Pokémon Sword and Shield/Wild Area and Motostoke

Back to Wedgehurst station
Follow Hop back to Wedgehurst's train station. Once you get there, Hop will check how many Pokémon you've caught since you last saw him. He'll then give you TM40 Swift, and explains what TM's are: reusable discs that teach your Pokémon certain moves. Swift is a move that never misses, so in some situations this can be useful.

When you go inside the station, your and Hop's moms will come to see you off, and you'll be gifted with Camping Gear. This'll allow you to utilize the Pokémon Camp feature, which replaces Pokémon Amie before it. After you've said goodbye, you and Hop get on the train to Motostoke.

The Wild Area
Hop will tell you a bit about the Wild Area surrounding Motostoke. It's a vast place, with many different kinds of Pokémon, and where you can set up camp, find trainers to battle, participate in Max Raids, and many other things. Due to the sheer amount of information about the Wild Area there is to cover, it won't be shown here, and will instead be in a separate page.

It seems the train stopped at the wrong station, due to some Wooloo blocking the path. Therefore, you end up at the Wild Area instead of Motostoke. However, Hop says it's a perfect opportunity to put a team together and become stronger. Though encounters from the Wild Area will not be covered on this page, it's recommended that you consider catching some of the Pokémon you'll find here.

If you have data from Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, it's in this station that you can get your Gigantamax Pikachu/Eevee (depending on which you played), by talking to the girl (for Pikachu) or the boy (for Eevee) in the corner of the station.

Going outside, before actually heading into the Wild Area, you'll meet back up with Hop, who will show you where Motostoke is. Sonia will show up, looking to find more info about the Pokémon you battled back in Slumbering Weald. Meanwhile, Hop says he's going to fight some Dynamax Pokémon, found in dens that emit a beam of light. Sonia also gives you a new item, the Pokémon Box Link. With this, you can access your PC boxes from just about anywhere. To do so, simply open your menu, go to Pokémon and then pressing the button.

And now, you can explore the Wild Area to your heart's content. If you've caught one of the Pokémon that requires a stone to evolve, chances are said stone is available somewhere in the Wild Area. You can see all the information you'll need in the Appendices page dedicated to the Wild Area. However, for now, we'll simply move forward to Motostoke, by going to the entrance that's straight ahead from where you came in.

One thing to point out is that, if you faint in battle, you'll be healed by the woman next to the train station you came from, and she'll offer to send you right to the entrance to Motostoke, so you can do this if you don't want to have to walk through. However, it's recommended that you at least take this opportunity to level up your team a bit to around level 15.

Stone Evolutions
If you've captured any Pokémon up to this point that require stones to evolve, here are the locations for those that you can obtain before coming here. Any other locations will be listed within the Wild Area pages.

Even if you didn't capture these Pokémon, it's still recommended to pick these up for possible later use. The Leaf Stone for Nuzleaf will be available a bit later. Once you're done picking everything you want up, move on to Motostoke.

Motostoke
Arriving in Motostoke, you'll meet up with Sonia. She'll take you into the Pokécenter and she'll teach you about customizing your League Card. She'll also give you Leon's League Card. After she leaves, take your time to use the Move Relearner if you've got any of the stone evolutions, heal up your Pokémon if needed and buy any items you may need. Furthermore, Lass Haley next to the Mart will offer to trade you her Skwovet for a Bunnelby.

After you've done everything you need to, head back out. Sonia will remind you that you're in this city for the Gym Challenge opening ceremony, and will show you which way to go to reach Motostoke Stadium, where the ceremony will be held. And now, you're free to explore (most of) Motostoke!

Once you approach the lift to take you to the upper level, Leon will come and give you the item that boosts the power of moves of your starter's type. Go up the lift and talk to Hop in front of the stadium.

Once you're inside, you'll see a shady-looking character registering for the Gym Challenge, bumping Hop on his way out. The man at the counter will ask for your letters of Endorsement, and then you'll be asked to choose the number that will appear on your uniform. After choosing your number, the man will tell you all challengers will be able to stay at the Budew Drop Inn for the night.

Going outside of the Stadium, a man will show you to the Inn, so follow him there. Go in the Inn, and you'll once again find Sonia. She says she's studying Galar's legends, and she offers to teach you about the legend of the hero who saved the region. In short, a phenomenon called the "Darkest Day" occurred, and gigantic Pokémon attacked, but they were defeated by a hero wielding a sword and a shield. After she leaves, head up to the counter to see some strange individuals who call themselves Team Yell. They'll ask for a battle if you want them to leave, so agree. You'll have to battle 2 grunts, followed by a multi battle with Hop at your side.

After the battles, a girl named Marnie will come in and apologize for Team Yell, and explains that they're a sort of fan club of hers. They'll go home and now you'll be able to check in to the inn.

The next day, you'll find Hop practicing his Pokéball throws. He'll race you to Motostoke Stadium. Once you get out of the Inn, a man will offer to escort you to the Stadium. You can refuse if you wish to look around for items a bit longer. Whenever you're done, head to the Stadium. Speak to the man at the counter and you'll be given your uniform and head into the Stadium proper.

Rose will introduce the gym leaders, though one of the eight is missing. Milo, Nessa, Kabu, Bea(Sword)/Allister(Shield), Opal, Gordie(Sword)/Melony(Shield) and Raihan are the ones present.

After the ceremony, Leon will come to you with Rose, who will introduce himself. As Hop says, the first gym is in Turffield which is past Route 3, and he'll head off in that direction. Perhaps you should go ahead and follow him. When you go outside the stadium, one of the staff will give you access to the Flying Taxi, which allows you to go back to any location you've previously visited by selecting it in the Town Map. When you've finished exploring Motostoke, go ahead and head west toward route 3.

Points of interest

 * Beginning to go down the main road, to the left you'll first find a Battle Café. You can battle here once a day and, if you win, you get a reward. Most of these are Sweets, which you will need to evolve a specific Pokémon obtainable a bit later on.
 * Right ahead of the Café, a man next to a record store will give you TR13 Focus Energy if you talk to him. You can't actually go into the record store.


 * On the right side of the road, you'll find your first barber shop, where you'll be able to customize your hair and makeup options.
 * Further ahead, there's another boutique with more clothing options.
 * You'll find another man in front of a record store going forward. This man will give you Hi-tech Earbuds, which allow you to control the volume of different sounds (background music, battle effects, etc.)
 * On the upper part of the city, south of the fire station, there's a train station that you can use to go back to the Wild Area or Wedgehurst if you wish.
 * Next to the fire station, there are a couple of kids looking at a container. Talk to the one on the left and he'll tell you his Minccino has gone missing. Agree to help, then head into the grassy area around the Stadium. You'll see a fountain. Whistle while next to this fountain by pressing the left analog stick, and Minccino will go back to the boy. Go back and talk to him again to receive the Throat Spray, an item that boosts the Pokémon's Special Attack whenever it uses a sound-based move.