Stantler is available to capture in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, but the fate of Wyrdeer is not known at this time. All signs point to players being able to get the shaggy reindeer at some point, however.
Wyrdeer was one of the most heavily promoted newcomers to Pokemon Legends: Arceus roster. The new Pokemon played a significant role in the spin-off, serving as the first rideable Pokemon of the game and arguably the most helpful in traversing the Hisui region. That has Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players wondering whether the new Big Horn Pokemon is available.
Unfortunately, the fate of Wyrdeer is unclear, but there is cause for hope. All signs point to the Pokemon coming to the game in the future.
How to Catch Stantler
Stantler can be caught in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet in South Province Areas One, Three, and Five. Alongside this, Stantler also has the chance to appear as a three-star Tera Raid boss.
The Johtonian Pokemon can be found across much of southeastern Paldea. Stantler can still be relatively hard to find just by wandering, but the good news is that there are two fixed spawns that guarantee a Stantler spawn. Both of these lie to the south of the eastern bridge out of Mesagoza. The best spot to find Wyrdeer is the rocky bridge that Area Five to Area Three. There is a fixed Stantler spawn here, and players can run back and forth across the bridge to spawn more into existence:
Can You Get Wyrdeer in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet?
In the base version of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, it is impossible to evolve Stantler into Wyrdeer. In Pokemon Legends: Arceus, players were able to evolve Stantler after having it use the move Psyshield Bash 20 times in the Agile Style.
Though Stantler returns in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, it is currently unable to learn Psyshield Bash. This means that Wyrdeer is unable to be captured in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, but the good news is that it seems likely that this will change. No Pokemon that were introduced in the Hisui region are currently available in gen-nine, but Game Freak showed that at least one is in the game. One of the first Pokemon Scarlet & Violet promotional screenshots featured a Hisuian Zoroark battling a Lucario.
On top of that, the original versions of all the non-starter Pokemon that received Hisuian variants are present in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, such as Qwilfish, Lilligant, and Growlithe. The Pokemon who received new cross-gen evolutions in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, including Scyther and Ursaring are also present. The mechanic of using a move repeatedly in order to evolve a Pokemon returned in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, particularly with Annihilape. None of the Hisuian variants, nor their Hisuian evolutions are available.
Arguably the most telltale sign is the fact that Wyrdeer is effectively coded into the games. This can be seen in the retail version based on the fact that Eviolite works on Stantler. Eviolite is a held item that offers a defensive boost to Pokemon that aren’t fully evolved.
As for when Wyrdeer will be available, there’s no definitive word on this. It could be made available via DLC or could be transferable using Pokemon HOME. Odds are that Pokemon Scarlet & Violet trainers will be able to add Wyrdeer to their teams in 2023.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.