trader
Tough Cup - Mr. Goods
Trash Can - Goods Trader
Treecko Doll - Goods Trader
Turtwig Doll - Goods Trader
TV - Goods Trader
Vending Machine - Goods Trader
Wailord Doll - Goods Trader
Weavile Doll - Goods Trader
Wide Sofa - Goods Trader
Wide Table - Goods Trader
Wobbuffet Doll - Goods Trader
Wood Dresser - Goods Trader
Wooden Chair - Goods Trader
Yellow Crystal - Mr. Goods
Yellow Cushion - Goods Trader

Secret Base

Three types of traders:

Goods Traders (Trade spheres for items you can use to decorate your Secret Base.)
Loot Traders (Trade the other stuff you come upon in the Underground for Spheres, such as battle items, Evolutionary stones, Fossils, etc.)
Trap Traders (Trade Spheres for traps and vice versa.)

Your Secret Base is your room but underground instead. The Spheres you've obtained through treasure hunting can be traded for items that allow you to personalize your Secret Base. While not necessary, I strongly recommend you bury your Spheres (and not forget where they are!) as this allows your Spheres to grow bigger. In fact, if you bury Spheres of the same color together, they tend to fuse to form even bigger Spheres, though 99 is the maximum level of all kinds of Spheres. There are also some, such as the Prism and Pale Spheres, that take more time to grow when compared to the Green, Red, and Blue Spheres.

There is a wide variety of goods available for you to choose from when it comes to decorating your Secret Base. Most of these can be obtained from the traders, the Veilstone Department Store, and Mr. Goods in Hearthome City. Basically these are divided as follows:

Chairs
Dolls
Electronics
Flowers
Maze Goods
Shelves
Tables
Trophies

Capture the Flag

The only actual multiplayer aspect of the Underground. It doesn't run on Wi-Fi, so you're limited to just playing with your real life friends. The name is very much self-explanatory in that the goal of the game is, yes, you guessed it, to capture or steal your opponent's Flag and bring it to your own Secret Base. This is also the only aspect of the Underground where you can effectively use traps (setting up traps when treasure hunting is not advisable). Traps are buried on the floor and usually creates some kind of effect that either prevents or slows down your opponent from capturing your own Flag. Here is the complete list of traps you'll undoubtedly come across when playing this game:

Alert Trap:: Divided into four kinds depending on the message that appears on the screen after activating it.

Bubble Trap:: Bubbles will appear on the screen. (Use the stylus to free yourself from this trap.)

Confuse Trap:: Screws up your movement (e.g. when you press up the character moves down, etc.)

Crater Trap:: Traps you in a hole preventing any further movement. (Press any direction 20 times to free yourself.)

Ember Trap:: A small flame will attack you. (Blow on the mic to free yourself from this trap.)

Fire Trap:: Similar to the Ember Trap but harder to put out. (Blow on the mic to free yourself from this trap.)

Flower Trap:: A bunch of flower petals whirl up on the screen. (Blow on the mic to free yourself from this trap.)

Foam Trap:: Small bubbles will appear on the screen. (Use the stylus to free yourself from this trap.)

Fog Trap:: A bunch of smoke will appear on the screen. (Use the stylus to free yourself from this trap.)

Hurl Trap:: Hurls you either upward, downward, to the left, or to the right. (Can actually be useful for quick self-transportation.)

Leaf Trap:: Similar to the Flower Trap with leaves floating about instead of petals. (Blow on the mic to free yourself from this trap.)

Move Trap:: Throws you either upward, downward, to the left, or to the right. (Can actually be useful for quick self-transportation.)

Pit Trap:: Traps you in a hole preventing any further movement. (Press any direction 10 times to free yourself.)

Reverse Trap:: Forces you to move in the opposite direction from the direction you intend to go.

Rock Trap:: A rock falls on you preventing any further movement. (Use the stylus to free yourself from this trap.)

Rockfall Trap:: A big rock falls on you preventing any further movement. (Use the stylus to free yourself from this trap.)

Smoke Trap:: A bunch of smoke will appear on the screen. (Use the stylus to free yourself from this trap.)

Mix and match these traps and find out which combinations provide the most effective stallers. The Capture the Flag game's real use is the bonuses granted depending on your overall performance when playing with your friends. After capturing various numbers of opponents' Flags you get to unlock certain capabilities that allow you to really customize your Secret Base. Here's a list of all the Flag ranks to look out for.

Flag Ranks

Normal Flag: Requires: 0 captured Flags; Allows you to place 10 different goods in your Secret Base.

Bronze Flag: Requires: 1 captured Flag; Allows you to place 12 different goods in your Secret Base.; Allows you to remove 1 rock from your Secret Base.

Silver Flag: Requires: 3 captured Flags; Allows you to place 14 different goods in your Secret Base.; Allows you to remove 5 rocks from your Secret Base.

Gold Flag: Requires: 10 captured Flags; Allows you to place 15 different goods in your Secret Base.; Allows you to remove 10 rocks from your Secret Base.

Platinum Flag: Requires: 50 captured Flags; Allows you to place 15 different goods in your Secret Base.; Allows you to remove all the rocks from your Secret Base.; Upgrades your trainer card one rank

As you can see, you can gain a lot of benefits by playing Capture the Flag. After all, you can't have a beautiful Secret Base if it's littered with rocks, so hurry up and start linking with friends!