Route 9

Discover wild Pokémon, trainers, and items on Route 9 in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Learn about the Rotom Bike upgrade and navigate Circhester Bay.

The weather is going to be pretty cold from here on out.

Wild Pokémon - Overworld

Wild Pokémon - Random Encounters

Wild Pokémon - Water

Wild Pokémon - Fishing

As you arrive from the north, head south for a good distance, then go across the bridge. On the left, is a trainer you can fight. She’ll be looking from west to south. But you can avoid her if you run west while she’s looking in that direction. Anyway, even if you go past her, there’s not much you can do just yet.

Fisher Harriet

Barraskewda is an evolved Arrokuda. It can use Aqua Jet to try and attack first and Dive to hide underwater for one turn. Meanwhile, Lanturn is an evolved Chinchou. Like its prior form, its weak to Grass and Ground only. Watch out for its annoying Confuse Ray.

Carry on south from the bottom of the bridge. Soon, you’ll reach the number 9 signpost on your right. Over here, there’s a patch of tall grass. Step into the grass and head for the top-right corner for a Max Potion. Afterwards, continue south again. Along the right, there’s a trainer walking up and down. Be careful as she’ll spin around when changing direction.

Dancer Zoe

Galarian Darumaka is an Ice-type instead of a Fire-type; Sword players can find it in the cold part of Route 8. Bellossom is one of two possible evolutions of Gloom (the other being Vileplume). It loses the Poison-type to become a pure Grass Pokémon.

Route 9 (Circhester Bay)

At long last, you’ll gain the ability to travel across water!

Wild Pokémon - Overworld

Wild Pokémon - Random Encounters

Wild Pokémon - Water

Wild Pokémon - Fishing

This is where Route 9 really begins. Keep going and you’ll find Team Yell being their usual selves.

Team Yell Grunt

You should be familiar with Galarian Linoone; it takes 4x damage from Fighting and 2x damage from Bug and Fairy. Be wary of Counter, which can deal double the physical damage back. Pangoro is an evolved Pancham; it receives 4x damage from Fairy and 2x damage from Flying and Fighting. This one can use Bullet Punch to slap a Fairy before they can attack.

As a reward for shooing away Team Yell, your Rotom Bike will be upgraded. Now you can ride it across water! To do so, just get on the bike like normal and its tire floats will automatically inflate when you ride into water. If you’re curious, head north back to the first section of Route 9. Go left from the bottom of the bridge, then ride the Rotom Bike into the river.

Follow the river west. Before you reach the next bridge, there’s a space below for you to get back on land. Here, follow the incline south-east, but move slowly if possible. At the top, there’s a Level 55 Glalie, which you currently can’t catch. Go past it and retrieve the TM64 Avalanche from the floor. Then hurry back to Circhester Bay, where we left off previously.

From where you received the bike upgrade, there are two directions you can go. Directly south, which is the obvious route. Or west, if you go back a bit. Let’s go west first. Make sure you’re on your bike, then enter the water. Follow the water and you’ll soon reach a small section of land. Grab the Zoom Lens here, then return to the guy who upgraded your bike again.

Now head south into the water. You’ll be in a fairly wide space teeming with aquatic wildlife. On the right, there’s an octopus-like creature lying in wait. If you’re brave, head over towards the octopus and then follow the narrow path east. You can also engage the oct