While it might not look like it, Noibat has the potential to evolve into a powerful dragon-type Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Noivern is a Pokemon that can move fast and hit opponents hard enough that they can’t respond.
There are a load of different dragon Pokemon available in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. While some like Applin, Flapple, and Appletun are underwhelming, most are quite strong. Noivern is certainly on the stronger end of the spectrum, and is a Pokemon that can serve some players well.
Where to Catch Noibat and Noivern in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
Noibat can be caught throughout most of northeastern Paldea, and in a small portion of West Province Area Two. Unless players happen to trek into its habitat in the West Province, players might have trouble tracking it down until the late game.
Once players trek into northeastern Paldea, they’ll also have the opportunity to capture Noivern as well. The Pokemon shares the same territory as Noibats in the area, with the Noiverns being much more aggressive towards players. Here is the habitat page of both Pokemon in the Pokedex:
How to Evolve Noibat into Noivern
Noibat evolves into Noivern after reaching level 48. Players don’t have to worry about any other conditions, as there are no required moves and no items involved in its evolution. Players may not want to commit to training a Noibat, however. Evolving Noibat is like a much more difficult version of evolving Magikarp into Gyarados.
Noibat has an incredibly low 245 base stat total, which is even lower than a starter Pokemon. That will make it a huge handicap in parties, such that players might just be better served catching Noivern or using candies to give it the required levels.
Is Noivern a Good Pokemon?
Noivern is a good Pokemon on its own merits, but players probably won’t want to add it to their teams in any permanent fashion. This stems from the availability of other powerful dragon Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.
Noivern has a high Speed stat and a serviceable Sp. Attack stat, alongside access to the move Boom Burst. If the player changes Noivern’s Tera Type to Normal, the move effectively has 210 base power with the ability to ignore Light Screen and Substitute when paired with the Infiltrator.
The trouble is that for all of those strong points, it’s ultimately just a worse version of Dragapult. Dragapult is faster, has higher attack stats, a larger move pool, and the Infiltrator ability as well. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players should get Dragapult instead, as it does most of the same things but better.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch.