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Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable are Fairy-type Pokemon that are seen on nights of a full moon. Their typing was changed from Normal-type to Fairy-type with the release of Pokemon X/Y. While another pink, Fairy-type (i.e, Jigglypuff) appeared in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's base game, the Cleffa-line are exclusive to The Teal Mask, part 1 of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Expansion Pass.
Scarlet/Violet trainers won't have to wait until night to catch the star-shaped Pokemon. However, Cleffa and Clefairy are rather selective with their environment. This means, except for Tera Raids, they'll only show up in certain areas Kitakami.
Where to Find Cleffa & Clefairy
Cleffa and Clefairy walk around the tunnels of Oni Mountain, but the easiest way to find them is to drop down through a cave at the Crystal Pool. The Crystal Pool is at the very center of Kitakami, and it's an area that players will eventually be sent to visit during The Teal Mask's story. For those that want to catch Cleffa/Clefairy as soon as possible, they'll want to get climbing.
Oni Mountain can be reached from Kitakami Hall, which is where the second signpost is located. Take the mountain path up and around to the summit. Once at Crystal Pool, players will want to cross the bridge and go towards the slanted hill. At the back of this hill is an opening to a cave that leads to Oni's Mountain.
Below is a video clip with the exact direction Scarlet/Violet players should take to find the cave entrance:
Once inside, drop down to the lower levels. There will be a trainer from the Kitakami Ogre Clan, but refrain from battling them, as their Pokemon are at level 75 regardless of whether players have completed the three main storylines in Scarlet/Violet. Take the path away from the trainer, and there should be Cleffa or Clefairy walking about the tunnels.
Since the Fairy Pokemon are inside a cave, Dusk Balls can be used to catch them. Try to avoid dealing too much damage to Cleffa, as its Defense isn't too great. Both Cleffa and Clefairy's levels will be scaled to match the player's progress in the story. This means it can be level 18 or around level 60.
How to Evolve Cleffa into Clefairy (How to Raise Friendship)
Like other Baby Pokemon, Cleffa will only evolve when levels up while having high Friendship with its trainer. Fortunately, it's very easy to raise Friendship in Scarlet/Violet. Players can have Cleffa walk outside its Poke Ball and have it pick up nearby items to raise its Friendship. However, the quickest way is to set up a Picnic and make a sandwich.
Use the Picnic feature and avoid dropping ingredients when making a sandwich to gain a huge boost in Cleffa's friendship level. Once Cleffa has two hearts over its head, its Friendship should be high enough to evolve. Level up Cleffa once to initiate the evolution.
How to Evolve Clefairy into Clefable
Now that Clefairy team, players can evolve it into Clefable. Clefairy won't evolve by leveling up or with high friendship. Instead, Clefairy evolves when exposed to a Moon Stone. This evolutionary stone can be picked up around Oni Mountain (appears as "golden sparkles" on the ground) or in South Province (Area Three) in Paldea. Another way to get a Moon Stone is to receive it as a Pokedex Reward for catching 210 Pokemon in the Paldea Region.
Once Clefairy has become Clefable, players will want to have it Remember Moves. This can be done by going into Clefable's Summary and tabbing over to the Moves and Stats page. Press A-button and select Remember Moves, and it will pull up the learnset it had as a Clefairy.
Clefable doesn't have the greatest Attack or Defense, but it makes an excellent Special Attacker and has solid Special Defense. Thus, players will want to prioritize special moves when setting up its learnset. For example, Moonblast is a great move for Clefable, as well as Calm Mind, which raises its Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage in battle.
Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet are available for Nintendo Switch.