Plate

Animation showing Arceus's forms

A Plate (Japanese: プレート Plate) is a type of held item introduced in Generation IV, primarily for use in changing Arceus's elemental type and form to the corresponding type of Plate. However, it will also increase the attack power of moves of the Plate's type used by any Pokémon holding it by 20%. The Plates also change the type of Judgment, and due to this, Judgment will always have effectively 120 power. There is a Plate available for every elemental type except Normal, and while there exists a ???-type Arceus, there is no associated ??? Plate, meaning there are 16 Plates in total.

The 16 Plates are spread far and wide across Sinnoh, and can also be dug up in the Underground. What follows is a list of what effect a Plate has when held and where they can be found in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, besides in the Underground.

List of Plates

Draco Plate

• Japanese: りゅうのプレート Dragon Plate
• Raises the power of Dragon-type moves and makes Arceus a Dragon-type Pokémon
• Found:
  • Eterna City - Hidden behind the Dialga/Palkia statue.

Dread Plate

• Japanese: こわもてプレート Fearful Favor Plate
• Raises the power of Dark-type moves and makes Arceus a Dark-type Pokémon.
• Found: Old Chateau - At the top of the stairs go through the door to the north. The Plate is in a Poké Ball in the left hand room.
• Requires Cut to reach.

Earth Plate

• Japanese: だいちのプレート Earth Plate
• Raises the power of Ground-type moves and makes Arceus a Ground-type Pokémon.
• Found: Oreburgh Gate (the tunnel to the left of Oreburgh City) - Go north up the path, then follow around and take the stairs to the basement. Surf to the far left of the cave and use Strength to get to the Poké Ball.
• Requires Rock Smash, Surf and Strength to reach.

Fist Plate

• Japanese: こぶしのプレート Fist Plate
• Raises the power of Fighting-type moves and makes Arceus a Fighting-type Pokémon.
• Found: Route 215 - In a Poké Ball near the left side of the route.
• Requires Cut to reach.

Flame Plate

• Japanese: ひのたまプレート Fireball Plate
• Raises the power of Fire-type moves and makes Arceus a Fire-type Pokémon.
• Found: Stark Mountain - Hidden in the wall at the end of a path, on the left side of the big room.
• Received: Oreburgh Mine - Received from a Hiker in Oreburgh Mine if the player has a fateful encounter Arceus in their party. Platinum only.

Icicle Plate

• Japanese: つららのプレート Icicle Plate
• Raises the power of Ice-type moves and makes Arceus an Ice-type Pokémon.
• Received: Route 217 - Inside house after showing the HM Rock Climb.
• Requires the Rock Climb HM to obtain.

Insect Plate

• Japanese: たまむしプレート Jewel Beetle Plate
• Raises the power of Bug-type moves and makes Arceus a Bug-type Pokémon.
• Found: Eterna Forest - Hidden in the rock wall to the right of the Old Chateau.
• Requires Cut to reach.

Iron Plate

• Japanese: こうてつプレート Steel Plate
• Raises the power of Steel-type moves and makes Arceus a Steel-type Pokémon.
• Found: Iron Island - Hidden in a depression in the far southeastern corner of the third floor.

Meadow Plate

• Japanese: みどりのプレート Verdure Plate
• Raises the power of Grass-type moves and makes Arceus a Grass-type Pokémon.
• Found: Route 210 - Hidden in the rock wall beneath a bridge, up the eastern-most waterfall.

Mind Plate

• Japanese: ふしぎのプレート Mystery Plate
• Raises the power of Psychic-type moves and makes Arceus a Psychic-type Pokémon.
• Found: Solaceon Ruins - On the seventh (last) floor.

Sky Plate

• Japanese: あおぞらプレート Blue Sky Plate
• Raises the power of Flying-type moves and makes Arceus a Flying-type Pokémon.
• Found: Victory Road exit - Hidden outside the cave, three tiles south of the southwestern Poké Ball statue.

Splash Plate

• Japanese: しずくプレート Drop Plate
• Raises the power of Water-type moves and makes Arceus a Water-type Pokémon.
• Found: Route 220

Spooky Plate

• Japanese: もののけプレート Specter Plate
• Raises the power of Ghost-type moves and makes Arceus a Ghost-type Pokémon.
• Found:
  • Amity Square (D/P) - Next to one of the stone houses on the eastern side of the park.
  • Amity Square (Pt)- On one of the plateaus that can be reached through the warp points in the stone huts.

Stone Plate

• Japanese: がんせきプレート Rock Plate
• Raises the power of Rock-type moves and makes Arceus a Rock-type Pokémon.
• Found:
• Mt. Coronet - After going up the Rock Climb-able slope on the first peak, go to the nearer cave entrance. It is hidden in the rock in the room at the top of the waterfall.
• Requires Surf, Rock Climb, and Waterfall to reach (also Strength in Platinum).

Toxic Plate

• Japanese: もうどくプレート Deadly Poison Plate
• Raises the power of Poison-type moves and makes Arceus a Poison-type Pokémon.
• Found: Great Marsh - Hidden in the northeast corner.

Zap Plate

• Japanese: いかずちプレート Thunder Plate
• Raises the power of Electric-type moves and makes Arceus an Electric-type Pokémon.
• Found: Sunyshore City - Hidden in front of the Lighthouse.

Engravings

Each Plate has a different engraving which reveals part of the myth of the creation of the Pokémon universe. No engraving is tied to a specific Plate; they will appear each one at a time depending on how many Plates the player has found so far, with the ninth Plate found using the same engraving as the first. In Platinum, after talking to Lucian at the Canalave Library with the event Arceus in the player's party, a book on the second floor with the engravings written in it will be left.

• "When the universe was created, its shards became this Plate."
• "The power of defeated giants infuses this Plate."
• "Two beings of time and space set free from the Original One."
• "Three beings were born to bind time and space."
• "Two make matter and three make spirit, shaping the world."
• "The Original One breathed alone before the universe came."
• "The powers of Plates are shared among Pokémon."
• "The rightful bearer of a Plate draws from the Plate it holds."

Appearance

Draco Plate	Dread Plate	Earth Plate	Fist Plate
Flame Plate	Icicle Plate	Insect Plate	Iron Plate
Meadow Plate	Mind Plate	Sky Plate	Splash Plate
Spooky Plate	Stone Plate	Toxic Plate	Zap Plate

In the anime

Three Plates placed in the Solaceon Ruins

Arceus's Plates

Arceus using its Plates

Plates first appeared in Journey to the Unown!, where Saturn and two Galactic Grunts placed them in a room of the Solaceon Ruins to awaken the Unown there. These Plates were specifically the Draco Plate, Iron Plate, and Splash Plate, which power up the three types of Palkia and Dialga (Dragon, Steel, and Water) combined. The Plates appeared again in Arceus and the Jewel of Life, where Arceus used them to change its type, and almost died when it lost the Plates after having destroyed a meteor.

Trivia

• While the presence of hidden Plates can be determined with the Pokétch application Dowsing Machine, their exact location is difficult to ascertain. The Plate's exact location must be touched on the Dowsing Machine in order for it to be revealed.

This item article is part of Project ItemDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on all items.