Players visit the Wild Area in Pokémon Sword & Shield for a variety of reasons ranging from Raid battles to money-making schemes. But perhaps most time consuming is capturing Pokémon that are either hard to find elsewhere or can only be found exclusively in the Wild Area.
Another layer to this is that there are some Pokémon which will only make an appearance during specific weather conditions. Here are the Pokémon that can only be found when the weather is Rainy, Snowing, or a Blizzard.
11 Raining - Vaporeon
Vaporeon will only make an appearance when the weather is Raining. It can be found wandering the Lake of Outrage. It’s worth taking the time to capture one as Vaporeon is a strong defensive Pokémon in PVP fights thanks to a Water typing, excellent HP and solid Special Defense.
A common strategy is to Scald the opponent until Burning is applied and then sit back and spam moves like Protect, Wish, and Heal Bell to keep HP topped off and avoid status effects while the enemy slowly dies. It’s a great Pokémon for both PVP and PVE.
10 Raining - Deino
Deino can be found wandering the Lake of Outrage when it’s Raining. Its appearance is very rare with a 2% chance of showing up so expect a lot of searching. With such low stats it’s awful in both PVP and PVE battles.
That being said its last evolutionary state Hydreigon is a solid wallbreaker and being Dragon/Dark can be useful against Ghost types. It’s a lot of work to find one in the Wild Area and train it up, but it can be worth it.
9 Snowing – Mr. Mime
When the weather is Snowing in the Wild Area Mr. Mime will randomly appear in the Lake Of Outrage. It has a 13% chance of showing up. If the player can catch one it tends to be worth it as they can be devious revenge killers in PVP combat.
With good Speed, high Special Defense, and great Special Attack it can really mess with opponents. With Trick it can steal held items, Healing Wish can regenerate several weakened allies in one move, and pummel opponents with either Fairy or Psychic-based attacks.
8 Snowing – Beartic
When its Snowing Beartic can be found in both the Bridge Field and Giant’s Cap zones of the Wild Area. Catching this Pokémon might only be worth it for rounding out the Pokédex as it’s awful in PVP and even many PVE fights.
It has an excellent Attack stat but it’s Speed is so low it has issues landing hits. The player will spend more time keeping Beartic alive then doing any damage with it.
7 Snowing – Bergmite
Bergmite can be found wandering the Lake Of Outrage in the Wild Area when the weather is Snowing. It has a 5% chance of appearing so players will want to be patient while looking for it. From a PVP and PVE perspective don’t bother with Bergmite.
However players should strongly consider getting one and evolving it to Avalugg as this Pokémon is a monster when it comes to acting as a physical wall. It is often seen in competitive matches stonewalling other monsters like Mega Pinsir.
6 Snowing – Snom
This little Ice/Bug can be found wandering the Lake of Outrage when it’s Snowing. Unlike others on the list it’s fairly common with a 40% appearance rate. Snom is a poor choice for both PVP and PVE battles.
When upgraded to Frosmoth it can hold its own as a killer/sweeper. With a high Special Attack with moves like Quiver Dance and Ice Beam it can punch holes in a lot of crippled foes. Snom isn’t hard to find and it doesn’t take much work to evolve it into a powerful PVP fighter.
5 Blizzard – Mawile
When a Blizzard is going in the Wild Area Mawile can be found in Bridge Field, Dusty Bowl and Giant’s Mirror – Area 2. The best places to catch it are Dusty Bowl and Giant’s Mirror – Area 2 as they have a 35% appearance rate as opposed to Bridge Field’s 10%.
Mawile by itself has some issues in PVP but Mega Mawile is a brutal breaker. Using Swords Dance to boost it’s already incredible Attack it can brutalize enemies with moves like Play Rough, Sucker Punch, and Thunder Punch or any elemental based Punch.
4 Blizzard – Mime Jr.
The lesser evolved form of Mr. Mime can be found wandering the Rolling Fields during a Blizzard. It’s a base Pokémon so PVP and PVE use is absurd without evolving it.
Mime Jr. can go two directions with evolution either the Mr. Mime route for a crafty PVP fighter or the Mr. Rime route for a dapper weakling. The problem isn’t Mr. Rime’s stats or movepool it’s the Ice/Psychic typing that leaves it weak to many common PVP fighters. Catch two for Pokédex reasons but prioritize Mr. Mime.
3 Blizzard – Riolu
Riolu will make an appearance during Blizzard conditions in the Wild Area. It will appear in Giant’s Cap, Giant’s Cap – Area 2, and Giant’s Cap – Area 3 with a 5% appearance rate in all three areas. Unevolved it’s not worth the lengthy searches, but evolved to Lucario or used as Mega Lucario is an entirely different story.
Mega Lucario is often seen in intense upper tier matches due to its ferocious offensive abilities and impressive stats. Even a standard Lucario can do serious damage to most team setups. If you’re wanting an offensive-centric PVP team take the time to track down a Riolu.
2 Blizzard – Weavile
Weavile can be found in Bridge Field during a Blizzard. It’s Dark/Ice typing make it very fragile to most common PVP types like Fairy, Fighting, and Steel. That being said it still has a use countering offensive players.
With incredible Speed and Attack it can utilize moves like Knock Off and Icicle Crash to do serious damage to many top contenders. It won’t live long without support or trading out, but it’s no pushover either.
1 Blizard – Togedemaru
When it’s Blizzarding Togedemaru can be found 13% of the time in Lake of Outrage. This is roster filler as it has poor stats and a weak movepool.
Some players can get clever with its ability to use U-turn and moves like Toxic or Zing Zap. The idea is to quickly switch in, poison or flinch the opponent, and then pivot back out with U-turn. It’s a good annoyance tactic and can whittle and tougher foes, sometimes.