Pokemon Legends Arceus Fossil Pokemon: Where to catch Cranidos & Shieldon

Fossil Pokemon are a series tradition dating all the way back to the very first Pokemon games, and they're back in Pokemon Legends Arceus. This time, however, there's no actual fossils required - you can straight-up catch Cranidos and Shieldon out in the wild.

While Pokemon Legends Arceus is set in the ancient past of the Pokemon universe, it's also not so ancient that the fossil Pokemon are actually alive and wandering around in the world, however. The solution is more complicated than that. We've got it covered on this page - and you can visit other pages of the site to solve other puzzling elements of the game like The Sea's Legend, the Snowpoint Temple puzzles, and Uxie's Riddle.

Where to find & catch Cranidos & Shieldon, the Legends Arceus Fossil Pokemon

While Pokemon Legends Arceus is set in the past, like we say, it's not far enough back that Cranidos and Shieldon are walking around alive and kicking. There's also no modern facilities for bringing these super-ancient beasts back to life. However, there's something strange going on in the land of Hisui - and you can use it to catch the fossil Pokemon. 

The key to catching the Fossil Pokemon are the Space-Time Distortions that appear throughout the land. These distortions allow items and Pokemon to fall through from other times and places, meaning they have some exclusive spawns from the future not found anywhere else in Hisui - like Porygon, and the Fossil Pokemon.

In short, each distortion presumably includes a hole back to the ancient world where these Pokemon first spawned in their pre-fossil days, as the Fossil Pokemon all spawn exclusively inside Space-Time Distortions.

The Pokemon spawns inside the distortions vary from one area to the next, and Cranidos and Shieldon both only spawn inside the Coronet Highlands area. Distortions anywhere else have no chance to spawn these rarities.

How to get Rampardos & Bastiodon, the fossil evolutions

As well as Cranidos and Shieldon, Pokemon Legends Arceus technically includes two more Fossil Pokemon - their evolutions. You'll need to get these and complete their research in order to max out your Pokedex - as while they're not native to Hisui, they are ultimately part of the complete Pokedex.

To get Rampardos, the evolution of Cranidos, and Bastiodon, the evolution of Shieldon, you simply need to level them up: both Fossil Pokemon evolve at Level 30. It really is as simple as that; no complicated Evolution Methods here!

We've got plenty more Pokemon Legends Arceus guides & walkthroughs for you if you want more assistance, including guides on things like Crafting Recipes, Increasing Inventory Space, Mass Releasing Pokemon, Shiny Hunting with Mass Outbreaks, and even a complete set of Walkthroughs for all Requests in the game.