Guides

How To Get Black Sludge in Pokémon Platinum

by Chris Haygood
Searching for wild Croagunk on Route 212 in Pokémon Platinum

The only way to get Black Sludge is to take it from wild Croagunk or wild Toxicroak. These are the only two Pokémon you can find holding the item, and they each have a 5% chance of holding a Black Sludge with every counter.

  • Wild Croagunk are found on Route 212 and in Pastoria City’s Great Marsh
  • Wild Toxicroak are also found in the Great Marsh, but only after you receive the National Pokédex.

The Black Sludge is a held item that replenishes a small amount of HP to a Poison-type holder at the end of every turn. Any non-Poison types that hold it will suffer the effects of poison instead.

Acquiring Black Sludges

Croagunk’s primary habitat, Route 212. / Pokémon Platinum
Croagunk’s primary habitat, Route 212.

Every Croagunk and Toxicroak you encounter in the wild has a chance of carrying a Black Sludge as its held item.

Of the two Pokémon, Croagunk is the easiest to find, so that’s what we’d recommend farming.

Here is a table of all of their locations:

Pokémon Locations
Croagunk
  • Route 212
  • Great Marsh
Toxicroak
  • Great Marsh (after receiving the National Pokédex)

The likelihood that either Pokémon will be holding a Black Sludge is 5%. However, you can vastly raise the odds by putting together a dedicated item-farming team that uses the Abilities Compoundeyes and Frisk to make the process much faster.

Hunting wild Croagunk on Route 212. / Pokémon Platinum
Hunting wild Croagunk on Route 212.
Encountering a wild Croagunk. / Pokémon Platinum
Encountering a wild Croagunk.
Using Frisk to identify Croagunk’s held item slot. / Pokémon Platinum
Using Frisk to identify Croagunk’s held item slot.

When you’ve found a Pokémon holding the Black Sludge, either catch it, or use a stealing move like Thief or Trick to obtain the item.

Stealing a Black Sludge using Trick. / Pokémon Platinum
Stealing a Black Sludge using Trick.

Then you can end the battle however you prefer; you’ll hold on to the item even if you flee.

What Does the Black Sludge Do?

The in-game description of the Black Sludge. / Pokémon Platinum
The in-game description of the Black Sludge.

The Black Sludge is a held item that heals a Poison-type Pokémon by 1/16 (6.25%) of its maximum HP at the end of every turn. If a non-Poison Pokémon holds the item, it will instead be damaged by the same amount.

On Poison-type Pokémon, the Black Sludge has the same effect as the Leftovers, which is one of the most popular items in the series.

But the Black Sludge has another benefit too:

If it gets stolen from you by a non-Poison foe using Trick or Switcheroo, your opponent will begin taking steady damage. And they’ll either need to waste a turn switching the item back to you or continue suffering until the battle’s over.

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Chris Haygood

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Chris is an American freelance writer and lifelong gamer. RPGs have been his genre of choice ever since he got Pokémon Blue in 1867, but if he finds a good rhythm game, he will prioritize playing it over both eating and breathing.

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