Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: How to find and evolve Dunsparce

Dunsparce gets a funky new evolution in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and we show you how to get it in this guide

Dunsparce was lucky enough to be graced with a powerful new evolution in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but it’s not exactly straightforward getting one to evolve, and finding one in the first place can be a challenge.

Finding Dunsparce

Dunsparce can be found throughout most of Paldea, but it’s a very rare spawn, and getting close enough to initiate battle can be a bit of a hassle. There’s a fairly consistent spawn immediately to the west of Artazon, in a rocky outcropping (see the picture below to know where to look). It’ll often turn up here as a wild Terastalized spawn, but regular spawns seem a little more common than other early-game areas, too.

You can press the B button to crouch and sneak up on the Pokémon, and holding the ZL button with the camera facing in its direction will let you lock onto it at the earliest point, after which you can press ZR to throw your first party member out to battle it. Trying to initiate an encounter by running into Dunsparce is not advised, as it will burrow away the moment you get too close.

Dunsparce has a fairly high catch rate, so catching it shouldn’t be too difficult.

Dunsparce evolution method

Now that you have your Dunsparce, you’ll need to level it up. You need to get it to level 32, which can be done through a number of methods. The simplest is just having it battle, but catching Pokémon can offer experience, too, and Pokémon in the party can gain some experience even if they weren’t the ones battling.

The quickest way to gain experience, however, is either through raids, or through Let’s Go mode. Raids reward experience candy which can be used to quickly level up a Pokémon, while Let’s Go mode can offer roughly the same amount of experience as a normal battle, but you can run through 5-10 Pokémon in the same time you’d spend on a single battle.

Pokémon in Let’s Go mode get damage boosts depending on their types, not their moves, and unfortunately Dunsparce is a normal type which is not super effective against any other type. Because of this, it’s unlikely to be the fastest option.

Teach Hyper Drill

When Dunsparce reaches level 32, it will learn a move called Hyper Drill. Make sure you teach this as soon as the game asks. As long as you’ve learned the move on level-up, Dunsparce should evolve into Dudunsparce.

If you didn’t teach the move immediately, you can open the menu, select the moves panel on Dunsparce, and relearn the move. Levelling up once more should get Dunsparce to attempt evolving again.