Where to find Cranidos & Shieldon in Pokemon Legends Arceus

Brent Koepp
Pokemon Legends Arceus Fossil Pokemon Cranidos and Shieldon.

In Hisui, Sinnoh’s Fossil Pokemon can only be caught in a hidden location. Here is where to find Cranidos & Shieldon in Pokemon Legends Arceus and how to get their evolutions Rampardos and Bastiodon. 

Players looking to complete their Hisui Pokedex may become stumped when trying to find Cranidos and Shieldon. That’s because the Sinnoh Fossil Pokemon are actually hidden.

This guide will break down what Trainers need to do to find the Gen IV dinosaur duo in Pokemon Legends Arceus, as well as how to get their popular evolutions Rampardos and Bastiodon.

Pokemon Legends Arceus Rampardos and Bastiodon screenshot
Players can get the Sinnoh Fossil Pokemon in Legends Arceus.

Where to find Cranidos in Pokemon Legends Arceus

Players looking to catch the Fossil Pokemon will have to wait until obtaining Mission 11: Scaling Perilous Heights because both Cranidos and Shieldon can only be found in the Coronet Highlands.

There is a catch, however, as the Dino ‘mon can not just simply be caught in the overworld.

  1. After receiving Mission 11, head to the Coronet Highlands.
  2. Travel around the map and catch or battle wild Pokemon.
  3. Wait for a Space-Time Distortion to appear. You will know when it’s forming because a message will flash across the center of the screen.
  4. Once one shows up, look at your map and fly to its location. Enter the purple dome. 
  5. You will now need to wait for a couple of minutes until the Distortion fully forms.
  6. After it opens, hop on your Wyrdeer mount and run around in a circle to see which ‘mon spawn. If you don’t see Cranidos, keep circling to trigger more spawns.
  7. When you see Cranidos, hop off your mount and throw your Pokemon at it to engage in battle. Now throw a Great or Ultra Ball at it until you catch it.

Unfortunately, the Pokemon that spawn in the Space-Time Distortions are completely random. So if neither of the Fossil ‘mon show up, you will need to wait for another one to appear.

Pokemon Legends Arceus Cranidos Map location.
Cranidos can be found in Coronet Highlands’ Space-Time Distortions.

Where to find Shieldon in Pokemon Legends Arceus

Similar to its counterpart, Sheildon can only be found in Space-Time Distortions that appear in the Coronet Highlands.

The steps to finding one are the exact same as Cranidos as Trainers will need to enter the map and run around until a Distortion rift opens up from the sky.

  1. Go to the Coronet Highlands.
  2. Travel around the map and catch or battle random Pokemon.
  3. Wait for a Space-Time Distortion to appear.
  4. Run around inside to see if Shieldon spawns. The Fossil ‘mon usually will show up alongside Cranidos.
  5. If one shows up, then throw your Pokemon at it and battle it. Throw Ultra or Great Balls at the Rock-type till you catch it.
Pokemon Legends Arceus Shieldon screenshot.
Players can only catch Shieldon in the Coronet Space-Time Distortions.

How to evolve Rampardos in Pokemon Legends Arceus

In Pokemon Legends, Cranidos will evolve into Rampardos starting at level 30. Since players can only catch the ‘mon in the Space-Time Distortions, its level will already be in the high 20s.

Equip the ‘mon on your team and go battle or catch wild Pokemon to earn EXP. Once it’s ready to evolve go to your menu.

  1. After your Cranidos hits level 30, press Up on the D-Pad to access the menu.
  2. Use your cursor to select the Fossil Pokemon and press A.
  3. You will then be given a prompt to “Evolve”.
  4. The Pokemon will now automatically evolve into Rampardos.
Pokemon Legends Arceus Rampardos evolution screen.
Cranidos will evolve into Rampardos.

How to evolve Bastiodon in Pokemon Legends Arceus

Just like Rampardos, Shieldon can evolve into Bastidon once it reaches level 30 in the Hisui region.

Once it reaches that level, go into your menu where you will now be able to evolve it using the same method as Rampardos.

Pokemon Legends Arceus Bastiodon evolution.
Shieldon evolves into Bastiodon.

And that is everything you need to know on how to find the Fossil Pokemon Cranidos and Shieldon in Pokemon Legends Arceus.

For more help on your Hisui adventures, make sure to check out our other guides below:

Best starter Pokemon | All Hisuian forms | Hisuian Pokedex | How to catch Darkrai | How to catch Shaymin | All Noble Pokemon | How to beat Frenzied Noble Pokemon | All Gift Pokemon | Mystery Gift codes | Agile & Strong Styles | Alpha Pokemon | How to get Garchomp | How to catch Lucario | All Unown locations | How to catch Eevee | Where to find Pikachu | Hisuian Growlithe & Arcanine location | How to evolve Kleavor | Sylveon evolution guide | Hisuian Voltorb location | How to get Hisuian Sliggoo & Goodra | Where to find Hisuian Zorua & Zoroark | Hisuian Braviary location | How to evolve Overqwil | How to get Hisuian Sneasel & Sneasler | Shiny hunting guide | How to get all three starters without trading

About The Author

Brent is a former writer at Dexerto based in the United States, who covered topics such as Pokemon, Gaming, and online Entertainment.