While Shellder is not necessarily a rare Pokémon, it can sometimes be difficult to find in the games. In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, you could travel all around the Paldea region and miss it. If you are looking to fill out your Pokédex or add the strong evolution of Shellder, Cloyster, to your team, you will need to know where to look. Here is where to find and catch Shellder in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Related: Where to find Iron Bundle in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
How to catch Shellder in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
If you are looking all around the place in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and not finding any Shellder, it might be because you are looking for it in freshwater locations. Shellder only appears in the sea, preferring the salt water over the rivers and lakes you can see throughout the game. You can essentially travel to the sea at the far edge of any corner of the map and encounter Shellder in the water. Before you can go into the water and find them, you need to defeat the Bombirdier titan Pokémon in West Province (Area One).
Before you go jumping into the sea, be wary of where you go in. The level thresholds for Pokémon in the sea rise and fall drastically depending on where you are. When looking for Shellder, we went from facing Pokémon around level 27, which jumped to 60 before falling back to 37. Also, it is a small Pokémon, so keep a keen eye out for it swimming around below the water.
When facing Shellder, Electric, and Grass attacks are super effective against it, and it is resistant to Fire, Ice, Steel, and Water moves. With how much of a protective style Shellder takes, it may continually use the move Protect and Iron Defense to raise its defense and hold off your attacks. Take advantage of these situations to keep putting damage to it and lower its health outside of Protect not working (it can’t use it on consecutive turns).
After you have caught your Shellder, you can begin working towards evolving it into Cloyster.
