Swimming is an essential part of the game since it allows players to travel to faraway items, find rare water-type Pokemon, and easily explore Paldea.
To unlock swimming in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players need to defeat a particular Titan Pokemon.
However, contrary to the previous games, unlocking swimming has nothing to do with defeating the water-type gym or unlocking the move Surf. Instead, players will need to progress the Path of Legends.
In this guide, I will explain how to unlock swimming in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and help you progress in the Path of Legends.
How to Unlock Swimming in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
To unlock swimming in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, players will need to progress the Path of Legends. This is done by defeating the Titan Pokemon found around Paldea.
Specifically, after unlocking the ability to mount Koraidon and Miraidon, players will be able to fight a total of five Titan Pokemon.
Defeating each of them unlocks a special ability for your mounted Pokemon. Here are all the Titan Pokemon and the abilities they unlock.
- Klawf, the Stony Cliff Titan (Level 15, unlocks dashing)
- Bombirdier, the Open Sky Titan (Level 19, unlocks swimming)
- Orthworm, the Lurking Steel Titan (Level 28, unlocks high jumping)
- Quaking Earth Titan (Level 44, unlocks gliding)
- Tatsugiri, the False Dragon Titan (Level 55, unlocks climbing)
As you can see, the second Sky Titan, Bombirdier, is the one that unlocks swimming. Thankfully, players can fight Bombirdier fairly early in the game.
How to Find and Defeat Bombirdier, the Open Sky Titan
First, Bombirdier the Open Sky can be found in West Province (Area One) in the following map location.
Hug the right side of the wall to avoid the falling rocks and you’ll reach Bombirdier’s location. Even if you get hit by some rocks, you won’t get pushed back too much, so don’t worry.
Similar to the previous Titan, Klawf, you’ll have to defeat Bombirdier twice. Once on your own and once with Arven.
During both fights, Bombirdier will be a Dark/Flying-type Pokemon. This means that it’s weak to Electric, Ice, Rock, and Fairy-type moves.
One great Pokemon to have here is Pawmot, since it’s one of the strongest Electric-type Pokemon in the game. Consider checking out our guide on the best nature for Pawmot for more details.
After defeating Bombirdier and playing through the cutscene, players will unlock swimming. Now, get ready to explore all the islands around Paldea, since they’re filled with useful items and rare Pokemon.
Conclusion
To sum up, that’s everything you need to know on how to unlock swimming in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
All it takes is finding and defeating Bombirdier the Sky Titan.
Then, simply drive into the water and your mount will float perfectly.
What is your first destination now that you’ve unlocked swimming? Have you found any useful items in any of the islands around Paldea? Let us know in the comments below.
He has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, which allows him to always come up with a fresh approach to solving in-game puzzles and challenges, but also to create content that’s to the point, clean and easy to follow.
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