For many players, the ultimate goal in any Pokémon game is to complete the Pokédex, and the Pokémon: Sword and Shield versions are no different. After becoming the champion of the Galar Region, fans may look at their over half-empty Pokédex and think the task too great to fill in the rest of the base 400.
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Completing the Pokédex isn’t as difficult a task as it may seem. In fact, Sword and Shield make the Pokédex easier to fill out than ever. But what should a player do to find all 400? Have no fear, with this step by step guide, completing the Pokédex will turn from trial to trivial.
10 Load Up On Quick Balls
The first thing a player should do before setting out to complete their Pokédex is to load up on Quick Balls. This will make catching wild Pokémon six times easier on the first turn of every battle and will make actually obtaining Pokémon much faster. Quick Balls can be purchased in Wyndon in bulk. The vast majority of Pokémon players added to their Pokédex will be obtained through a catch, rather than by breeding or trading. This means players should stock up with at least 100 Quick balls at a time. Trainers should also probably stock up on Ultra Balls in case a pesky Pokémon manages to escape that first throw.
9 Don’t Ignore Surprise Trades
As soon as players gain access to online play, they should start using the surprise trade feature. This will allow players to put up any Pokémon for trade, and receive a random one in return. While many frustrating players send out route 1 and 2 Pokémon that trainers have surely already caught, others send out breeding rejects of powerful Pokémon, like the starters and other rare goodies. Players who use surprise trade from the beginning or start keeping it active at all times are sure to receive at least one good Pokémon after a few tries.
8 Actually Use The Pokedex
In most Pokémon games, there really isn’t much reason to actually look at the Pokédex besides checking what you have and don’t have. However, in Sword and Shield, the Pokédex also guides players to the next Pokémon they should catch to fill up the Pokédex.
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It tells players where to go and can be incredibly beneficial for anyone who just doesn’t know where to start. Of course, a great place for any trainer to begin is to just head to the wild area and catch whatever is nearby.
7 Explore The Wild Area
So many rare or hard to get Pokémon are available as overworld spawns in the wild area at different times of the day and in different weather conditions. From trade evolutions that used to cause so many issues for solo players to Pokémon that require specific evolution items, so many powerful Pokémon will chase down unsuspecting trainers. Who says players need to run from these encounters? Gallade, Lucario, Machamp, Gengar, and even Dusknoir are just a few of the Pokémon players can find roaming the wild area.
6 Join Max Raid Battles
For players who use surprise trades and are always online, another incredibly useful tool is to join in on any max raid battles that pop up in the right-hand corner of the screen. These can be a great way to catch version exclusives, rare base forms or difficult evolutions, and earn watts that can be incredibly helpful. Watts are also used to pay the digging duo, which is the only way for players to get the fossil pieces of the Galar Region. Trainers will likely need to farm the fossils and will need a large supply of watts to do it.
5 Change The Weather
Many Pokémon in the Galar Region are only available in the wild area during certain weather conditions. Waiting for the perfect conditions at the perfect time of day is incredibly tedious. Not many players know that on the 1st day of each month, the entire wild area is set to a specific weather condition.
May 1st – normal weather
June 1st – fog
July 1st – sunny weather
October 1st – rainy weather
November 1st – thunderstorms
December 1st – snowy weather
February 1st – hail
March 1st – cloudy weather
April 1st – sandstorm
By changing the date and time of their Switch system, players will change the date in-game and will transform the weather conditions.
4 Breeding
Some baby or base forms of different Pokémon are more difficult to obtain than their fully evolved forms. For these Pokémon, it is best to catch a wild Ditto in the wild area at the Lake of Outrage to use for breeding.
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By placing a Ditto and another (non-legendary) Pokémon in the daycare center together, the player will eventually be rewarded with an egg. Hatching this egg by walking or biking a certain distance will result in the base form of the Pokémon’s evolutionary line.
3 Easy Evolution Items
Many Pokémon need specific items to evolve, like how Eevee’s evolutions depend on the evolution stones (or friendship). Players who explore the wild area and discover the Lake of Outrage will find stone pillars jutting out of the ground in a circle. Behind each stone is an evolution stone that players can use to evolve their Eevees or other Pokémon. Other Pokémon may need specific evolution items that can be found around the various routes of Galar or can be purchased with BP from the Battle Tower.
2 Friends Or Communities
Finally, if none of the methods above worked to fill out the Pokédex, trainers can turn to their friends or online communities. Maybe it’s a version exclusive, like Shiftry or Darumaka, maybe it’s the starters, or even the legendaries, no matter what a player is missing, asking a friend for help is a sure-fire way of getting that Pokémon into the Pokédex. Players can also turn to online communities like the r/pokemontrades Reddit page. No matter where trainers look, there will always be people who are willing and able to help.
1 Head To Isle Of Armor (And Do It All Again)
Now that the most enterprising and dedicated trainers have completed the Pokédex, what else is there to do? What about starting over and doing it all again. Well, not all of it. The Isle of Armor DLC has another 100 Pokémon to the Galar Region, and a whole new Pokédex to go along with them. With the giant new wild area and a whole new batch of overworld spawns, all of the strategies listed above will be just as effective for completing the island-specific Pokédex.