How to get Houndour and Houndoom in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Brent Koepp
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Houndour and Houndoom artwork

Just like Pokemon Platinum, players can get the Johto Fire-type early in the Sinnoh remakes. Here is how to get Houndour and Houndoom in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl.

While the Sinnoh remakes are not based on Pokemon Platinum’s Pokedex, players are still able to catch Houndoom early in the game.

Here is everything you need to know on how to find Houndoom in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, as well as how to obtain its pre-evolution Houndour.

Where to find Houndoom in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Houndoom spawn location
The Pokemon can be caught early on in BDSP.

In order to get Houndoom, players have to first reach Gym #3 in Eterna City. Inside the town, you will need to unlock the Grand Underground.

Read More: How to find Mudkip & Swampert in Pokemon BDSP

  1. Progress the story until you reach Eterna City. Once there, enter the house in the middle of the town and talk to the old man to get the Explorer Kit.
  2. Equip the key item and use it to access the Grand Underground. Next, head east in the caverns until you find a lava Hideaway. On the map, they will be red squares.
  3. Once you enter a Volcanic Cave, look for Houndoom. If you don’t see it, exit the room and re-enter it over and over until it shows up.

Houndoom technically appears in most Hideaways, but it has a higher spawn rate in fire-based rooms.

How to get Houndour in Pokemon BDSP

Now that you have caught Houndoom from the Grand Underground, you may be wondering where Houndour is located. Unfortunately, the pre-evolution doesn’t actually spawn in BDSP.

Instead, you are going to need to use a special method to obtain the Pokemon.

  1. First catch two Houndoom in the Grand Underground. One must be male and the other female.
  2. Progress the story until you have reached Solaceon Town which is east of Hearthome City.
  3. Once there, go to the Nursery and drop off both the male and female Houndoom. After about 30 seconds, speak to the old man outside of the Nursery who will then give you an Egg.
  4. Now hatch the egg. We suggest riding your bike up and down a long stretch of road in a city. After a few minutes of doing this, it will hatch to reveal a Houndour.
  5. You can also catch a Ditto on Route 218 and drop it off with one Houndoom at the Nursery. But the shape-shifting ‘mon isn’t catchable until after you’ve unlocked the National Pokedex and PokeRadar post-game.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Houndour hatching from egg screenshot
Houndour is also in BDSP through a special method.

And that’s it! Thankfully, Houndoom is a pretty easy spawn to find Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. Getting its pre-evolution Houndour may take a little longer as you need to have unlocked Solaceon Town first.

Trainers who didn’t pick Chimchar as a starter may also find the canine a good Fire-type replacement. Now that you have the Johto Pokemon on your team, make sure to check out our other BDSP guides and walkthroughs:

All Rare Candy locations | Where to find Cresselia | How to get the National Pokedex | Best starter to pick | Beating all Gym Leaders | How to get all Sinnoh starters | Best ways to make money | How to unlock Mystery Gifts | How to get Eevee | How to get Leafeon | How to get Glaceon | How to get Umbreon & Espeon | Where to catch Spiritomb | How to get Riolu & Lucario | Where to find Gible & Garchomp | How to unlock the Bike | All trade evolutions