How to Get All Three Starters in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Anyone hoping to get all three Gen 9 starters in Scarlet & Violet will have their work Carve out for them as none of them can be caught in the wild.

Choosing a starter Pokemon is an essential part of any Pokemon game. Typically, the one that players opt for will stick with them right through to the very end of their adventure, making it an incredibly important choice. It tends to be a difficult one too, with starter Pokemon each having their own strengths & weaknesses & thus being pretty difficult to choose between. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the starters in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are not too different in this regard.

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Though some will likely argue that Fuecoco is the best Gen 9 starter, most will struggle to make up their minds. Some of the previous Pokemon games have made things a little easier for players by allowing them to get hold of the starters that they missed out on after completing the main story, so many will be hoping that this is once again the case in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Sadly, however, those people will end up disappointed.

How to Get All Three Starters in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

It is not possible to catch Sprigatito, Fuecoco, or Quaxly in the wild, nor are they given out as gift Pokemon after defeating the Elite Four & becoming Champion. As such, the only way to get all three starters in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is via trading; either locally with friends or online with strangers. This may change at a later date, but, at launch, trading is the only legitimate way to get every Gen 9 starter.

It will take players roughly 30 minutes of playtime to reach the point in the story where trading is unlocked. With this in mind, a player with access to two copies of the game & two Switches could get all three Pokemon Scarlet & Violet starters in around 90 minutes. To do so, they’d need to start their main playthrough on one copy of the game & then choose a different starter using the other. After trading the second starter over, they’d have to restart the second copy & choose the final starter, after which they could trade it over & complete the set.

Another option would be for players to breed their starter & then trade the offspring for the other two starters with either friends or other players online. For this to work, they’d either need their starter to be female (in which case they could breed it with another Pokemon from the same egg group) or they’ll need to get hold of a Ditto. This is because Ditto can breed with just about any Pokemon that has an egg group regardless of gender, making it great for those who want to breed rare Pokemon like starters.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available now for the Nintendo Switch.