Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Pokedex blend of returning favorites and new innovations wasn’t received all that well upon launch. However, now that we’ve heard more about 200 Pokemon being added with DLC later in the year, maybe we can look a little more favorably on old inclusions. Check out our Hitmontop Pokemon Sword and Shield location guide for where you can find one of these babies.

Hitmontop Pokemon Sword and Shield Location Guide

So you’re wanting to add a Hitmontop to your squad in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Even if you aren’t a Beyblade fan, these little lads are pretty handy in a fight (and no, that wasn’t an intentional pun on them being Fighting type). Hitmontop’s Pokedex entry mentions that “if it spins at high speed, it may bore its way into the ground” and frankly, that level of velocity in such a tiny body is a bit terrifying. It’s probably just as well that they’re not all that easy to find in the wild. 

If you’re wanting to stumble across a Hitmontop in the wild, you can only do so around the Lake of Outrage when it’s overcast weather. You’ll also only encounter them around the level 55 range, and they’re apparently ultra rare so the easiest way to get one definitely, well, isn’t that. Another more common option is for you to evolve a Tyrogue into Hitmontop. The criteria that your Tyrogue will have to meet to evolve into one is as follows:

• Be at least Level 20
• Attack and Defense stats have to be the same

A Tyrogue with Attack higher than its Defense will evolve into Hitmonlee, while a Tyrogue with higher Defense than Attack will ultimately evolve into a Hitmonchan so long as it’s at least Level 20 and levels up at any point. We would definitely make sure that you’re keeping a close eye on both the relevant stats for you since to get a Hitmontop, they have to be evenly matched. Be careful! Luckily, Tyrogues aren’t as hard to catch so if you fudge one up and don’t cancel the evolution in time, they’re plentiful at low levels in the Rolling Fields and South Lake Miloch.

Now that you’ve got our Hitmontop Pokemon Sword and Shield location guide to hand, you can either choose to waltz across one on your own or to evolve one which is probably easier or quicker. Need help with anything else in the Galar region? Check out these tips and tricks that we’ve put together for aspiring trainers:

• Corphish Pokemon Sword and Shield Location Guide 
• Pokemon Sword and Shield Gigantamax Rillaboom – What We Know 
• Pokemon Sword and Shield Slowpoke – Galarian Slowpoke