Pokemon Let’s Go Guide: How to Catch Dratini

As loyal Pokémon trainers expand their Pokédexes in Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go Eevee!, here’s where to find and how to capture the elusive Dratini in the Kanto region. While catching the original 151 Pokémon is sure to be the first mission on many players’ list, the likes of Dratini, the original three starter Pokémon, and the Legendary Birds can only be found in specific areas of the game. With this in mind, here’s where Dratini and its evolutions are hiding in the Let’s Go games.

Anyone who’s played the first generation of Pokémon games will know that Dratini may be small in size compared to its evolutions, but given that it turns into the ultra-powerful Dragonite, it’s well worth tracking down. Sadly, it’s not as simple as pulling out an old copy of Pokémon Yellow and heading to the same spot to find Dratini in Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go Eevee!.

Related: Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee and Pikachu: List of Version Exclusive Pokemon

With the Pokémon: Let’s Go games lack a coin purse, it means the old days of saving up and buying Dratini from the Celadon Game Corner are long gone. Firstly, trainers need to learn the Sea Skim move from the Lapras trainer in Fuchsia City’s GO Park. It’s effectively the Pokémon: Let’s Go equivalent of Surf and gives access to some previously inaccessible areas. Once players have taught their Pikachu or Eevee the handy HM, they should head to Route 10 and prepare to do some swimming. Charting the waters east of Cerulean City, there’s a slim chance that Dratini will be out there.

The waters of Route 10 are chock full of Tentacool and Magikarp, but Dratini’s spawn rate is only 4%. The chances of finding a Dragonair are reduced to just 1%, and you’ll have to search elsewhere to find a Dragonite (more on that it a minute). Using a lure or getting a Catch Combo from all those Magikarp can increase the likelihood of swimming into the path of a hiding Dratini, but expect there to a substantial grind.

In all honesty, most gamers are only looking for a Dratini in the hopes that they’ll one day be able to evolve into a Dragonite. Dragonite can be found in the wild in the air around the likes of Route 4, 7, and 12, but with its spawn rate being only a fraction of even Dragonair’s minute probability, it could be a very long time until Pokémon trainers find one. The other option is to transfer a shiny Community Day Dratini from Pokémon GO, but bear in mind that Pokémon players can’t send it back once the dragon-type has been sent. Also, simply transferring an easily caught Dratini from Pokémon GO takes the thrill out of the chase.

For those lucky enough to start catching Dratini early on, it evolves into Dragonair at Level 30 and Dragonite at Level 55. Of course, the other big pull of bobbing for Dratini’s on Route 10 is that it neatly ties into finding Zapdos at the Power Plant. Now that trainers can cross another hard to find Pokémon off their list, they can head out into Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go Eevee! to find Dratini for themselves.

More: Pokemon Let’s Go: Complete List of All the Pokemon You Can Ride

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