When you take your first steps onto the Isle of Armor, the new Pokemon Sword and Shield expansion pass area, it isn’t long until you’re stopped by a guy with a problem. A Diglett problem. The poor chap has had 150 of his Alolan Diglett quite literally take a hike, and he wants you to find them all. Now, before you say “hell no!” to that kind of fetch quest, it’s worth noting the rewards come at relatively small intervals; five, 10, 20 Diglett. It’s not so bad.
What you get are Kanto classics in their relatively new Alolan forms; Alolan Meowth, Exeggutor, and even that super cool psychic surfing Alolan Raichu. It’s going to be tough to find 150 in a place as large as the Isle of Armor, but we’re going to go over a few tips on where to look and list out the rewards you earn along the way.
All Isle of Armor Diglett Rewards
The rewards the Diglett rancher dishes out along this side-quest start pretty quickly, keeping you motivated to find the rest as you scour around the new zones. The quest itself isn’t as bad as it first sounds, but if you’re busy trying to form a team for the new competitive season, you might want to give the complete rewards list a check so you know what to aim for.
Here are all the rewards you’ll get for finding Diglett on the Isle of Armor:
- 5 Diglett: Alolan Meowth
- 10 Diglett: Slowpoke (regular Kanto form)
- 20 Diglett: Alolan Vulpix
- 30 Diglett: Alolan Sandshrew
- 40 Diglett: Alolan Raichu
- 50 Diglett: Alolan Marowak
- 75 Diglett: Alolan Exeggutor
- 100 Diglett: Rowlet, Litten, or Popplio
- 150 Diglett: Alolan Diglett
How to Claim Diglett Rewards
Rewards for this particular side-quest aren’t dished out automatically as the Diglett go home. Whenever you’re ready to claim a few, you’ll need to head back to the Diglett Trainer by the bridge outside the Master Dojo.
Either fly back to the dojo and head across the bridge opposite the main entrance or fly back to the train station and follow the path to the left to find the Diglett Trainer again.
How to get Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio in Sword/Shield
Looking at that list, you’ll have noticed the old Sun/Moon starters arrive once you’ve found 100 lost Alolan Diglett. The problem is, you can only have one and the choice isn’t up to you.
Despite the game forcing a Charmander on you when the credits roll and giving you the choice between one of the other two remaining Kanto starters on the Isle of Armor, Diglett man won’t let you choose which Alola starter you receive at the milestone. You’ll receive the same type starter as the one you picked in the opening moments of the game.
That means Litten if you picked Scorbunny, Popplio for Sobble, or Rowlet for Grookey. You’ll need to use Pokemon Home to transfer the rest from your old copy of Pokemon Sun/Moon, trade with a friend, or breed some extras to put on the GTS to get the other two.
Tips for Finding Diglett
Given Pokemon’s lackluster map features and the impracticability of including 150 screenshots with accurate descriptions as to the whereabouts of each Diglett, we’re going to simply offer up some choice tips for finding the Diglett around the Isle of Armor.
As the sign beside the Diglett man points out, the three little hairs exclusive to Diglett’s Alolan form protrude from the ground when they dig, giving you a key feature to look out for as you slowly stroll around on the hunt. From a distance, they can still look like small rocks or blend in with small patches of grass and shrubbery, so be prepared to do a few laps of certain areas as your eyes try to deceive you.
The main thing to take in here is the slight bit of information you’re given when you find a Diglett: the number remaining in that specific zone of the island.
If the text pop-up tells you a zone only has a small amount of Diglett as you find the first in that area (around eight or less), expect them to be hidden along zone edges or close to notable objects like trees, rocks, and logs. Make sure to check thoroughly behind these at dead-ends or even at raid dens.
It’s only in areas that hide a dozen or more Diglett (or empty areas like the Potbottom Desert) that you’ll need to pay attention to every patch of the land. You’ll probably ride your bike over many of these as you rush around catching critters, so take things slow when you know you have a few to go. Just keep scanning for those three little strands of hair.
