Pokemon Legends Arceus: How to catch Manaphy and Phione

So this one took a bit, but luckily I’m hyper obsessive and my insanity is your gain. If you want to catch Manaphy and Phione in Pokemon Legends Arceus it’s easy if you know how and daunting if you do not.

First, you’ll find a request mission from the professor entitled “The Sea’s Legend”. In it, the professor tells you about a mysterious Pokemon he saw out at sea once and never saw again. About the only thing you know about it is that it’s going to be at the Cobalt Coastlands.

So, how do we find it once we’re there? Well, let me ask you, did you play Pokemon Brilliant Diamond or Pokemon Shining Pearl? Because THAT is where the answer is.

Those games were almost a full one-to-one remake of the original games with minor quality of life improvements and no changes to the story.  It was also an absolute slog so I don’t fault you for skipping them.

Well, there was one change. And it drove me NUTS.

See, when I was playing Pokemon Brilliant Diamond I came across a book in the Canalave Library. I was also going through the original on an emulator, so I could see any changes, (I know, I need a life). But there was this one book called “The Sea’s Legend” that they added to the remakes that weren’t in the original. It went something like this:

"“Once upon a time in the East Sea, there was a Pokémon known as the prince.A brave human asked Pokémon living in the sea to let them see the prince.Mantyke, Buizel, and a Qwilfish with huge spikes acknowledged the human’s bravery and joined them.Together, they set off in a boat over the sunset-streaked sea, stretched through the ocean gate stretched over the waves.News of this reached the ears of the prince, who went to meet the brave little party at the Seaside Hollow.”"

This entry drove me nuts. There was no Seaside Hollow. There wasn’t a Qwilfish with large spikes. What was this? Then I forgot about it until I played Pokemon Legends Arceus and saw “Seaside Hollow” on a map. I grabbed my journal that I wrote it in and boom, Qwilfish with large spikes! Why that’s an Overqwil!

Catching Manaphy and Phione in Pokemon Legends Arceus

In the first line, it says “Pokémon known as the prince.” Well, according to a 10th anniversary Manaphy promotional card, it’s referred to as “Prince of the Sea”.

In the third line, it says “Mantyke, Buizel, and a Qwilfish with huge spikes…joined them” So I’m guessing I’ll need those three with me in my party.

In the fourth line, it says “sunset-streaked sea” and “ocean gate over the waves”. So we’re going to go to those big things sticking out of the water at the end of Sand’s Reach and chill there till the evening.

And in the final line is says “meet the brave little party at the Seaside Hollow.” Obvious.

So we head out and rest until evening at the camp up at the end of Sand’s Reach (if you’ve unlocked it, if not any is fine) and then head through the weird claw-looking gate at the end of the reach and this will happen.

Then head around and swim to the Seaside Hollow. I don’t know if you can fly there or not without ruining it but I wanted to stay true to the lore so I swam there on the Basculegion. Once you get there you’ll see that the Seaside Hollow is open and there are stairs leading in. Head on in and meet your prince.

From there they’ll start running about and attacking. But I really recommend hitting any of them with something and then initiating a battle immediately. When you do you’ll fight all four at once. Once you’ve caught all four, head back to the professor and show him what you’ve done.

And now you’ve caught those. Remember to make sure to snag at least one Phione (I got all three) because, normally, the only way to get a Phione is to breed it and you can’t breed in Pokemon Legends Arceus.