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Pokemon Legends Arceus: Where to find Bonsly

by RPG Site Staff on 02 February, 2022

Going for completing the Pokedex in Pokemon Legends Arceus is mostly a breeze, but certain "Baby Pokemon" are going to be quite the challenge to catch if your luck fails you. Bonsly is one of the hardest Baby Pokemon to catch, perhaps owing to the limited locations where you can find it in the first place, and how it and Sudowoodo share a spawn table with many other Pokemon.

Figuring out the location of Bonsly isn't quite as painful as trying to track down a Munchlax - or at least it wasn't for us - but it was one of the most difficult catches in the game. Thankfully, we've got some locations where you'll have a chance at finding your Bonsly, and some tips for how to minimize the time you'll be left searching for one. 

Where to Find Bonsly in Pokemon Legends Arceus

A Bonsly, one of Pokemon Legends: Arceus' rare Baby Pokemon.

First things first; to find a Bonsly, look to where you can find Sudowoodo. Unsurprisingly, they're only ever discoverable in the same locations as their parents. This leaves a few locations, primarily the Celestica Ruins at the Coronet Highlands, and the Cloudpool Ridge at the Crimson Mirelands.

Knowing where a Bonsly can spawn is the easy part, so be ready for a bit of a grind while searching. For what it's worth, we've had more luck with finding Bonsly at the latter location, Cloudpool Ridge. Helpfully, this is the earlier area of the game - but regardless of where you center your search, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • First off, clear out the area. This means catching or defeating every Pokemon in the area that isn't a Bonsly - especially Sudowoodo. , either knocking out or catching every Pokemon that isn't a Bonsly - especially Sudowoodo. What this does is force the game to 're-roll' the Pokemon in the area to repopulate it. If you don't catch or defeat everything there, anything left over will remain there next time.
  • The next step is to go rest at Base Camp. Choose to sleep until daytime, as this is when Bonsly spawns. Resting forces the game to repopulate based on the re-roll, which means that you have a chance that Bonsly will spawn for you.
  • If this doesn't work - just keep at it. If you hit the point where a time of day change doesn't spawn new Pokemon the area you're hitting up, it's time to head back to the village and then back out, which resets things completely.

In all likelihood, finding a Bonsly will take you quite a bit of time - but with any luck, you'll be able to get one eventually. This method worked for us. We've attached an example of where we've had luck finding Bonsly in the Crimson Mirelands below - good luck on your own hunt, whichever of the two locations you've decided on.

A potential spawn location for Bonsly in the Cloudpool Ridge in the Crimson Mirelands, as per the in-game map.
A Bonsly in its natural habitat.

Once you've caught your Bonsly, that's a major hurdle for full Pokedex completion out of the way. You can keep the Bonsly, battle with it, or evolve it to Sudowoodo once it's learned the move Mimic at Level 29. With one exception, the rest of the Baby Pokemon are easier to acquire, at least in our experience, and the rest of the Pokedex is much less dependent on "luck", if nothing else. Good luck on your search!

We've got plenty more help for filling out your Pokedex, including guides on Where to find Misdreavus, Petilil, Combee, Growlithe, and the original Sinnoh starters - plus advice on evolving Basculin, Scyther into Kleavor, and how to get every Eeveelution. Our Pokemon Legends Arceus guides hub has links to all this and a whole lot more, too.