How To Catch Garganacl & Best Competitive Move Set in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Garganacl is one of the brand new Generation 9 Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Paldea Region. Luckily for this blocky ‘Mon, it has also been recognized as one of the best choices to incorporate into a team for competitive play. If you’re looking to add Garganacl to your team, but have no idea where to start, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about how to catch Garganacl and its best competitive move set in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Where to Find and Catch Garganacl in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

As indicated in Garganacl’s Pokedex entry, it is one of a handful of Pokemon with an unknown habitat in the Paldea region. This means that they aren’t found roaming around in the open like most Pokemon, and generally can’t be caught in the wild.

However, you can simply opt to capture a Naclstack, the pre-evolution of Garganacl, and then evolve it. Naclstack are fairly common in Paldea, and live in areas across large sections of the map. These locations are highlighted yellow in the map below, but to save you time on your search, here are the specific areas Naclstack can be found:

• Casseroya Lake
• North Province (Area One, Two & Three)
• South Province (Area Six)
• Glaseado Mountain

To evolve Naclstack into Garganacl, all you’ll need to do is raise Naclstack to level 38. After reaching this level, the evolution process will trigger automatically, and you’ll end up with your Garganacl.

Best Garganacl Nature & Moveset For Competitive Battle

Now that you’ve got your own Garganacl, you’re probably looking to start preparing it for use in Competitive battle. Well, don’t worry: From natures and held items to move sets, here’s everything you need to know.

Best Natures for Garganacl

The best Natures to consider for Garganacl are Careful, Relaxed or Sassy. These Natures all provide boosts to the Sp. Def or Defense stats, bulking Garganacl’s already very tanky numbers even higher. If you’re stuck trying to decide which one to go for, here’s a breakdown of each nature and the perks and cons it will bring to your Garganacl’s overall stats.

• Careful: Boosts Sp. Def with a small cost to Sp. Atk
• Relaxed: Boosts Defense with a small cost to Speed
• Sassy: Boosts Sp. Def with a small cost to Speed

Out of these Natures, the best selection for the moveset below is Careful. This is due to the combination of physical moves in the build, and the boost that Garganacl gets to its Sp. Def from this Nature, helping buff it against the likes of Solar Beam and Hydro Pump.

Best Build and Moveset for Garganacl with a Careful Nature

Best Held Items for Careful Garganacl: Leftovers

Garganacl Ability – Purifying Salt: This is Garganacl’s signature Ability, providing multiple perks. Not only does this make Gaganacl invincible to status conditions, but it also halves any damage taken from Ghost-type moves.

Garganacl is a defensive powerhouse, so the best build to use in competitive battle is one that utilizes its high defensive stats, creating a bulky tank. A move set that provides Garganacl with prime opportunity to operate as a reliable and sturdy defensive ‘Mon is Body Press, Salt Cure, Recover, and Iron Defense. Here’s a full breakdown of each move and why it’s a useful addition to Garganacl’s kit.

• Body Press: This is a perfect move to keep on rotation for defensively-powered Pokemon, such as Garganacl. This is because Body Press opts to use the Defense stat instead of Attack to calculate damage. Garganacl already has a very solid base Defense, so pairing this move with Iron Defense provides a very strong combination.

• Salt Cure: Salt Cure is a unique move to Garganacl, allowing it to outlast many threatening opponents in battle. Salt Cure deals physical damage as per usual, and then deals 1/8 of the target’s max HP as residual damage once per turn. On top of this, this residual damage is doubled if the opponent is a Water or Steel type.

• Recover: Equipping Garganacl with Recover gives it the opportunity to remain in the fight for even longer, with its defensive power operating for an extended amount of time. By using Recover to keep Garganacl in the battle (Plus the per-turn bonus from Leftovers), you will also continue to keep the effects of Iron Defense and Sat Cure in play, giving Garganacal the potential to be one of , if not the, main damage dealers on your team.

• Iron Defense: A must-have for the classic Iron Defense + Body Press combo, this move boosts the user’s Defense stat by two stages with each use. This can skyrocket Garganacl’s offensive power, as Body Press uses the Defense stat to deal damage rather than Attack.

Other Viable Moves To Consider For Garganacl

Other viable moves for Garganacl are: Stealth Rock, Iron Head, and Wide Guard. Depending on how you want to fine-tune your build, you can switch these moves in and out as you wish. Here’s some notes on what makes them worthwhile as alternate options:

• Stealth Rock can be used in place of Iron Defense to shift focus from buffing Defense to terrain control. This is useful for chipping away at team compositions that switch out often or use moves to force rotation.
• Iron Head is a solid physical move with a 100% accuracy rating, meaning it’s reliable in many situations. Iron Head also gives a 30% chance of causing the enemy to flinch, providing the bonus opportunity of throwing your opponent off their rhythm.
• Wide Guard can be utilized with great effect by Garganacl if you plan to run it in Scarlet & Violet’s Competitive Double battle tier. This move protects all Pokemon on the user’s side of field from attacks that would hit both Pokemon, shutting down the likes of Earthquake and Make It Rain.

That’s everything you need to know about how to catch Garganacl and the best competitive move set for it in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. For more lists, quizzes, news, and gameplay guides, check out some of our other content. down below. We also have a wide variety of Pokemon-themed guides to help you overcome any obstacles on your journey to becoming the very best, such as the location of TM 041 Stored Power, what Mold Breaker does, and how to reset EVs.