A Pokémon Den.
Pokémon Dens (ポケモンの
Mechanics
Activating
At the beginning of each day, a number of dens activate, and the already-activated dens are deactivated. Once the player has cleared all activated dens, another number of dens are immediately activated.
Using a Wishing Piece or Wishing Chips, the player can manually actviate dens as they wish.
Encounter
All standard dens have two set of encounter pools: one common and one rare, most of which are shared among two or more dens. Each pool is themed after a type, sometimes two types or even after a single evolutionary line.
If a den is activated, it will shoot a beam of light that is visible from afar.
Max Raid Battles
- Main article: Max Raid Battle
If the beam is red in color, it indicates that the Max Raid Battle is selected from the common pool. Rarely the beam can be strong and lilac in color, indicating that the Max Raid Battle is selected from the rare pool.
If a Wild Area News is active, the Max Raid Battle may be choosed from the Wild Area News' pool instead. In this case, the light beam is red in color just like the common pool one.
Watts
The player can also obtain Watts from all dens that they have not interacted with that day. If a den yields Watts, the den itself glows in red. Before the player becomes the Champion, unactivated dens and activated dens yield 50 and 300 W respectively; after that event, they yield 200 and 2000 W respectively.
Dens in Locations
As mentioned above, dens can be found across the Wild Area, the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra. Only a few dens in the former two areas can have Max Raid Battles with Gigantamax Pokémon, while most dens in the Crown Tundra can have Gigantamax Pokémon Max Raid Battles.
| Location | Dens |
|---|---|
| Wild Area: 99 | |
| Axew's Eye | 1 |
| Bridge Field | 9 |
| Dappled Grove | 5 |
| Dusty Bowl | 9 |
| East Lake Axewell | 5 |
| Giant's Cap | 5 |
| Giant's Mirror | 5 |
| Giant's Seat | 5 |
| Hammerlocke Hills | 7 |
| Lake of Outrage | 4 |
| Motostoke Riverbank | 4 |
| North Lake Miloch | 6 |
| Rolling Fields | 9 |
| South Lake Miloch | 5 |
| Stony Wilderness | 12 |
| Watchtower Ruins | 2 |
| West Lake Axewell | 6 |
| Isle of Armor: 91 | |
| Brawlers' Cave | 1 |
| Challenge Beach | 8 |
| Challenge Road | 4 |
| Courageous Cavern | 6 |
| Fields of Honor | 10 |
| Forest of Focus | 6 |
| Honeycalm Island | 6 |
| Honeycalm Sea | 5 |
| Insular Sea | 5 |
| Loop Lagoon | 4 |
| Potbottom Desert | 3 |
| Soothing Wetlands | 9 |
| Stepping-Stone Sea | 10 |
| Training Lowlands | 7 |
| Workout Sea | 7 |
| Crown Tundra: 86 | |
| Ballimere Lake | 17 |
| Crown Shrine | 1 |
| Dyna Tree Hill | 1 |
| Frigid Sea | 14 |
| Frostpoint Field | 5 |
| Giant's Bed | 21 |
| Giant's Foot | 5 |
| Old Cemetery | 2 |
| Path to the Peak | 3 |
| Slippery Slope | 6 |
| Snowslide Slope | 9 |
| Three-Point Pass | 2 |
There are also two special Pokémon Dens:
- The Watchtower Lair inside the ruined watchtower in Watchtower Ruins, which only activates by throwing event-exclusive Dynamax Crystals.
- A special den in Giant's Bed, near the entrance to Snowslide Slope, which only activates if the player interacts with it with all five Legendary Giants. The battle is always against a level 100 Regigigas.
Trivia
- The design of Pokémon Dens are likely based on the Giant's Causeway, a location near the coast of Northern Ireland. The area consists of basalt columns that form the ground and pillars, looking similar to the stones that make up Pokémon Dens.
