How to Evolve Your Galarian Farfetch’d in Pokémon Sword and Shield

Pokémon Sword and Shield, like other recent generations of Pokémon games, includes several regional variants of fan-favorite Pokémon from previous regions. One such Galarian form is of Farfetch’d, the leek-wielding bird originally released in the first generation a quarter-century ago.

The Galarian forms Pokémon are also unique from previous regional variants in that some of them have new, unique evolutions, and Galarian Farfetch’d is one of them. This is a guide on how and why players would want to obtain this evolution, Sirfetch’d, starting with obtaining your own Galarian Farfetch’d.

Galarian Farfetch’d

The first step to getting a Sirfetch’d — assuming you don’t want to go through a Max Raid Battle to catch one directly — is to catch its pre-evolution, Galarian Farfetch’d. Farfetch’d is exclusively available in the wild in Pokémon Sword, not Pokémon Shield. If Shield players want to get one, they’ll have to trade from the game’s counterpart. In Sword, Farfetch’d can be found on Route 5 or in the Wild Area (specifically in the Giant’s Mirror area during overcast weather). On Route 5, they will be between levels 19-21, and in the Wild Area they will range from levels 28-30.

Galarian Farfetch’d differs from its Kantonian form in that it is a Fighting-type rather than Normal/Flying-type, and Kantoian Farfetch’d still cannot evolve. The new form is marginally slower too, but it makes up for this speed deficit with an equal increase to its attack stat, giving it a base attack of 95. Its normal ability is Steadfast, which boosts its speed each time it flinches. Its hidden ability is Scrappy, which allows Normal and Fighting-type attacks to hit Ghost-type Pokémon, which would normally be unaffected by the attacks.

Farfetch’d can learn a wide array of moves from various types, although it tends to prefer Fighting, Normal and Flying-type moves. This is helpful given Farfetch’d’s high attack stat, which means its that most hard-hitting moves will be ones that generally make physical contact. With this in mind, it is ideal for players to try to catch one with an Adamant nature, which increases the power of physical attacks at the expense of special ones, which Farfetch’d never learns naturally.

Wild Galarian Farfetch’d also have a 50 percent chance of holding an item called a Leek, which doubles their critical-hit ratio when held. If possible, try to catch one is holding a Leek, as this item makes evolving it much easier.

Sirfetch’d

After catching a Galarian Farfetch’d, the next step is evolving it. This, however, is easier said than done. Galarian Farfetch’d doesn’t evolve by leveling up, and the process needed to evolve it is completely unique to this Pokémon. Galarian Farfetch’d can only evolve by landing three critical hits in a single battle.

Giving your Galarian Farfetch’d a Leek will really help here. It’s also good to find a relatively defensive Pokémon and hit it with weak moves to help ensure it doesn’t faint before you can land three critical hits. On Route 5, where Farfetch’d can be found, you can also find Wobbuffet, which are resistant to the Fighting-type move Rock Smash and can’t deal much damage back to your Farfetch’d. This makes them perfect to farm for critical hits. Once you land three, you can end the battle, and your Farfetch’d will evolve.

Sirfetch’d retains its Fighting type and its ability. Where it differs drastically from its pre-evolution is its massive stat boosts. Sirfetch’d boasts a tremendous 135 base attack — to put that in perspective, the average fully-evolved Pokémon only has 90 — and an equal boost to its defense, bringing it up to a respectable 95. It also learns more attacks, most notably the unique Fighting-type move Meteor Assault at level 70, which has a staggering 150 attack power. If you have the Isle of Armor DLC, you can also use the move tutor to teach it Grassy Glide and Coaching.

Overall, Sirfetch’d is a complete improvement on its pre-evolution. It increases all of its stats and can learn all the same moves with several new ones. The only reason players may want to stick with Farfetch’d instead of evolving it would be based on appearance.