Not only do you have to lose a quality Pokémon to make space for the little ovoid on your team, in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl the egg cycle plays out over the course of up to 10,000 steps!
And considering how rare they are, you’ll have to hatch a shell of a lot of eggs if you want to add a few shiny Pokémon to your roster, meaning you’ve got some serious hours behind the screen coming your way!
However, the folks over at The Pokémon Company aren’t total sadists, and have supplied a way to speed up the hatching of these sleepy, be-shelled critters… Flame Body!
What Is Flame Body?
Flame Body is a special ability that only a select group of fire type Pokémon have. If you keep one of these steamy specimens in your squad, the warmth provides optimal thermals for the egg, thereby expediting the hatching process, but that’s not all!
When you use a Pokémon with Flame Body in battle, every opponent that launches a physical attack, i.e. Karate Chop or Quick Attack, has a 30% chance of incurring the burn status, which deducts a small portion of health after every turn.
Which Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Pokémon Have Flame Body?
While it’s not the most common special ability, there are a number of Pokémon found throughout the Sinnoh Region with Flame Body, but before I list them for you here, there’s something you should know about “Hidden Abilities”.
Hidden Abilities
Many of the Pokémon in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have Flame Body as a Hidden Ability, meaning you have to bring that ability out in them by breeding them with a Pokémon that already has a hidden ability, using the Poke Radar, or using an Ability Patch.
The latter can only be bought in the Battle Tower once you have accrued 200 battle points, and as a single-use item, I’d highly recommend using it to unlock a much rarer Hidden Ability than Flame Body.
Pokémon With Flame Body
Heatran— Hidden
Magcargo
Magby — SP Exclusive
Magma — SP Exclusive
Magmortar — SP Exclusive
Moltres — Hidden
Ponyta — Hidden
Rapidash — Hidden
Slugma
A Discrepancy To Keep In Mind
As you can see, one-third of the Pokémon on the Flame Body list are exclusive to Shining Pearl, which makes things a little harder on the wannabee breeders in Brilliant Diamond, as there simply aren’t as many Pokémon with the Flame Body trait.
Walk around the Grand Underground enough and SP players are bound to stumble across a Magby. It’s a rare spawn, but it’s worth lingering in the area to gain access to this ability early on.
By contrast, if they’re wanting to avoid the hassle that comes along with unlocking Hidden Abilities, BD players will have to venture to one of the four Slugma/Magcargo spawn locations to get this sought-after ability:
Stark Mountain
Volcanic Cave
Typhlo Cavern
Sandsear Cave
How Do You Implement Flame Body?
Other than welcoming a Pokémon with Flame Body into your team, you don’t have to do anything to trigger the special ability’s effect. As long as you also have the egg in your squad, Flame Body will get to work!
How Much Does Flame Body Reduce An Egg Cycle?
Flame Body will reduce the steps required to hatch an egg by roughly 50%, which, combined with lots of bike riding, should speed up the egg cycle significantly.
Magma Armor: An Alternative
Flame Body isn’t the only special ability that halves the hatching process. Magma Armor has precisely the same passive effect. The only difference between the abilities is the in-battle impact, with Magma Armor rendering your Pokémon impervious to the frozen status.
The Pokémon that have this ability are as follows:
Slugma
Magcargo
Camerupt
Where Can I Find A Pokémon With Magma Armor?
As mentioned earlier, you’ll run into Slugma and Magcargo in one of four spots, but Camerupt is much more frequently occurring. Here’s where you can get your hands on one:
Route 227
Stark Mountain
Volcanic Cave
Typhlo Cave
Sandsear Cave
Rocky Cave
Big Bluff Cavern
Are Special Abilities Stackable?
Unfortunately, if you fill out your team with Flame Body and Magma Armor Pokémon, the effects won’t intensify. Only one will have the desired effect.
How Many Eggs Do You Have To Hatch To Get A Shiny In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl?
The chances of bumping into a shiny Pokémon naturally in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are incredibly low, even if you complete the Pokédex and gain the Shiny Charm.
You’re most likely only ever going to encounter one if you keep breeding the same Pokémon and hatching their eggs over and over again.
There’s about a 1 in 512 likelihood that you’ll hatch a shiny, meaning you may well have to hatch 512 eggs before you get that bucket list Pokémon, but thankfully, Flame Body will accelerate this process a great deal!
Final Thoughts
Now you have all the info you need, get out there and sag yourself a Pokémon with this fantastic special ability. There’s nothing quite like that feeling of hatching your first shiny Pokémon, and Flame Body is going to help you get the job done in record time!
My name is Ashley Newby and I want to put integrity back into esports and get the hype surrounding them paramount once more. During my teenage years, I happened to stumble across a Street Fighter tournament online and I was hooked.
From that day, I have kept up with and watched many tournaments including Valorant, Super Smash Bros, and League of Legends. I even got to compete in my first one earlier this year!
