How to Catch Xerneas in Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Post-Game

Xerneas is the Fairy-type boxart legendary introduced in Pokemon X and Y. Now, Pokemon Legends: Z-A doesn't have a lot of legendary Pokemon in its Pokedex to go out and catch, but Xerneas is indeed one of the few available (as well as its counter-legendary, Yveltal).

The thing is, you cannot catch Xerneas in Pokemon Legends: Z-A until the post-game. Keep reading, and we'll show you the process for getting the special encounter.

Please do not keep reading if you do not want to be spoiled on stuff that happens after the credits roll.

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Pokemon Legends: Z-A - How to Catch Xerneas

'The One That Gives'

Once you're in the post-game for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, you'll learn about the Infinite Z-A Royale. It basically just lets you fight trainers in Battle Zones at night like you've been doing for the whole game, but you can earn rewards from Quasartico and participate in Reward Matches there.

Go ahead and complete your first round of the Infinite Z-A Royale by earning 50,000 points and getting a Challenger's Ticket. Take it to Quasartico and speak to the male attendant at the desk to battle Zach the Driver. Once he's defeated, Lida will call you to head over to Hotel Z.

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After the conversation, you will get two new Main Missions to follow ("The One That Gives" and "The One That Takes"). For now, we're going to show you how to complete the first quest, which will reward you with an encounter with Xerneas. To start the questline, speak to Mable at the Research Lab (next to Wild Zone 1).

Mable will ask you to go to Wild Zones 3, 5, and 9, and find and defeat anomalous Alpha Pokemon (one at each location).

Finding the Alpha Pokemon in Wild Zones 3, 5, and 9

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For the Alpha Pokemon in Wild Zone 3 (Rouge District), you should spot the angry Alpha Steelix right in the middle of the area. You can use Fighting, Ground, Fire, or Water-type moves to make quick work of it.

For the Alpha Pokemon in Wild Zone 5, just fast travel to the location, and you should spot a Gallade with red eyes walking in the middle of the area.

We managed to sneakily catch it with an Ultra Ball from the backside, but if you plan on battling it, try and use Fairy, Ghost, and Flying-type attacks.

And for the Alpha Pokemon in Wild Zone 9, you're going to want to find a Pangoro on the rooftops. To reach it, find one of the ladders in the northwestern corner of the Wild Zone, climb it, and then turn left and head straight to find Pangoro on a different roof.

If you look at our map pic above, the arrow is showing the path from the ladder to the Alpha Pokemon. You can also check out a video below showing how to find Pangoro.

Pangoro is weak to Fighting, Fairy, and Flying-type moves.

With the three Alpha Pokemon taken care of, you can head back to Mable at the Research Lab, and she'll give you a new objective: to head to Wild Zone 11 (this is where Xerneas is!).

(You can find the location of Wild Zone 11 in our interactive map above for Pokemon Legends: Z-A).

Battle With Xerneas

Fast travel to Wild Zone 11 (or a nearby location if you have not visited it yet) and interact with the objective marker by the river to start a cutscene (and then battle!) With the Legendary Kalos Pokemon. It's worth noting that you must capture Xerneas once you knock it out in order for the mission to progress.

So if you end up defeating it and then tossing a regular ol' Poke Ball, it will most likely evade capture, and then you need to restart the battle. There's no way to accidentally miss out on catching Xerneas, as the game will start the process over for you if your ball misses.

I would recommend just using an Ultra Ball, as it worked for me on the second attempt (I tried a Poke Ball first and it failed).

Xerneas is a Fairy-type Pokemon, making it susceptible to Poison and Steel-type moves. Make sure to heal up your party before facing it in battle, as it can cause some trouble if you're not careful.

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