How to evolve Duraludon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet takes a fair bit of work, unless you have friends with the Pokemon game willing to do it for you. Duraludon’s evolved form Archaludon featured in the Indigo Disc’s pre-release trailers, but you likely won’t have a chance to get it until fairly late in your Blueberry Academy adventure. The new evolution item Duraludon needs only comes from one place, and it’ll cost you. The effort is worth it, though. Archaludon’s dual Dragon and Steel typing makes it unique, and it comes with a powerful move right out of the gate.
How to evolve Duraludon
Duraludon only evolves when you use the new Metal Alloy evolution item on it. You can only get Metal Alloy in one location that we’ve found so far, and that location isn’t out in teh wild. Once you have Metal Alloy, find it in your item bag, and use it on Duraludon to start the evolution process.
Duraludon evolves at any level, so you don’t have to reach a certain point before you can use Metal Alloy. Archaludon learns Electro Shot as soon as Duraludon finishes evolving. Electro Shot is essentially the Electric-type version of Solar Beam, though if you use it during rain, it fires off instantly.
Where to find Metal Alloy in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Metal Alloy only comes from Blueberry Academy’s School Store. It costs 300 BP, which you’ll likely get after roughly a dozen Blueberry quests or so. Metal Alloy is impossible to find in the terrarium or in Paldea, and, since it’s locked behind a store in the Indigo Disc DLC, there’s no way to obtain it yourself without owning Scarlet and Violet’s DLC.
However, you can receive Metal Alloy in a trade, even if you don’t have the Indigo Disc expansion, and it still works on Duraludon. If you have a friend with the expansion, and they get an extra Metal Alloy, they can have a Pokemon hold it and trade you that Pokemon.
You’ll also need them to give you a Duraludon, since they’re only found in Blueberry Academy’s terrarium.
Where to find Duraludon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
If you haven’t even found Duraludon yet, check the Polar Biome in the academy terrarium. They’re fairly rare Pokemon, so you may need to leave and come back to reset the wild ‘mon roaming around. We’ve found more at higher altitudes, though that could be pure coincidence.
Make sure to bring a Pokemon who can inflict sleep. Duraludon is tough to catch, and the extra catch rate increase you get from status effects will help improve your chances a little.
If you’re getting ready to challenge the academy’s Elite Four, keep our Scarlet and Violet Super Spicy Sandwich Trial tips handy so you can get to the battle faster.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
