Pokémon Sword & Shield Crown Tundra - How to Catch Calyrex

After months of anticipation, the second part of the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass has been released. The Crown Tundra has got trainers everywhere chomping at the bit to catch ‘em all once again. The Isle of Armor, the first part of the Expansion Pass which came out earlier this year, allowed trainers to get their hands on Urshifu, a brand new Legendary Pokémon. Well, they’ve really gone all out with The Crown Tundra: almost all Legendaries from previous games are available to catch here, alongside a smattering of new ones.

The main thrust of The Crown Tundra’s plot relates to a mysterious figure called The King of Bountiful Harvests. This King is heralded by the townsfolk of Freezington as a mythical character who made The Crown Tundra fertile and allowed humans to settle there in the first place. All that’s left of him now is a statue in the middle of the village.

The King of Bountiful Harvests is actually a Pokémon called Calyrex. You’ve probably seen him before in The Crown Tundra’s promotional materials. He’s the little rabbit thing with a “massive noggin',” as Peony puts it.

Peony, your excitable Poké-hunting partner in crime, gives you three "Legendary Clues." The first of these leads you on a journey to help Calyrex tame his erstwhile steed and get his mojo back. Read on for a step-by-step guide on this quest, which Peony labels "The Sacred Bonds of Sovereign and Steed," culminating in how to catch Calyrex himself.

The Sacred Bonds of Sovereign and Steed

Your first port of call is the statue in the middle of town. This is supposedly a statue of the King (no, not Elvis), but the game heavily hints that it’s missing something. The missing part is actually Calyrex’s enormous dome, which you'll need to find in order to reunite it with the rest of his body.

Embarrassingly, I hunted high and low for the bloody thing before I realized it’s actually on Peony’s living room table in Freezington. Whoops. Persuade Peony to part with this pendulous appendage and then go and stick it on the statue.

Calyrex himself will pop his oversized head up at this point. You battle him, but unfortunately he won’t let you catch him… yet. Beating him is easy enough as he’s a single level 70 Pokémon with average stats. Once you’ve done so, he’ll bewitch Peony and use his vocal chords to talk to you. Spooky or what?

Calyrex, via Peony, tells a bit of a sob story about how the townsfolk of Freezington don’t believe in him anymore, which has caused him to lose all his power. Your first task to help him is to ask the people milling about the town about Calyrex. This is as simple as it sounds; walk around Freezington and talk to all the NPCs outside once, then go back to Calyrex.

After another little chinwag with Peony/Calyrex, you’ll head off to find the Mayor. Approach his house and you’ll be told that he’s not in. You can find him around the vegetable patch in Giant’s Bed. Check your map if you’re not sure and then, when you get there, look for ruined buildings. It shouldn’t take you long to find him. When you talk to him, he heads home. This makes you wonder what the point of this little episode is but there you go.

Pokemon Sword & Shield Crown Tundra - Iceroot & Shaderoot Carrot

The Mayor gives you access to his book collection—what a generous bloke—where you find out about The King of Bountiful Harvests’ noble steed of yore. You can summon this steed with one of two varieties of carrot: either an Iceroot Carrot or a Shaderoot Carrot. Head back to Calyrex and select “Carrots” as the dialogue option to move things on. The King goes all Richard III on you, explaining how he needs his old mount to regain his lost power. We've all been there.

Each carrot summons a different steed: the Iceroot Carrot summons the equine Ice-type Glastrier, and the Shaderoot Carrot beckons the Ghost-type steed, Spectrier. It should be quite easy to remember which is which. You’ll need Carrot Seeds first of all, which you get from a man in the middle of town in exchange for eight Dynite Ore (one or two runs of Dynamax Adventures will net you this if you don’t have enough).

Depending on which of the two you want, which we’ll come to later, you need to plant your Carrot Seeds in a certain area.

For Glastrier and the Iceroot Carrot, you’ll need to plant the seeds in a bed at the top of the first hill on Snowslide Slope.

For Spectrier and the Shaderoot Carrot, you'll need to plant the seeds in a bed in the Old Cemetery. 

Pokemon Sword & Shield Crown Tundra - Glastrier or Spectrier?

“Which should I choose?” I hear you cry. You can’t really go wrong with either of them. Either pick the one whose design you prefer or which you think will serve you better in battle. They both have 680 base stat totals, with Spectrier favoring Speed and Special Attack and Glastrier plumping for Attack and bulk.

Whichever you end up picking, plant the seeds in the requisite area and Calyrex will weave a bit of magic to bring the carrot in question to life before your very eyes. Your chosen steed will appear instantly, drawn no doubt by the pungent aroma of a single carrot. Instead of coming straight for you, though, it stampedes off to cause some mayhem in Freezington. Hot (or cold, given the location) foot it back to the village to stop the horse Pokémon before it can cause too much chaos.

You battle your choice of steed in the middle of the village. Again, you can’t catch it, so just pick your strongest Pokémon and wipe it out. As long as your team aren’t horribly under-leveled, you shouldn’t have any trouble.

Once you’ve shown the uppity horse who’s boss, it’ll run off, dropping a tuft of either White or Black Mane Hair. This hair can be used to create the Reins of Unity, an item needed to tame the King’s erstwhile companion, when combined with a magical flower. Calyrex summons his depleted strength and manages to produce a Radiant Petal. Shoddy effort if you ask me but it’ll do.

Take both of these to the Mayor’s gaff and he’ll try and make the Reins of Unity himself. He gives it a good go but ultimately does a botched job as the skills of craftsmanship haven’t been passed down the family tree. Can't get the staff in these days! Luckily, Peony appears, declaring he’s something of a seamstress (seamster?), and knocks up a set quick smart.

Pokemon Sword & Shield Crown Tundra - How to Catch Calyrex

Take the Reins of Unity and head to the Crown Shrine, the temple-looking place at the top of the map. If you’ve already been here, you can take a Flying Taxi, otherwise just head upwards through the cleverly named Tunnel To The Top. When you get there, chat with Calyrex and place your carrot of choice into a small bowl to the left of the shrine.

After a short cinematic where Calyrex tames the beast at last, he’ll prompt you to try and catch him, steed and all. Save the game at this point, although knocking Calyrex out won’t forfeit your chance to catch him. Better safe than sorry though, especially after all that.

This battle is a little trickier, as mounted Calyrex is level 80 and has very high stats. Make sure you use a strong Pokémon with a status move like Thunder Wave. False Swipe is always a good shout for catching Legendaries without killing them. However, note that this is a Normal-type move and won’t work if you chose Spectrier, as Calyrex will be Psychic/Ghost-type. As long as you bring plenty of quality balls and healing items, you should manage.

When you’ve got the erudite horse-riding rabbit in tow, make your way to Freezington and talk to Peony. He won’t remember being Calyrex’s spooky voodoo doll, but is delighted that you’ve caught another Legendary nonetheless. That marks the end of The Sacred Bonds of Sovereign and Steed!

Check out our other Crown Tundra guides for Dynamax Adventures and the Legendary Birds if you’re dead set on catching ‘em all!