➤ Pokémon Sword and Shield: how to catch a very strong Pokémon in the Wilderness 🕹

A few hours after the start of your adventure in Sword and Shield Pokémon you will find yourself exploring the Wilderness, an immense area full of Pokémon that are just waiting to be caught. However, it is in this area that you may encounter creatures that are over 20-30 levels compared to your team.

When you come across these formidable opponents, the game will warn you that you are facing a Pokémon "very strong". Not only that, to be able to catch them you must first let their guard down, respecting certain conditions. Which ones are they? We will explain it to you in this guide.

Pokémon Sword and Shield: how to catch a very strong Pokémon in the Wilderness

Fighting or running away?

"Very strong" Pokémon from the Wilderness usually appear outside tall grass. You will therefore be able to recognize them even before entering battle. If you haven't even tackled the first gym yet, rest assured that that Haunter or Steelix that prowls around proudly are "very strong" Pokémon.

Pokémon in tall grass may also be "very strong" Pokémon, but they will usually only appear in specific areas, such as Crumbling Tower and Giant's Chair, designed for those who have made certain progress in the adventure.

What to do when you encounter one? Well, in the beginning you basically have only two options: fight or flee. But either way it's easier said than done.

Considering that a "very strong" Pokémon has a higher level than your team, even in the order of dozens of levels, defeating them will guarantee you an avalanche of experience points. On the other hand, however, we are talking about creatures with very high statistics and therefore to beat them you will have to adopt very specific tactics, know by heart the relationships of strength and weakness between types and be ready to waste many healing items.

If you do not feel ready for such a challenge there is no shame in giving it up, however it will not be easy. The chances of success for the "Escape" command are much lower against "very strong" Pokémon. This means that to be able to escape it may take more attempts, during which your opponent can however put your team on fire.

Fortunately there is Poké Doll! It is an item that when used in battle against a wild Pokémon will make you flee instantly, with a 100% chance of success. You can buy them from the shopkeepers of the Pokémon centers a few hours after the start of your journey in the Sword and Shield, we advise you to stock up on them as soon as you have the opportunity. Before that, you can get five of them for free by talking to the girl in the Wilderness Station.

How to let down the guard of a "very strong" Pokémon and catch it

When you come face to face with a "very strong" Pokémon you will not be able to capture it in any way at that particular moment of the adventure. You can also try throwing a Poké Ball at him, but all you get is the message "Never let your guard down ... It's impossible to throw a Poké Ball at him." How then?

In order to let their guard down, and therefore capture them, the only solution is to continue the adventure, beat the Galar gym leaders and get the medals. At the beginning of Pokémon Sword and Shield you will be able to catch Pokémon of a level equal to or lower than 20. This limit, however, will become more permissive each time you get a medal. By obtaining the first you can catch Pokémon of level 25 or lower, with the second those up to 30, and so on.

You can check the maximum level of Pokémon that you can catch through the Pokémon League Card of your character. To do this, simply access the menu with X and select the "Pokémon League Card" item. As you can see in the image below, in our case we can catch Pokémon up to level 35 as we have won three medals.

Our advice, however, is not to exasperate yourself too much with "very strong" Pokémon and rather concentrate on advancing in the adventure. Once you have all the medals, not only will you be able to catch Pokémon of any level, but you will also have a stronger team that can safely take on any wild Pokémon in the Wilderness.