Pokemon Indigo Disk: How to Get Lugia in Scarlet & Violet

Where in the world is that whirlpool, Pokemon? Here’s how to find Lugia in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk.

How to Get Lugia in The Indigo Disk

If you wanted to tame Lugia but never had access to Pokemon Silver, now’s your chance to live out those whirlpool god dreams. But getting Lugia will require some leg work. Here’s how to find Lugia in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Indigo Disk.

First, to get Lugia, you’ll need access to Snacksworth, who is only available after you’ve completed the Indigo Disk campaign. Once that’s done, find Snacksworth in the Blueberry Academy Entrance. He’ll give you random legendary snacks based on how many solo BBQs and Group Quests you’ve completed. These snacks are necessary, as they’re the trigger to spawn the legendary Pokemon in the world.

If you’re playing Pokemon Violet, you’ll have a chance to get the Lugia Snack by completing solo BBQs. Snacksworth will hand you a random legendary snack for every 10 solo BBQs you complete, with the Lugia Snack being one of the potential snacks.

If you’re playing Pokemon Scarlet, you’ll have a chance to get the Lugia Snack by completing Group Quests. This means running around the Blueberry Academy’s Terarium and completing BBQs with friends either online or locally. Snacksworth will hand you a random legendary snack for every golden Group Quest you complete with your group of pals, with the Lugia Snack being one of the potential snacks.

Lugia Location in The Indigo Disk

Snacksworth will give you a hint about where the legendary Lugia is located in The Indigo Disk after he’s given you its associated snack. For Lugia, the hint was in a “winter sea” while on an island. But there’s no need to go scouring the Northern Paldean Sea.

Just head to North Province (Area One)’s waypoint, then head north. Jump off the cliff, and you’ll see a large island. Keep going north from this island, and you’ll hit a small speck of an island. Here, you’ll be able to see Lugia floating in the water.

How to Beat Lugia in The Indigo Disk

Lugia is a dual-type Psychic and Flying-Type Pokemon, and you’ll encounter it at level 70. Electric, Ice, Rock, Ghost, and Dark moves are all super effective against it.

Lugia has the following moves:

• Extrasensory.
• Rain Dance.
• Recover.
• Aeroblast.

However, because Lugia is so much weaker than the Pokemon you encounter during the Indigo Disk, the real question might be how to stop yourself from killing it. I recommend Grass, Fighting, or Psychic moves, all of which are not very effective against Lugia.

Tyranitar is a great option for this fight, as it can tank anything that Lugia throws at it. Put a fighting-type move on it to whittle away Lugia’s health and then wait until the legendary Diving Pokemon succumbs to exhaustion.

Don’t worry too much if you accidently knock out Lugia before you can catch it. Lugia will respawn at the same location in the Northern Paldean Sea after some time has passed. If you’re feeling particularly impatient, you can speed things up by heading into your Switch’s system settings and advance the clock forward to force Lugia to respawn. Some players have reported Lugia will respawn after an hour, but it may be best to set your clock forward a whole day just to be sure.

Lugia’s Stats in Indigo Disk

Lugia has a total base stat of 680, spread out as the following:

• HP: 106.
• Attack: 90.
• Defense: 130.
• Special Attack: 90.
• Special Defense: 154.
• Speed: 110.

Lugia makes for a great defensive option on your team, excelling as a “wall” with naturally high Defense and Special Defense stats. Recover is a must-have move on your Lugia for it to keep its health topped off and maintain its defensive position. But Lugia also has access to a wide array of powerful moves such as Psychic, Aeroblast, Ice Beam, and many others, and thanks to its equal split between Attack and Special Attack, Lugia can be very versatile as a damage-dealing Pokemon.

Of course, you’ll want to make the most of Lugia’s defensive capabilites and ensure it has access to support and status moves like Calm Mind, Light Screen, Reflect, Tailwind, and Whirlwind. Having moves that can induce status ailments can also be helpful, but Lugia’s access to these moves is much more limited as of Scarlet and Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam are some of your better options for a chance to inflict status conditions.

To get the most out of Lugia, we recommend ensuring it has the Bold nature, favoring Defense over Attack and bolstering its capabilities as a wall. But Lugia is one of the more versatile Pokemon of the bunch, and you’ll want to adjust its nature to suit the needs of however you’re using your Lugia. Timid nature is never a bad option for a faster Pokemon and Calm is always a good choice for Lugia to increase its uniquely high Special Defense. Keep in mind, these natures will also reduce Lugia’s Attack stat, forcing it to specialize in Special Attack moves when dealing damage.

If your Lugia doesn’t have the nature you prefer in The Indigo Disk, you can change this by using a Mint item, which can be purchased at the Chansey Supply shop or obtained as a random reward from the Academy Ace Tournament or 5- and 6-Star Tera Raids.

Is Lugia Shiny-Locked in The Indigo Disk?

If you were hoping to obtain Lugia’s alternate red-toned Shiny form, we regret to inform you that Lugia is, unfortunately, Shiny Locked in The Indigo Disk. Currently, there is no legitimate way to obtain Shiny Lugia in The Indigo Disk without transferring one over through Pokemon HOME. This is the case for all legendary Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet, including every legendary Pokemon returning in the DLC from previous games, and continues a common trend of Game Freak shiny-locking all static-encounter Pokemon in modern games.

That’s all for Lugia in The Indigo Disk. But being the leader of the legendary bird trio, be sure to also grab Lugia’s icy minion, Articuno, while you’re off collecting legendary Pokemon.