Using Items

You're going to come across a variety of items in your travels. This section will detail some of the items you'll receive and how you can use them. All of these items can be found in the Bag that you carry around, so check your menu and open it up!

Items

The first category of items are, simply, Items. A number of miscellaneous items will go into this pocket, from random junk that you can sell to vendors for extra cash, to items that are useful when walking around in the game world, such as the Escape Rope, which will instantly pull you out of a dungeon that you're in.

More importantly, though, items that your Pokémon can hold will be placed here. You can assign items to your Pokémon either by selecting the item in the bag and giving it to a Pokémon, or by going into the Pokémon menu and selecting the Item command. Letting your Pokémon hold an item will give it some kind of added bonus, usually in battle. To give some examples, a Hard Stone item can be given to a Pokémon; when held, it will increase the power of Rock-type moves. The Shell Bell will restore some of the Pokémon's HP when it inflicts damage. The Exp. Share can be given to a Pokémon to allow it to earn experience in battle without switching into combat, which is helpful when you're trying to raise a lower level Pokémon up to the same level as the rest of your party.

All your Pokémon needs to do to use an item is hold it in combat; they don't need to activate it or anything special like that. You can find these items by talking to people in towns and cities or by digging them up in the underground portion of the game. Keep an eye out for them, as they're really handy!

Medicine

Your Pokémon will periodically take damage or status effects; that's unavoidable. Luckily, you can find or buy medicine to heal them right up. Potions of various sorts will restore their HP, while Revives will restore Pokémon that have fainted to the land of the conscious. In addition, there are a number of medicines that will cure your Pokémon of status effects, like Poison or Burning. You can store them in this pocket and use them inside or outside of battle, as you see fit.

You can find plenty of medicine scattered around the game world, inside Pokeballs that lie on the ground. In addition, the shops in towns will sell a number of restoratives for you to buy. The more gym badges you have, the more items you'll be able to buy.

TMs & HMs

As you travel, you'll come across a number of machines that can be used to permanently train your Pokémon with new skills. These come in two forms: TMs, which are relatively common, and HMs, which are fairly rare.

The differences between the two are fairly large. TMs are only usable once, and impart a special power on a single Pokémon, after which they disappear from your inventory. There are almost 100 of these TMs scattered around the game world, each of which teaches a different skill when used.

HMs are generally impossible to miss, as they'll often be given to you by a character as part of the game's main storyline. Like TMs, they will teach your Pokémon a new skill (assuming they're capable of learning it), but unlike TMs, HMs can be used as often as you like; they don't disappear from your inventory when used. The skills they impart can also be used outside of battle. The ability Cut, for instance, will let your Pokémon cut down small trees that block your path. You will often have to acquire a new gym badge before you can use the HM abilities outside of combat, however.

Also, keep in mind that just because you can give HM powers to as many Pokémons as you like doesn't mean that you necessarily should do so. HM abilities can't be forgotten when your Pokémon level up (you'll need to find the Move Deleter to accomplish that), so only give them to a Pokémon that you know you'll want to have in your party for a bit. Also, check the type of power that an HM gives and assign it accordingly. Rock Smash is a Fight-type HM (not a Rock-type smash, oddly enough), so give it to a Machop or another Fight-type Pokémon; they'll make more use of it during combat than, say, a Water-type Pokémon would.

Berries

As you travel around the world, you'll find numerous Berry plants. You can pick the berries off of them and replant them in the soil, using a watering cup to hasten their growth. If you keep the Berries, though, you'll find that they have a few uses. Some vendors will trade you accessories for your Berries. You can also use them to cook Poffins for your Pokémon when you reach Hearthome city. Poffins will increase the stats of the Pokémon that eats it for a little while, allowing you to gain better scores in a Special Contest.

Lastly, Berries can be held by your Pokémon in the same manner as normal items. When held, they will automatically be used when a specific problem arises. For instance, a Pokémon holding a Pecha Berry will automatically use it when it's poisoned, recovering instantly. An Oran Berry will be used to replenish a small amount of health when the Pokémon is damaged. The benefits of using berries is that the Pokémon will typically use them automatically, which won't cause you to waste a turn using a Medicine from the bag, but still, the benefits are often somewhat small when compared to equipping your Pokémon with items instead of Berries.

Battle Items

Battle Items are somewhat rare compared to other items, but can be handy when you're facing off against a particularly tough enemy trainer. Battle Items are used in combat from the item menu, and typically boost the combat abilities of the current Pokémon. For instance, the X Attack item will raise the Attack stat of the Pokémon, while Dire Hit will increase the chances that it will hit for a critical strike. These bonuses only last for one battle, or until the current Pokémon is withdrawn or faints, so save them and use them in difficult spots!

Key Items

The Key Items pocket of your bag will be where the story-related stuff goes, or the stuff that will be important to your progression, or the stuff that's just plain handy to you! Things like the Town Map, which will let you see your position on the world map, or the Bicycle, which will let you zoom around while traveling, or the Old Rod, which will let you catch some fish or Pokémon when you're near a body of water. Most of these items can be bound to the DS's Y key for easy access.

More Information

We hope some of you found some of the information in this guide useful. If you’re a Pokémon expert, or well on your way to achieving that status, then, again, you can find plenty more information on Diamond and Pearl at GameFAQs.com.