How to catch Bonsly, Cleffa, and Munchlax in Legends: Arceus

Steven Rondina Published 11/02/2022

Most familiar baby Pokemon return in Legends: Arceus, but the likes of Bonsly, Munchlax, and Cleffa are particularly hard to find.

In previous iterations of the Pokemon series, this wouldn’t be an issue. Players can simply breed a Pokemon to obtain its baby form, with the only hurdle therein being the possible need to pick up an incense.

That’s not the case here. There is no daycare center In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, so players need to track down and catch Bonsly, Munchlax, Cleffa, and all the other baby Pokemon. Worse yet, these Pokemon are skittish, have low spawn rates, and have a relatively tough capture rate.

So how can players actually catch these Pokemon? Here are the Pokemon Legends: Arceus locations for Bonsly, Munchlax, and Cleffa, and instructions on how to catch them.

Bonsly location in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

The easiest place to catch Bonsly is in the Coronet Highlands between the Celestica Ruins and Sacred Plaza.

Bonsly can be found in this particular area in shaking ore deposits. While Sudowoodo can appear as a regular spawn, Bonsly does not appear in the overworld. Players will need to break rocks in order to find it.

The bad news with this is that Bonsly can only jump out of three specific ore deposits in this region, with Graveler and Gible appearing in other nearby ore deposits. The good news is that from those three ore deposits, Bonsly is guaranteed to be the Pokemon that jumps out of the deposit with a 1% chance of an alpha encounter. Serebii has an interactive map that shows the exact locations of the ore deposits.

This is one of three ore deposits with a 100% Bonsly spawn.

If that sounds like too much of a hassle, there’s another option. Bonsly also appears as a rare spawn in the Crimson Mirelands, in the areas surrounding the Diamond Settlement and Cloudpool Ridge. There are a few camps that can spawn either Sudowoodo or Bonsly. Do note that Bonsly will flee from battle and disappear if it sees the player approaching. The only food it likes is Crunchy Salt, which isn’t available for players early in the game.

Cleffa location in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Cleffa can be found in the Fabled Springs, located in the southwestern corner of the Coronet Highlands.

The Fabled Spring area is unremarkable during the day, but at night the entire Clefairy line spawns. Alongside a guaranteed alpha Clefable are other camps that have a 90% chance to spawn a Clefairy and a 10% chance to spawn a Cleffa. Both have a roughly 1% chance of being an alpha.

This is a relatively tricky capture as Cleffa will flee from the player on sight and there is limited cover in the area. There are only flowerbeds to hide in and there’s a chance that Cleffa can roam into them, bump into the trainer, and then look to run away.

Unlike Bonsly, Cleffa can be given food more easily to complete the Pokedex entry. Cleffa only eats honey, but the player should have a decent store of it by this point in the game.

Munchlax location in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

Munchlax can be found on the cliffs to the south of Deertrack Path in the Obsidian Fieldlands.

Munchlax is a rare spawn in this area, sharing camps with Zubats and Kricketots. It can spawn in any type of weather and at any time of the day, but only has between a 5% and 10% chance of spawning overall.

There is one other area where Munchlax can spawn. The Snowfall Hot Spring in the Alabaster Icelands has four Pokemon camps that spawn in the hot spring itself, with the Pokemon effectively sharing a communal bath. One of those four spawns has about a 3% chance to spawn a Munchlax.

While this can hypothetically work for the player, it’s significantly less reliable than catching a Munchlax from the Obsidian Fieldlands. The Fieldlands has a higher chance to spawn Munchlax and there are more camps that can yield the Pokemon.

As always, Munchlax is a skittish Pokemon and will flee from the trainer if they initiate battle or can’t catch it quickly. It’s strongly recommended to feed the Pokemon in order to boost up its Pokedex entry. It prefers honey, grains, and beans, but the player can easily just use Oran Berries as well.

Unless a spontaneous mass outbreak occurs with Munchlaxes, this is by far the easiest way to hit level 10 Pokedex research for Munchlax.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

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