How to Sneak Up and Battle Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Indigo Disk

Stealth isn’t always easy! Here’s how to sneak up and battle Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Indigo Disk.

How to Sneak Up and Battle Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

As you traverse the Terarium in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC, building up enough BP to either unlock new Pokemon biomes or perhaps make your dorm room a little less depressing, you’ll need to do quite a few tasks known as BBQs. One that might give you a bit of trouble is sneaking up on Pokemon and surprising them with a battle.

Unfortunately, this can be quite a fickle mechanic. Here’s how to sneak up on Pokemon in Scarlet and Volet: The Indigo Disk.

Step 1: Crouch

First things first. To crouch, press the “B” button. Your character will then begin to creep along with their knees bent, and you’ll get a darkened effect around your screen. This is how you can tell that you’re now in the sneaking position. So long as you don’t run, get on your vehicular legendary, or press “B” again, you’ll stay crouched.

But before anything, you’ll need to find an area full of Pokemon you believe you can sneak up on. It seems that lower-level Pokemon are easier to sneak up on, while evolved Pokemon remain more aware of their surroundings.

It can sometimes be a little hard to tell if a Pokemon has spotted you or not, but typically, a Pokemon aware of you will follow you with its gaze, if not outright run up to you. It’s best to try to sneak up on a Pokemon from behind, attempting to slowly tail them as they walk around. If you’re trying to sneak up on a Pokemon from its side or front, it will likely notice you.

If the Pokemon you’re tracking has spotted you while you’re sneaking, you’ll want to move on to a different one. Once a Pokemon becomes aware of you, they usually remain aware until you completely leave the vicinity.

Step 2: Pull back your Poke Ball

You can’t just crouch-walk into a Pokemon to sneak up on them. While this seems like it should work, it ‘alerts’ the Pokemon and fails the challenge. Instead, you’ll need to prepare your Poke Ball to surprise them. You can do that while crouched by pressing the left trigger button (ZL) on your Joy-Con.

If you’re aiming towards a Pokemon, that Pokemon’s name will appear. That’s how you know that you’re “focused in” on a Pokemon. Make sure the Pokemon you’re aiming at isn’t looking towards you. To successfully surprise a Pokemon with your expert sneaking tactics, you’ll need to aim your Poke Ball at their backside.

Step 3: Throw the Poke Ball

Once you’ve got a lock on a Pokemon’s derrière, you can throw your Poke Ball by pressing the right trigger (ZR). This will immediately start a battle. If you are successful, the BBQ challenge will be complete when the battle begins.

If the challenge doesn’t complete, you’ll need to try again. Unfortunately, sneaking is quite finicky, so be prepared to try a lot. Or, just sneak up on a sleeping Pokemon and throw a Poke Ball at it. That’s guaranteed to be a “sneak” attack!

Sneaking up on a Pokemon is only one of many BBQs. Curious about others? Check out the full list of BBQs you’ll need to complete as you wander around in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC.