How to get all starters in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s DLC, The Indigo Disk, allows you to do something unthinkable: catch starters in the wild. For the first time, you can shiny hunt these rare Pokémon without using eggs and breeding. Incredible.

For those not hip to Pokémon lingo, starter Pokémon, or “starters,” refers to the three Pokémon you able to choose from at the start of each game. This includes original Pokémon like Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander from Kanto to relative newcomers like Grookey, Sobble, and Scorbunny from Galar. Note, however, that the Paldean starters (Sprigatito, Quaxley, and Fuecoco) are not available to find in the wild.

To unlock the wild starter Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet, you’ll need to grind out quite a few Blueberry quests (BBQs) and once you do, it can be hard to find them around the map. Below, we list out the requirements for unlocking the wild starters in The Indigo Disk and where to find them.

How to unlock starters in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk

You won’t be able to catch the starters in the wild right off the bat. You’ll need to at least make it to the BB League club room in The Indigo Disk’s story before you can. Once you do, Drayton will talk to you about using the computer to donate BP to other clubs. He’ll force you to donate to the baseball club to learn some new throwing styles, but after this tutorial bit, you’ll be free to donate to whatever clubs you want.

For 3,000 BP each, you can opt to add Pokémon to each of the four Terarium biomes. The Pokémon in question are the starters. They correlate to biomes as follows:

Savanna Biome: Charmander, Totodile, Snivy, Fennekin, Rowlet, Sobble
Coastal Biome: Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Mudkip, Froakie, Popplio, Grookie
Polar Biome: Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, Piplup, Oshawott, Chespin, Scorbunny
Canyon Biome: Squirtle, Treecko, Turtwig, Tepig, Chespin, Litten
(Yes, Chespin is found in both biomes, since it actually inhabits a cave that connects the two areas.)

You’ll need to do BBQs in order to get BP. You can amass tons by using the Union Circle mode with other players. We managed to get enough BP for all four upgrades from a little under two hours of rigorous multiplayer grinding with three others. While you amass BP from doing BBQs, you’ll also get access to the Snackworth Legendaries (though you’ll need to beat the DLC before you can actually claim them).

Where to find wild starters in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

If you’re having a hard time finding the Pokémon in their respective areas, consider using a sandwich that boosts encounter rate by type. We used the following:

Fire encounters: Pickle sandwich (1 pickle and 1 olive oil)
Grass encounters: Klawf claw sandwich (1 Klawf stick, 1 tomato, 1 lettuce, 1 salt, and 1 olive oil)
Water encounters: Zesty sandwich (1 jalapeño, 1 onion, 1 herbed sausage, and 1 chili sauce)

Note that using a water-boosting sandwich in the water or a grass-boosting sandwich in areas filled with grass-type Pokémon may not yield the best results. We recommend heading to land for the water-types (when you can) and trying to go to more isolated areas for grass-types. Be patient, you will find them!

Below we list the in-game locations of all the starter Pokémon you can catch at Blueberry Academy, organized by Pokédex number.

Bulbasaur location

You can find Bulbasaur roaming around the grassy parts of the mountain in the southern part of the Coastal Biome.

Charmander location

Charmander is running around the southern and central part of the Savanna Biome.

Squirtle location

Squirtle can be found in and out of the water in the southern area of the Canyon Biome.

Chikorita location

Chikorita can be found around many different areas of the Coastal Biome.

Cyndaquil location

Cyndaquil is found in a specific cave in the Polar Biome. You can find the specific entrance to this cave here:

A Pokémon trainer stands outside of a cave with Cyndaquil inside in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

You know you’ll be in the right spot, since there’ll be a Tera Duraludon inside.

Totodile location

Totodile can be found in some of the swampy pools in the Savannah Biome.

Treecko location

Treecko is wandering around the grassy mountain tops in the Canyon Biome.

Torchic location

Torchic is found in a specific cave, which you can find by going south from the Polar Plaza and up the mountain. You can see the entrance to the cave below: