Route 218 and how to beat Canalave City Gym Leader Byron in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Our complete guide to Pokémon BDSP's trainers, items, and wild Pokémon.
Route 218 and Canalave City are next in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, following on from defeating Hearthome City Gym Leader Fantina in your adventure.
Below we'll take you through all the key details for the location, including any Pokémon encounters, trainers, and items that might be available, plus a walkthrough of your key objectives and anything else you'll need to know.
On this page:
Route 218 Pokémon, trainers and items
Route 218 is a very short route joining Jubilife City with Canalave City to the west. You might have encountered it earlier when you first visited Jubilife City and explored the area, but now you can finally traverse the bit of water in the middle of the route, thanks to your ability to use the HM Surf outside of battle. Just interact with the water to hop in a helpful Bidoof and get surfin'.
Before you go anywhere, head up in the very north-eastern part of the water to find a little secret passage to a Rare Candy. Otherwise, explore the small route, battle the trainers, catch any Pokémon you fancy, and continue onwards to Canalave City!
As you head into the western gate, Professor Rowan's assistant, AKA Dawn/Lucas' father, will stop you to check on your Pokédex progress. He also warns you about Team Galactic, asking you to keep an eye on them. They do seem pretty nefarious!
There is also a Honey Tree on this route, which has its own Honey Tree Pokémon spawn list.
Available Pokémon
| Pokémon | Availability |
|---|---|
| Tentacool | Surfing |
| Wingull | Surfing |
| Tentacruel | Surfing (rare) |
| Pelipper | Surfing (rare) |
| Floatzel | Grass |
| Gastrodon (West Coast) | Grass |
| Shellos (West Coast) | Grass |
| Glameow | Grass (Pearl exclusive) |
| Mr. Mime | Grass (Diamond exclusive) |
Items
| Items | Location |
|---|---|
| Honey | Next to Fisher when you first surf across water |
| 2x Rawst Berries | By grass patch next to Guitarist Tony |
| 2x Persim Berries | By grass patch next to Guitarist Tony |
| 2x Figy Berries | By grass patch next to Guitarist Tony |
| 2x Pinap Berries | By grass patch next to Guitarist Tony |
| 3x Flora Stickers F | From young camper if you also talked to his girlfriend on the east side of the route |
| Rare Candy | Surf to north-east corner of water and its on a small bit of land amongst the trees |
Trainers and Opponents
| Trainers | Pokémon | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Fisher Miguel | Gyarados Gyarados | Lv.29 Lv.29 |
| Fisher Luc | Magikarp Gyarados Magikarp Magikarp Magikarp | Lv.26 Lv.31 Lv.26 Lv.26 Lv.26 |
| Guitarist Tony | Luxio | Lv.31 |
| Sailor Skyler | Mantyke Gyarados | Lv.27 Lv.31 |
Canalave City Pokémon, trainers and items
Upon entering Canalve City, a coastal settlement that's split down the middle by a canal (hence the name!) be sure to heal up at the Pokémon Center before you go any further. As soon as you cross the central bridge, your rival Barry will rush up and battle you!
Trainers and Opponents
| Trainers | Pokémon | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Barry (you chose Piplup) | Staravia Heracross Ponyta Buizel Grotle | Lv.32 Lv.32 Lv.34 Lv.33 Lv.37 |
| Barry (you chose Turtwig) | Staravia Heracross Buizel Roselia Monferno | Lv.32 Lv.32 Lv.33 Lv.34 Lv.37 |
| Barry (you chose Chimchar) | Staravia Heracross Roselia Ponyta Prinplup | Lv.32 Lv.32 Lv.33 Lv.34 Lv.37 |
Around town, there are a few other things to see and do. The Move Deleter, who'll get your Pokémon to forget any move they have, is in the house above the Poké Mart. The door to the Harbour Inn in the north-east is curiously shut. There's a sailor who'll take you by boat to Iron Island, via the west half of town (we recommend you wait until after defeating the Gym however, as that way you'll be able to use Strength where you need to in Iron Island). And there's Canalave Library, which you'll visit after winning in the Gym!
Items
| Items | Location |
|---|---|
| 3x Ethereal Stickers B | From girl with Shellos if you've spoken to the Move Deleter |
| 3x TM48 Skill Swap | From Ace Trainer in the house near east gate into town |
| TM89 U-turn | Secret path accessed via surfing south from small pier via west half of town |
Canalave City Gym puzzle solution - how to reach and defeat Gym Leader Byron
Canalave is a Steel-type Gym, but most of the trainers here will use other types of Pokémon, including a lot of Onix!
The main puzzle here is that there are a load of lifts, which appear as square pads with a yellow cross on them (and one with a red cross that takes you to and from Gym Leader Byron). Here's how to navigate the gym.
The first yellow cross takes you to an optional battle with Worker Jackson, and a dead end. The next two also go to dead ends. The fourth is the one you want, which takes you up to another yellow cross, to a battle with Ace Trainer Cesar.
From there, work your way left and then up, until you're faced with choice of going north or east. Go north, to fight Worker Gerardo and then Black Belt David.
Then go to the south-east corner of that uppermost level that you're on now, and down on the pad to Ace Trainer Breanna. From there, follow the pads and you'll arrive at the red one, which takes you up to Byron! There's also another red pad which you can now use to exit, heal, and return up to Byron if you like.
Canalave Gym Trainers and Opponents
| Trainers | Pokémon | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Black Belt Ricky | Steelix | Lv.33 |
| Worker Gary | Onix | Lv.31 |
| Worker Jackson | Onix Onix Onix | Lv.28 Lv.28 Lv.28 |
| Ace Trainer Cesar | Skorupi Steelix | Lv.30 Lv.32 |
| Worker Gerardo | Onix Onix Onix | Lv.29 Lv.29 |
| Black Belt David | Onix Steelix | Lv.30 Lv.32 |
| Ace Trainer Breanna | Azumarill | Lv.33 |
| Gym Leader Byron | Bronzor Steelix Bastidion | Lv.36 Lv.36 Lv.39 |
Items
| Items | Location |
|---|---|
| Mine Badge | From Byron when you defeat him |
| Byron's Stickers | From Byron when you defeat him |
| 5x TM91 Flash Cannon | From Byron when you defeat him |
Byron, it turns out, is Gym Leader Roark's dad - fancy that! Still, all you're here to do is take him down, so let's get going!
Watch out for his Steelix's Earthquake, which does massive damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Likewise, note that his Bastidion is holding a Citrus Berry, which restores a chunk of health when it gets low. Byron also uses a Hyper Potion on his low-HP Pokémon when given the opportunity, so be prepared for the battle to drag on if you don't have high-damage Pokémon that counter his.
Fighting-types will do well here, and Fire-type attacks on non Fire-type Pokémon are handy too! Defeat him, and you'll be able to use the Hidden Move Strength in the wild from your Pokétch.
When you're done head back outside and Barry will appear again, asking you to follow him to the library. Go inside, chat with Professor Rowan and Dawn/Lucas on the top floor, and then you'll all be sent on a quest to a different lake. The one you're heading to is Lake Valor - but before you can leave there's an earthquake!
Clearly something is up. Outside, a sailor tells you that Team Galactic have set off some kind of bomb at the lake. It's your job to investigate. You can go explore Iron Island if you haven't already - which is the next page in this walkthrough and worth doing, for some rare items and Pokémon, especially now you can use Strength in the wild! - or rush off straight there on your quest, to Lake Valor and Lake Verity!
For more guides and links to the rest of our walkthrough pages meanwhile, return to our main Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl walkthrough hub.