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Like its Pokemon predecessors, there are many free items for the taking in Diamond and Pearl - if you know where to look. Taking advantage of these daily giveaways is essential in keeping your item inventories well-stocked without draining your wallet. Good trainers know that making the daily rounds and getting every handout you can will save you time and effort in your Pokemon questing.
To start, let's get right down to the epicenter of in-game giveaways - the lottery.
Jubilife City - TV Station Lottery
Besides being home to the Global Trade Station (GTS), Jubilife City also has a TV station where a daily lottery occurs. Go to the woman at the counter on the first floor of the TV station to enter the drawing once per day. You'll draw a ticket with a five-digit number, and based on how it matches up with the ID numbers of your Pokemon (both in your party and in your PC), you'll win one of five prizes:
Last digit matches - Contest Backdrop
Last two digits match - PP Up
Last three digits match - Exp Share
Last four digits match - Max Revive
All five digits match - Master Ball
The matches are calculated starting from the far right number. For example, if you drew a ticket numbered 51765, and you have a Geodude in your PC with the ID number 45765, you would winan EXP Share, but if your Geodude's ID was 45735, you would only get a Contest Backdrop. The ID number of the Pokemon is the same as the trainer number, so all Pokemon you caught yourself have the same ID number.
To increase your odds at winning big in the lottery, it's essential to have Pokemon from as many different trainers as possible. Ideally, you could have a full PC with every Pokemon from a different trainer to maximize your chances. If you never trade Pokemon and only have Pokemon that you've caught yourself, the chances of you winning a Master Ball in the lottery are around 1/99,999. Since you can only enter the lottery once per day, those chances aren't very good to say the least. In fact, it would take a person on average about 273 years to win a Master Ball.
Not a very feasible approach, obviously. On the other hand, if you trade Pokemon with 500 different trainers, you'll increase your odds to around 1/200. Still slim, but much more possible. To achieve this, we recommend using the GTS as much as possible. If you offer trades that are reasonable, they'll get snatched up pretty quickly. Load up on Pokemon exclusive to your version and start asking away for random Pokemon - you'll quickly fill PC with Pokemon that will not only gain EXP much faster, but also increase your chances of winning big in the lottery.
