How to catch Giratina in Pokemon Legends Arceus & change to Altered Forme

Brent Koepp
Pokemon Legends Arceus Giratina cutscene

Game Freak has hidden the Pokemon Platinum Legendary mascot in the Hisui region. Here is how to catch Giratina in Pokemon Legends Arceus. 

In Pokemon Legends Arceus, the Hisui region is packed full of secrets including Gen IV Legendaries which can be taken on in special battles. One of the returning characters is Platinum mascot Giratina.

Players looking to tame the antimatter Legendary will have to unlock it first after completing a series of tasks. This guide will break down where to find the villainous Creation Trio ‘mon and how to catch it.

Where to find Giratina in Pokemon Legends Arceus

Trainers will have to wait a long time until they can encounter the Platinum mascot as Giratina isn’t available until after the post-game. To unlock its encounter, players need to have completed Mission 26: Seeking the Remaining Plates.

After progressing past that storyline, speak to Professor Laventon to obtain Request 91: On the Trail of Giratina. Follow these steps to find the ‘mon:

  1. With Request 91 active, head on over to the Cobalt Coastlands.
  2. After arriving, use your Braviary mount to immediately fly to Spring Path at the top left corner of the map.
  3. Use your Sneasler to climb up the mountain surrounding Turnback Cave which is located in the middle of a spring.
  4. After reaching the top of the mountain, drop down and enter the cave.
Pokemon Legends Arceus map location
Giratina can be found in the Cobalt Coastlands.

How to catch Giratina in Pokemon Legends Arceus

After entering Turnback Cave, you will be immediately thrown into a battle against the terrifying Legendary so be prepared before venturing inside the cavern.

Just like other battles, it’s important to quickly try to lower the Pokemon’s health and to keep it down into the yellow or red territory. This is the best way to catch it:

  1. Use Ghost, Dark, Fairy, Ice, or Dragon-type moves to drop its health down quickly. Once its HP is low, throw an Ultra Ball to catch it.
  2. If Giratina breaks out, make sure to keep your team healed up and wait for another chance to throw another Ball.
  3. You can also utilize Sleep or Paralyze moves to increase your catch rate.
  4. Keep hurling Balls at Giratina until it’s eventually yours.
Pokemon Legends Arceus Giratina Battle screenshot
Players can catch the Sinnoh Legendary after two special battles.

How to get Griseous Core & Altered Forme Giratina

Because Pokemon Legends takes place in Sinnoh’s ancient past, Giratina is already in its Origin Forme by default. So instead of needing the Orb, you need to obtain the Griseous Core to transform the Legendary back to its Altered Forme.

Thankfully, obtaining the item is incredibly easy as you are automatically rewarded it after catching the Legendary in Turnback Cave. Following the battle, a cutscene will trigger with the protagonist picking up the dropped object.

You can use the Core in the menu and give it to Giratina to switch it back and forth between the two Formes.

Pokemon Legends Arceus Altered Forme Griseous Core screenshot
Giratina can transform into its Altered Forme with this item.

And that’s it! You now have Giratina added to your Pokedex and can transform it into its Altered and Origine Formes any time you want.

For more help with your Hisui adventures, make sure to check out our other guides below:

Best starter Pokemon | All Hisuian forms | Hisuian Pokedex | How to catch Darkrai | How to catch Shaymin | All Noble Pokemon | How to beat Frenzied Noble Pokemon | All Gift Pokemon | Mystery Gift codes | Agile & Strong Styles | Alpha Pokemon | How to get Garchomp | How to catch Lucario | All Unown locations | How to catch Eevee | Where to find Pikachu | Hisuian Growlithe & Arcanine location | How to evolve Kleavor | Sylveon evolution guide | Hisuian Voltorb location | How to get Hisuian Sliggoo & Goodra | Where to find Hisuian Zorua & Zoroark | Hisuian Braviary location | How to evolve Overqwil | How to get Hisuian Sneasel & Sneasler | Shiny hunting guide | How to get all three starters without trading