Since being introduced in Pokemon Black and White, Darmanitan was always one of the series’ most unique Fire-types – until the introduction of Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Ice-then-Fire-type Galarian Darmanitan, that is. But obtaining a Galarian Darmanitan requires, like many of Sword and Shield’s Pokemon, a little extra work.

The advent of Pokemon’s first main-series home console release brought about several features new to the series. Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Wild Area is the franchise’s first experiment with open-world gameplay, allowing trainers to explore a large area in search of new Pokemon. At the same time, Pokemon Sword and Shield caused controversy after making more than half of the series’ total Pokemon incompatible with the new games. While Sword and Shield may have taken away many of Pokemon fans’ favorite monsters, they did succeed in adding many new and re-worked Pokemon to the series – many of which require very specific evolution methods.

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Galarian Darmanitan is one of these Pokemon, and like Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Sinistea and Polteageist, it has a secret second form, which makes unlocking its true potential even more complicated. Galarian Darumaka and Darmanitan are exclusive to Pokemon Sword, meaning Pokemon Shield players won’t be able to obtain any of their forms without trading. Pokemon Sword players can find Galarian Darumaka in random (exclamation-marked) tall grass encounters on Route 8 – the same place where Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Snom can be found – and Route 10. Galarian Darumaka can evolve into Galarian Darmanitan at any level, but only when the player uses and Ice Stone on it.

Pokemon’s evolutionary stones are usually pretty difficult to find, but there’s one place in the Wild Area with plenty of them: the Lake of Outrage. If players head west of the Wild Area’s entrance to Hammerlocke, they’ll come across this zone. Using the Rotom Bike’s water-crossing upgrade will allow access to the Lake of Outrage’s island. Near the top of the island’s hill, there’s a circle of large rocks protruding from the ground. Sitting below each rock is evolutionary stone, free for the taking. Grab the Ice Stone, use it on Galarian Darumaka, and it will become Galarian Darmanitan.

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The problem with this, however, is that Galarian Darmanitan’s second form, an Ice- and Fire-type form called “Zen Mode,” can only be achieved by Darmanitan that have the Zen Mode hidden ability. In Sword and Shield, Pokemon with hidden abilities can only be encountered in Max Raid Battles, so players will need to get lucky and encounter a Galarian Darmanitan in a Wild Area den. If the Pokemon transforms once its health drops below 50%, it’s a Zen Mode Darmanitan, so players should attempt to defeat and catch it with any means necessary.

Pokemon Sword and Shield released for Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019.

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Camden Jones
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Camden Jones is one of Screen Rant’s gaming features editors. He loves video games, but he’s even more interested in the people who make and play them.

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