How to Whistle in Pokémon Sword and Shield

In this guide, we will show you how to whistle in Pokémon Sword and Shield, and when you should do it.

Traveling the overworld in Pokémon Sword and Shield can lead to a lot of battles, so Game Freak has brought back crouching. Crouching allows you to sneak past Pokémon slowly, so you don’t end up fighting everything you run into. They have also added whistling, so you can get the attention of the Pokémon that interest you.

How to Whistle in Pokémon Sword and Shield

Hop will teach you to whistle as you make your way to the train station. All you need to do is press down on the left stick of your controller. Any Pokémon that is within hearing distance will be intrigued by the sound, and a question mark will appear over their head.

The Pokémon will move close to you, but it won’t move into encounter range. You can use a whistle to help yourself out in a couple of ways. If you think you see a Pokémon that you want, such as Eevee, you can use the whistle to get her attention. She will then venture close to you, and you can move into encounter range to try and catch her.

If a path is filled with Pokémon and it is hard to pass, you can whistle to have them all group up and clear the way through for you. This can be an excellent time-saver, as you don’t need to fight every Pokémon in the game.

Pokémon also have different behaviors. Some will chase you, while others will run from you, so by using the crouch and whistling mechanics, you can make it much easier to get the Pokémon that you want and add them to your Pokédex.