Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players reveal simple tips to catch beloved Legendary without Master Ball

Niladri Sarkar
pokemon scarlet and violet legendary solgaleo

Solgaleo is among the strongest Legendaries in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, but catching it is a nightmare unless you have a Master Ball. That said, trainers have shared some quick tips to capture the powerful Pokemon even if you don’t have the elusive Poke Ball or are running short of them.

Several Legendaries from previous Pokemon games made their debut in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet after the release of the Indigo Disk DLC, and trainers are leaving no stone unturned to catch ’em all!

With so many to capture and the Master Ball being rare even with the Item Printer in tow, players will have to be well-prepared before encountering these Legendaries while also ensuring that they don’t faint during the face-off.

However, one particular Legendary has been giving everyone a hard time in catching it, and it’s none other than the Gen 7 fan-favorite Pokemon, Solgaleo. Thankfully, a few players have unveiled some smart advice to help catch Solgaleo easily.

It all started when a Reddit user named ‘Gallad475’ shared a post on Reddit that showed the trainer’s encounter with a Solgaleo in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and wrote: “Who thought it’d be a good idea to give Solgaleo 2 Recoil moves?”

For those unaware, if a wild Pokemon uses a recoil move, it damages itself and can end up fainting, making the catch unsuccessful.

While the OP used a Tera Ground Flash Fire Ceruledge to cancel Solgaleo’s two recoil moves, Flare Blitz and Wild Charge, a few Pokemon Scarlet and Violet fans commented more tips to make sure that players need not worry about them during the encounter.

A user mentioned that “Magic Guard nullifies recoil damage, amongst other things,” while another added, “I saw someone used Skill Swap Clefable to get rid of the recoil damages.”

The Ability Magic Guard makes the Pokemon take damage from only direct attacks and not from recoil, making it the way to go for Solgaleo. But since the Legendary doesn’t have the said Ability, your Magic Guard Pokemon needs to use the move Skill Swap to exchange its Ability with Solgaleo.

A user came up with another suggestion based on the above strategy. “Skill Swap Reuniclus (Magic Guard), handles it well,” they wrote.

Other players were pretty enthusiastic about using Ninetales with a strategy similar to OP’s Ceruledge but with a twist. “I got a Ninetales with Flash Fire and changed its Tera Type to Ground and taught it Hypnosis.”

With Ninetales’ Hypnosis, Solgaleo can be put to sleep, making it easier to catch and also avoiding recoil damage if it wakes up before expected.

After you catch Solgaleo in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, it can be of great help in Indigo Disk DLC’s BB Elite Four battles such as Lacey and Drayton.

About The Author

Niladri is a Writer who specializes in Pokemon Go, Scarlet and Violet, and competitive VGC battles. With more than seven years of experience in copywriting and SEO content writing, Niladri has previously written for Pokémon GO Hub and Smogon. He has been covering Pokemon for CharlieIntel since June 2023. Niladri can be contacted at [email protected].