With Pokemon Scarlet and Violet arriving, fans across the world are exploring the vast region of Paldea. After three years without a new main core game, people were all but starving for a new addition to the franchise. Sure, there are a few glitches here and there, but they do very little to take away from the beautiful environment, compelling storyline, and, most importantly, the Pokemon.
Paldea offers a wide array of new and impressive Pokemon. Not only are there several Pokemon that we haven't seen in a main series game for years returning, but there are so many new Pokemon to encounter and train. It's most likely for this reason that there are several Pokemon that require a bit more effort to obtain.
8 Pawmot, Brambleghast, & Rabsca
Many fans were thrilled at the prospect of having their Pokemon follow behind them like in the old days. Being able to traverse with your Pokemon partner in tow is something we've wanted for years and, while we got a taste of this in HeartGold and SoulSilver, and later Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, it's been great to see it back. However, with this new feature, a new evolution mechanic was introduced.
The three Pokemon, Pawmi, Bramblin, and Rellor, are a set of Pokemon that only evolve when they are walking (or rolling) with you. This would be fine, except that these Pokemon naturally move slower than your character. This means that, if they get too far behind, they're automatically returned, forcing you to once more send them out and start walking again. The cherry on top is that you have to do this for 1000 steps, and there's no indicator of when you're done.
7 Ceruledge
Armarouge and Ceruledge were two of the first new Pokemon to be revealed for Scarlet and Violet. Their sleek designs immediately made them desirable in the eyes of fans and this was only compounded when the duo's stats became public knowledge. Unfortunately, Armarouge's ghostly counterpart is rather difficult to come by.
Not only is their pre-evolution, Charcadet, a rare spawn but the items used to evolve them into Ceruledge is even harder to come by. You'll need ten Sinistea Chips for the Malicious Armor needed to evolve Charcadet to Ceruledge. This would be fine except there are only two locations where Sinistea spawn. The earliest location is a small area in East Province, though their spawn rate is fairly low, and Alfornada where they are more common but at significantly higher levels.
6 Palafin
Nintendo, despite making a plethora of enjoyable and entertaining games, has made some questionable decisions in the past. From forcing out games before they're finished or their crusade against YouTubers, there are plenty of things that we wish Nintendo hasn't done. That said, we never expected a Pokemon to be put behind a paywall.
Granted, said paywall is only $3.99 a month, but it's still money that you'll have to spend on top of the game and system itself. To obtain the superhero-themed dolphin you need Nintendo Switch online so that you can utilize multiplayer as Finizen can only evolve at level 38 when using the Union Circle.
5 Tauros (Blaze & Aqua Breed)
There are only two Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet to receive Paldean forms rather than cross-generational evolutions. These two are Wooper, which becomes a Poison and Ground type, and Tauros, which became a Fighting type. While this new form of Wooper gains a new evolution, Tauros get two different 'breeds'. The Blaze Breed can be found in Scarlet and the Aqua Breed in Violet.
The Blaze Breed has slightly sharper horns than regular Tauros and has several flecks of red in its mane. Meanwhile, the Aqua Breed has curly horns with blue flecks. The two alternate breeds can be difficult to find in the wild as they are rarer encounters than 'standard' Paldean Tauros, and you'll have to be on the lookout for them when you encounter Tauros herds.
4 Ditto & Zorua
The big selling point of Scarlet and Violet was it being an open-world Pokemon adventure. After the success of Legends: Arceus, fans were excited to see what the games had to offer and, despite a few glitches here and there, the response has been mostly positive. Being able to see so many Pokemon roaming around and interacting with their environment makes these games more real, especially with how the developers used this to integrate two fan-favorite Pokemon.
Both Ditto and Zorua are known for their mimicry abilities. Lore-wise, this makes them incredibly difficult to find in the wild as they would simply change their appearance to avoid capture. For these games, developers gave these Pokemon that ability, letting these two change their appearance to mimic other Pokemon in the over world. The only way to distinguish these Pokemon from others, aside from engaging them in battle, is to press 'ZL' on your Switch.
3 Kingambit
Like a handful of returning Pokemon, Bisharp was blessed with a new evolution in Kingambit. This heavily-bladed Pokemon is said to stand above all other Bisharp, even though it's always sitting. Its intimidating design and phenomenal stats have made it sought after by many; however, getting it is rather complicated.
First, you'll need a Bisharp. This Bisharp must then challenge, and defeat, other Bisharp that hold an item known as the Leader's Crest. Once three of these Bisharp are defeated, and yours levels up, you'll have a Kingambit. Only Bisharp that spawn in the middle of a group of Pawniard hold the Leader's Crest, meaning you'll have to traverse the bamboo thicket in North Province (Area Two).
2 The Treasures Of Ruin
The Treasures of Ruin is the name for the group of four Mythical Pokemon introduced in Scarlet and Violet. They're all categorized as the Ruinous Pokemon, they all have Dark as their primary typing, and they each have an ability that lowers one of the defensive or attacking stats of their opponent. Their abilities alone make these Pokemon highly desirable, but obtaining these Pokemon is rather difficult.
While they are static encounters, these Pokemon have to be unlocked. Scattered throughout Paldea, you'll find several stakes sticking out of the ground, each one glowing a certain color. You'll find that there are eight of each color. To unlock these Mythical Pokemon, you have to find all eight of the stakes whose color corresponds to that particular Pokemon.
1 Gholdengo
The secret behind this golden Pokemon was hidden within the short Nintendo released to promote this Pokemon's previous form, Gimmighoul. The short video focused on a young child adding coins to a Chest Form Gimmighoul until they reached 999. While an evolution wasn't revealed, it was heavily implied that Gimmighoul's evolution would only be obtainable once the coin threshold is reached. This would prove to be true when the game was released.
Getting nearly a thousand coins may seem like a daunting task, but it's far easier than you would expect. You get these coins by encountering either the Roaming Forms or the Chest Forms of Gimmighoul. While the Roaming Form gives out a handful of coins, the Chest Forms shill out anywhere between 50 and 700 coins. The Chest Forms can be found at the watch towers and within ruins.