The Fifth Generation of Pokemon introduced a total of 156 brand-new Pokemon, a very ambitious feat since the Hoenn region in Gen 3. Among these 156 are Roggenrola and its evolutions: Boldore and Gigalith. Instead of recycling the Geodude family, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield brought the Roggenrola-line to Galar alongside many other Rock-type Pokemon.
Roggenrola, Boldore, and Gigalith are all pure Rock-type Pokemon. Unfortunately, Roggenrola's stats aren't the greatest, but if players are willing to wait, they can get its second evolution, Boldore, instead. Evolving Boldore into the mighty Gigalith can be impossible if players don't have anyone to trade with in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. However, there is one way around the trading method.
Finding & Evolving Boldore
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Boldore's pre-evolved form, Roggenrola, can be found as early as the Galar Mines, which players will need to travel through in order to get to the first Gym Battle. It only has a 5% appearance rate, so it may take a while to find one.
If players choose to catch Roggenrola, they'll need to get it to level 25 in order to evolve it into Boldore. After this, Boldore needs to be traded with another Sword/Shield player to evolve.
The other option is to catch Boldore in the wild. Boldore's lowest level is around level 26. It can be found in most of the areas of the northern section of the Wild Lands, particularly Giant's Mirror, Stony Wilderness, and Giant's Cap.
In Stony Wilderness, it has a 20% chance of appearing as a random encounter during a sandstorm. At Giant's Mirror, it's around level 34 as a visible Pokemon with a 10% appearance rate.
There's also Route 8, where Boldore can be spotted in tall grass. It'll be anywhere from level 39 to level 41. Finally, Boldore will occasionally spawn in a Max Raid Battle as a 2 or 4-star boss.
Trading Boldore
Those that don't have a Nintendo Switch Online Subscription won't be able to trade online. There's a 7-day free trial period for those that don't want to subscribe and just want to evolve their Pokemon.
To trade locally, do the following:
- Press Y to open the Y-Comm menu.
- Select Link Trade.
- For trading with someone specific, select Link Trade and then Set Link Code for both players to enter.
To trade via the internet, do this instead:
- Open the Y-Comm menu with Y-button.
- Press (+) to "Connect to the internet."
- Players can either Start Trading or Set Link Code to trade with a random person or with someone they know respectively.
If evolving Boldore, do not select Surprise Trade. This guarantees a random Pokemon in return for Boldore, thus defeating the purpose of getting Gigalith.
Catching Gigalith in the Wild and Max Raid Battles
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If players are lucky, they'll find Gigalith wandering about in the Dusty Bowl area of the Wild Lands. Gigalith will be level 51, unless players have received all Gym Badges, in which case it'll be level 60 instead. It also has a chance of appearing as a 5-star boss in a Max Raid Dungeon in Dusty Bowl, Stony Wilderness, Rolling Fields, and Giant's Seat.
Those that purchased the Isle of Armor DLC can find a level 42 Gigalith in the Brawler's Cave. Like the Wild Lands, Gigalith and Boldore will occasionally appear in Max Raid Dungeons around the Isle of Armor, particularly in Potbottom Desert, Training Lowlands, and Fields of Honor.
Gigalith's Typing makes it weak to Grass, Fire, Steel, Ground, and Fighting-type moves. However, it has a base stat Defense and Attack of 135 to make up for its poor Speed and Special Attack. This means choosing to whittle its HP with Physical-damaging moves is going to stretch out the battle.
If players are hoping to knock out Gigalith in a Max Raid Battle, they'll be better off using Special Moves like Aura Sphere and Flash Cannon. Putting Gigalith to Sleep or Paralyzing it may help as well. However, as a 5-star, it'll set up shields more frequently - especially when it loses chunks of health. So, try not to bring a Pokemon that's weak to Rock-type moves.
Gigalith knows Rock Slide, which can hit all of its opponents. Furthermore, if Gigalith chooses to use Max Rockfall, it'll spawn a sandstorm for five turns. Sandstorm not only inflicts damage on non-Ground/Rock/Steel-type Pokemon, but it'll also raise the Special Defense of Rock-type Pokemon by one stage.
If players want to avoid the Max Raid Battle with Gigalith, they can just search Dusty Bowl or Brawler's Cave (Isle of Armor) for the wandering Gigalith instead.
Pokemon Sword & Shield are available now on Nintendo Switch.
