Pokemon Sword and Shield Fossil combos list

Every new generation introduces some new Fossil Pokemon, and Pokemon Sword and Shield are of course sticking to the tradition - though getting your hands on the Fossil Pokemon the Galar Region is a little different to every region before it, requiring you to make use of fossil combos, a unique new mechanic. Here's how it all works...

Across Pokemon Sword and Shield there are four different Fossils. They are as follows:

• Fossilized Drake: Naturally found in Shield, Dragon-type Fossil (Draco)
• Fossilized Fish: Naturally found in Shield, Water-type Fossil (Vish)
• Fossilized Bird: Naturally found in Sword, Ice-type Fossil (Arcto)
• Fozzilized Dino: Naturally found in Sword, Electric-type Fossil (Zolt)

Now, this doesn't mean that there are four Fossil Pokemon in Pokemon Sword and Shield, one developed from each fossil - oh no. Instead, the Galar Region's fossil expert scientist is actually performing some experiments that we have to say seem pretty ethically dicey - she splices fossils together and then revives them in order to create a Pokemon. Each fossil combo creates a different Pokemon species. To be honest, none of them look quite right.

Where past Fossil Pokemon have looked more specifically like real-life extinct creatures, the ones in Pokemon Sword and Shield look like strange hybrids, which is at once cool and a little unsettling. They're some of the most unique designs among the new Pokemon in Sword & Shield. Sadly, none of them have Gigantimax Forms. Cara Liss, the fossil scientist, is a veritable Frankenstein.

Looking to complete your Galarian Pokedex? Check out our full new Pokemon list of every newcomer in Sword and Shield, or take a look at our guide on how to find and catch the elusive Eevee to get all eight Eeveelutions. IF you're about to get into the world of Pokemon Breeding, you'll need to know where to catch a Ditto, too.

All fossil combos: How to use Fossils to get Pokemon in Sword and Shield

As the above description hopefully makes clear, you'll need to have two Fossils in order to revive a new Pokemon. Given that there are four different fossils, there's a number of different combinations you can get as a result - the crazy combinations are pictured above: from left to right that's Dracozolt, Arctozolt, Dracovish and Arctovish. Hopefully now you see what those suffixes in brackets at the end of the fossil types above mean - they determine which half of the Pokemon name each Fossil makes.

Here's how the fossil combinations break down, again presented in the order, left-to-right, in the image above:

• Dracozolt (electric/dragon-type Pokemon): Fossilized Drake & Fossilized Dino
• Arctozolt (electric/ice-type Pokemon): Fossilized Bird & Fossilized Dino
• Dracovish (water/dragon-type Pokemon): Fossilized Drake & Fossilized Fish
• Arctovish (water/ice-type Pokemon): Fossilized Bird & Fossilized Fish

You'll find the Pokemon fossil scientist/professor on Route 6. Once you've visited Route 6 for the first time, the Flying Taxi service that drops you off on the route will drop you right next to her. She's called Cara Liss, she talks a little strangely, she has a surprisingly compacxt little fossil reviving device next to her, and honestly... like we said, she's a bit of a Doctor Frankenstein.

But, hey, you're getting cool Pokemon out of it! Present the fossils to her one-by-one, in one of the orders listed above, and you'll get the corresponding fossil Pokemon.

Where to find Fossils in Pokemon Sword & Shield

As noted above, certain fossils are 'native' to certain games. What we mean by this is simple: The Fossilized Drake and Fossilized Fish are both presented to you pretty much on a platter in Pokemon Shield. You'll find two of one as 'hidden items' (the glistening sparkles on the overworld) on Route 6 itself, right near the fossil scientist Cara Liss. You'll then be given two of the other by an NPC in the Pokemon Center in Stow-on-Side, the town just north of Route 6. In Pokemon Sword, the opposite is true - you'll find fossils in the same places, but they'll be The Fossilized Bird and the Fossilized Dino instead.

However, that's not the end of it! You can actually obtain more Fossils - but it's entirely random.

All you have to do is head to the Bridge Field area of the Wild Area - that's to the east of Motostoke, sandwiched in between the southern bridge that heads east out of Motostoke and the Route 5 bridge over the Wild Area. Here you'll see two guys dressed in Orienteering Gear - they are the Digging Brothers NPCs. If you struggle to find them, consider connecting to online multiplayer - there's always a crowd of players around them. Anyway, these guys will excavate in the Wild Area for you at a charge of 500 Watts a time - and there's a chance they'll bring back a Pokemon Fossil for you. 

Sadly, the work of the Digging Duo is entirely down to luck - you might get one item off them from a single digging session, or you might get ten - and even then, there's no guarantee that one of those ten will be a Pokemon Fossil. But all you can do is keep trying - and sadly, it saves before every attempt, so you can't save scum this either. Alas. Obtaining all four Fossil Pokemon might be better done though trading some of the items you're given easily - but you can also simply keep trying and spending those watts.