Pokemon Sword & Shield April Fools’ Day Magikarps Can’t Be Caught

There’s a Pokemon Sword and Shield April Fools’ Day event, and it involves some frustrating Magikarp. They’ve temporarily infested the Wild Area’s dens and are all uncatchable. [Thanks, Serebii!]

Here’s how it works. Once you hop into Pokemon Sword or Shield and update the Wild Area, Magikarp will be everywhere. Approaching one of these dens will trigger a warning message that says, “You can’t catch this Pokemon. Is that OK?” If you agree and go into a Max Raid against one, the battle will initially go as planned. All it will do is use Splash and Flail to attack. You’ll also still get item drops from the fight, as usual. I acquired EXP Candies L and XL, Dynamax Candies, Armorite Ore, Dynite Ore, a Pearl, a Waterfall TM, a Surf TM, a Muddy Water TM, and a Hydro Pump TM.

This isn’t the first time Magikarp has been a star of a Max Raid event. The character was the featured Pokemon for the New Year’s 2020 Max Raids. People who played between December 31, 2019 and January 3, 2020 would see them more often and have a chance of catching a shiny version of the character in-game.

Prior to the Magikarp event, it was easier to find grass-type Pokemon in Wild Area dens. Specifically, characters like Bellossom, Cherrim, Comfey, Lilligant, Lurantis, and Vileplume were lurking about.

Pokemon Sword and Shield are available for the Nintendo Switch, and its April Fools’ Day Magikarp event is available on April 1, 2021.