First of all, it’s important to note that the Wild Area is absolutely massive! This particular section will not cover it in its entirety. It’s a great place to explore and find Pokémon in, but most of it is completely optional. If you’re looking for a more detailed look at the Wild Area, including its encounters, check out the link below.
Before you go much farther, you can heal your Pokémon by talking to the lady with the hat near the entrance to the building. Your Pokémon should have already been healed during the trip, though, in case you didn’t heal them after clearing Route 2.
Go forward and you’ll find Hop. He’ll point out Motostoke to you, which is directly to the north. That’s your destination, and if ever you get lost, try to use its large towers as a landmark to guide you to where you need to go. Sonia will show up and say a few things. She’ll tell you about Dynamax dens found in the Wild Area, which emit a red beam of light, and she’ll also give you the Pokémon Box Link, which allows you to access your Pokémon Box storage from nearly anywhere — while in the party screen, you can press R to access it, even when you’re not near the Rotomi PC. It’s very handy!
Also, keep in mind that, while in the Wild Area, you can use your right control stick to control the camera, and you can tap L to have it reorient your camera so it’s right behind you. You can also press the right control stick to zoom the camera out a bit. This camera mode is only available in the Wild Area.
Basics of the Wild Area
Pokémon Dens and Max Raid Battles
You’ll find little clusters of rocks all throughout the Wild Area. Sometimes these will emit a beam of light from its base that is visible all throughout the Wild Area. These are called Pokémon Dens. If you see a beam of light that is shooting out from a Den, you’ll want to head over there.
By simply interacting with the Den, you’ll receive 50 W — Watts, a special currency used in the Wild Area — for checking the Den if it’s glowing red, or you’ll receive a hefty 300 W if the Den is shooting out a beam of light, indicating that there’s a Max Raid Battle available for you to fight in. You don’t have to fight in a Max Raid Battle to earn the 300 W, so it’s a good idea to hunt these down even if you don’t intend to fight in them!
Max Raid Battles are tough, 4-versus-1 battles where you and up to three other players can all battle against a single Dynamax Pokémon. If you don’t have any friends added, or if you’re just not feeling overly social, you can also battle alongside three random NPC Trainers by choosing the “Don’t Invite Others” option. If you have less than three friends ready to help, you can get help from random players online looking for a Max Raid, or you can fill the missing slots with those random NPC Trainers.
Dynamax Pokémon fought in Max Raid Battles can be tough, especially at higher ranks. You can see the rank of the Max Raid up in the top-left corner of the preparations screen. You’ll see a silhouette of the Pokémon’s icon on the left, along with its type in the top-left.
It’s important that you make sure you’re using a good Pokémon suitable for the job. The third option on the preparations screen, “Switch Pokémon”, should be used to pick a Pokémon from your party or PC that will be used; otherwise, it defaults to the Pokémon in the first slot of your party, which often isn’t what you want to use.
Strong Pokémon
You can only catch Pokémon up a certain level, and that level is dictated by the number of Gym Badges you have. There are some particularly strong Pokémon that can be found in the Wild Area that will be at a much higher level than you can catch and that your Pokémon can even stand a chance against.
Most of these Pokémon should be avoided if you happen to see them on the overworld in the Wild Area. If you do happen to encounter them, you can safely escape from the fight by using a Poké Doll, as running away may be a lot more challenging due to your lower level and their higher Speed stat.
If you want to explore the Wild Area without fear of running into strong Pokémon that will quickly wipe out your entire team, consider taking a Pokémon with the ability Run Away with you. If you lead with a Pokémon with Run Away, such as Nickit or Eevee, you can run away from any wild Pokémon fight without fail, leaving you free to explore the Wild Area and pick up the many treasures waiting within.
Getting to Motostoke
From the start of the Wild Area, there’s a big lake separating you from Motostoke, so you’re going to need to go around it if you want to make it there. The shortest and easiest way to get there is to take the eastern path and hug the right edge of the lake. It’s a very direct path that will also lead you by several Dens, which will give you some Watts and a chance of fighting some Max Raid Battles.
You can also take the western path and cross a bridge. This may be a bit more out of the way, though, but it’s another way to get there.
You are, of course, free to explore as much or as little of the Wild Area as you’d like, but it’s pretty much all optional other than making it over to the steps leading up to Motostoke. That’s your target destination, so make your way there, and then continue on your journey.