Struggling in Pokemon Legends: Z-A? Here's How to Catch Strong Dragon Pokemon Early

Dragon-types are extremely powerful in this Pokemon game. Here’s how to catch them early and strengthen your team. The latest Pokemon game, Pokemon Legends: Z-A, has a revamped battle system compared to earlier games in the series, swapping out slow turn-based combat for real-time fights. Having strong Pokemon with hard-hitting moves on your team is one of the best ways to make quick work of its storyline battles as well as compete online in Z-A Battle Club. Picking powerful Pokemon is key.If you’re new to this roleplaying series, dragon-type Pokemon are some of the strongest you can find. Many of them are colloquially called pseudo-legendaries by players because their impressive stats are second only to those of legendary Pokemon. Consequently, their base forms -- the first versions you can find that grow into supremely powerful evolutions -- are typically difficult to find, hard to capture and extremely time-consuming to level up.We’ll leave you to do the training for your party of six, but here’s a simple guide with locations and tips to find and capture strong dragon-types to add to your squad in Pokemon Legends Z-A.Read more: How to Get Gengar in Pokemon Legends Z-A: Evolving Haunter, Catching and MoreGet Dratini by scaling rooftops in Vert Sector 6 Dratini can be found on the roof of Restaurant Le Nah. Pokemon Company/Screenshot by CNETThe first of the powerful dragon types we'll help you track down hails from the original (Gen 1) Pokemon games. Dratini is the base form of Dragonite, a dragon- and flying-type pseudo-legendary, and is the easiest to find on this list. To capture one, fast-travel or find your way to Restaurant Le Nah in Vert Sector 6. Once you’re there, face the restaurant, turn right and climb the ladder attached to the building next to it. Once you’re on the roof of this building, you’ll want to turn left and then roll onto the roof of the restaurant. That’s where you’ll find Dratini waiting for you.Now, Dratini is skittish. It’ll run away the moment it spots you, so you’ll want to be prepared. Save your game before approaching it and ready a Pokemon that can either knock it out with one attack or stock up on Quick Balls and Dusk Balls. I’ve had a lot of success with Dusk Balls in this game,  so I recommend trying to catch Dratini at night. Dratini is a skittish dragon-type and will despawn if it spots you approaching. Pokemon Company/Screenshot by CNETDratini evolves into Dragonair at Level 30 and then Dragonite at Level 55, gaining the flying-type with its final evolution. With this dual-typing, Dragonite is strong against dragon, grass, fighting and bug-type Pokemon. However, its strength isn’t limited to type advantages; it also learns hard-hitting moves like Hurricane and Outrage that can get you out of a pickle. It has wide-coverage attacks, like Earthquake, in its move pool to damage multiple Pokemon in one go. You can also Mega Evolve Dragonite in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, although its Mega Stone becomes available after you complete Main Mission 32.Note: You can also find Dratini or Dragonair on a rooftop in Bleu Sector 9 and Dragonite in Wild Zone 20 after you’ve completed the main storyline.Capture Gible in Wild Zone 8 Gible can be found in Wild Zone 8. Pokemon Company/Screenshot by CNETIf you’ve already got a flying-type Pokemon on your team and want to widen the type matchups you cover, capturing Gible and evolving it into its final evolution, Garchomp, is one of the best things you can do.You can find Gible in one of Wild Zone 8’s many holes -- keep an eye out for its blue fin popping out to show that it has spawned. Depending on your luck, you might find one right away, or it’ll take a few bench resets to spot one among the many Drilbur of this Wild Zone. So, once you’ve spotted the blue fin, save your game and head right into the battle.Gible isn’t skittish and won’t run away, but Wild Zone 8 can quickly become a fighting fest that’s difficult to manage. Bring a Pokemon that’s fast or can use moves that deal damage over a wide area -- think water-type Pokemon. Also bring Great Balls, Ultra Balls, and Dusk Balls; these will be your best bet for capturing Gible, since it has a low capture rate like Dratini.Gible will evolve into Gabite at Level 24, and then Gabite evolves into Garchomp at Level 48, so be prepared for a long leveling grind to get this top dragon. However, the effort is well worth it because adding the dragon and ground type Garchomp to your team lets you effectively use moves like Earthquake -- more so than Dragonite -- dealing damage quickly over wide areas, while defending against similarly strong attacks, thanks to its well-distributed stat total. You can also Mega Evolve Garchomp early in the game because its Mega Stone -- Garchompite -- is easy to get. You can buy it for 70,000 Pokemon Dollars from the Stone Emporium after completing Main Mission 10.Find Goomy in Vert Sector 9 while it's raining Goomy spawns