Pokemon Sword and Shield players looking to transform the adorable Ice- and Bug-type larva Pokemon Snom into its more powerful final form, Frosmoth, will find that doing so isn’t as simple as leveling the critter up. Snom joins a long list of Pokemon’s more creative creatures, requiring very specific actions in order for it to evolve.
The requirement of peculiar evolution steps has been a part of the Pokemon series for quite some time. At their most basic, these evolution methods boil down to using certain items on a Pokemon, but they can get as complicated as making the Pokemon survive a certain amount of damage and then bringing it to a certain location - as is the case for evolving Galarian Yamask. One of the most unique evolution methods is that of Pokemon X and Y’s Inkay, which evolves into Malamar when leveled up when the player’s Nintendo 3DS is turned upside down. While most of Pokemon Sword and Shield’s special evolution methods aren’t quite as creative, they can be just as obtuse (if not more so) without a guide.
Luckily, evolving Snom into Frosmoth is fairly straightforward, but it will require a bit of work. To catch Snom, players will have to head to the snowy, upper area of Route 8, just south of Circhester. Unlike Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Applin, Snom can be found in the overworld, so players won’t have to deal with random encounters to find it. Snom can be a little difficulty to see due to its small size, however, but a careful eye will reveal it scooting around in the tall grass. Once players catch the little worm, it’s time to get cooking.
In order to evolve Snom, players will need to raise its Friendship stat. Pokemon will grow friendly with their trainer as they’re carried around in the player’s party, but the easiest way of increasing their Friendship quickly is to cook lots of curry. No matter how strange the Pokemon curry recipe may be, cooking high-level curry will make the Pokemon in players’ parties grow rapidly friendlier. Use rare berries (sort berries “By Type” and select from those at the bottom of the list) and main ingredients that cost at least 950 Pokedollars for the best results. Players can check how friendly a Pokemon is towards them by speaking to the young boy in the residence to the right of the central Hammerlocke Pokemon Center (pictured above). Once he says “Wow, you two get along great!” about Snom, it’s time for the final step.
Now that Snom has high Friendship, it can finally evolve, but it can only do so at night. No matter what time the Nintendo Switch’s on-board clock thinks it is, the game will only count it as “at night” if its dark in the game world. This means that, even if it’s 9:45 PM and dark in Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Wild Area, attempting to evolve Snom in an area of the game where it’s still bright out (towns and routes) will be unsuccessful. The easiest way to ensure it’s night is just to head to the Wild Area. If necessary, players can change the clock in the Switch’s settings to make this easier. Once there, level Snom up (either with battle experience or just a Rare Candy), and it will become Frosmoth.
Next: Why Pokémon Sword & Shield’s Galarian Corsola is So Unsettling
Pokemon Sword and Shield released on November 15, 2019 for Nintendo Switch.
