Pokémon Sword and Shield may not have the entire National Dex at its disposal, but there are still 72 Pokémon that don’t simply evolve at a certain level. On top of those, even more are on the way in the upcoming expansions.
In Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, a few evolution methods have been altered from previous games, and, of course, there are some new Pokémon to evolve through increasingly peculiar and specific ways.
Here, you’ll find out where to find Pancham as well as how to evolve Pancham into Pangoro.
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Where to Find Pancham in Pokémon Sword and Shield
Pancham was introduced to the world of Pokémon in Generation VI (Pokémon X and Y), with its distinctly panda-looking appearance earning Pancham immediate appeal.
Pancham has always required the same steps to evolve into Pangoro across its appearances in three generations of Pokémon games, including Generation VIII.
In Pokémon Sword and Shield, you likely won’t have much trouble trying to catch a Pancham as, in line with their classification of being a Playful Pokémon, Pancham is very aggressive in the overworld of the Wild Area.
Here’s where you can find Pancham:
- Route 3: Random encounter in the grass
- East Lake Axwell: Intense Sun, Overcast Conditions, Sandstorms, Snowing, Snowstorms, Thunderstorms
- Rolling Fields: All Weather Conditions
- West Lake Axewell: Intense Sun, Overcast Conditions
As you can see, if you want to find a Pancham in the wild quickly, you’re best off heading over to the Rolling Fields region of the Wild Area.
You’ll be able to see Pancham in the overworld, and will likely be chased by one or two of them as they’re rather forward in the wild.
How to Catch Pancham in Pokémon Sword and Shield
Pancham is invariably found at a low level across its many spawning locations, ranging from level 7 at West Lake Axewell to level 15 at East Lake Axewell.
As such, catching a Pancham is very easy. The fighting-type Pokémon can be caught with a standard Poké Ball at the beginning of the encounter. Or, to all-but guarantee a catch, use a Great Ball or Ultra Ball straight away.
If you find that you do need to weaken the Pancham before catching it, keep in mind that it’s a fighting-type Pokémon.
This means that flying, psychic, and fairy-type moves are super-effective against Pancham, while bug, dark, and rock-type moves aren’t very effective and are suitable for slowly cutting down its HP bar.
It is, however, also possible to catch Pancham’s evolution, Pangoro, in the wild. Often seen wandering around the Wild Area, you can find a high-level Pangoro in these locations:
- Bridge Field: Wandering in Intense Sun and Overcast Conditions
- Dappled Grove: Wandering in Intense Sun, Sandstorms, Snowing, and Snowstorms
- Lake of Outrage: Overcast Conditions (Random Encounter)
- Rolling Fields: Wandering in Intense Sun, Normal Conditions, Overcast Conditions, Rain, and Thunderstorms
How to Evolve Pancham into Pangoro
It’s one of the simpler odd evolution methods, but it can be easy to miss if you’re toiling to level-up and evolve Pancham into Pangoro.
To evolve Pancham into Pangoro, you’ll need your Pancham to be at level 31 or above and for it to then level-up while you have a dark-type Pokémon in your party.
As you can see in the image above, Obstagoon (dark-normal type) is in the team, and Pancham is at or above level 31. So, next time it levels up, the Pancham will evolve into a Pangoro.
Here’s a list of all of the dark-type Pokémon in Pokémon Sword and Shield (at the time of writing) that you can have in your team to enable Pancham to evolve into the fighting-dark type Pangoro:
Pokémon Type
If you have any of the above Pokémon in your team when you see your Pancham level-up up to level 32 or higher, it will evolve into a Pangoro.
Should you not have any of those Pokémon yet, here’s how to catch and evolve Zigzagoon, Linoone, and Obstagoon, as well as how to catch and evolve Inkay into Malamar.
It’s also worth noting that Hydreigon and Tyranitar are among the best Pokémon in Sword and Shield, so it’s well worth hunting them down if you haven’t done so already.
How to Use Pangoro (Strengths and Weaknesses)
Pangoro’s greatest strength is the Daunting Pokémon’s attack, for which it has a very high base stat line.
The Pokémon learns many physical attacks to capitalize on its lofty attack stat, including Circle Throw, Low Sweep, Slash, Crunch, and Hammer Arm.
While its speed is low, defense, special attack, and special defense are middling, Pangoro’s HP base stat line is pretty good.
As a fighting-dark type Pokémon, Pangoro has very few weaknesses, with fighting and flying-type moves being super effective against the Pokémon. However, fairy-type moves are even more powerful against Pangoro, so try to avoid all equal-level or stronger Pokémon that boast fairy-type moves.
Three different abilities are available to Pangoro: Iron Fist, Mold Breaker, and Scrappy.
The Iron Fist ability increases the power of punching moves (like Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch) by 20 percent. Having Mold Breaker means that the Pangoro’s moves won’t be affected by the opponent’s abilities.
Pangoro’s potential hidden ability is Scrappy, which allows it to block Intimidate and hit ghost-type Pokémon with its fighting and normal-type moves – which ghost-type Pokémon are usually immune to.
There you have it: your Pancham just evolved into a Pangoro. You now have a dark-fighting type Pokémon that is very powerful when it comes to using physical attacks.
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