Want to see Raider King content first? Add us as a preferred source.
Dragonite is undoubtedly an iconic Pokemon. Being the first pseudo-legendary Pokemon in the series, its power and cool design combined with its silly personality makes it a long-time favorite among many fans. And the latest entry in the Pokemon games has surely reignited that love, if not made it stronger. If you want one for yourself, you’ll need a Dratini to evolve first, so here’s all the locations you can find one in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.
Dratini Weather Requirements and Locations
Dratini doesn’t spawn in any specific weather condition, so you can freely search for it at any in-game time. That said, it can still be hard to catch once it’s found. On top of running away quickly upon spotting you, its catch rate is very low. Even with all the Blue Canari Plushes, which increase your likelihood of catching Pokemon, its still highly possible you’ll fail to catch it.
Dratini are often found in high places, such as rooftops. There are only a handful of possible locations it can spawn in. For the sake of your convenience, I’ll prioritize the locations that don’t require Roto-Glide or Holovators, so you can get started on finding Dratini in these spots as soon as possible.
Vert Sector 6
The quickest way you’ll get to Dratini is to the east in Vert Sector 6, on top of Restaurant Le Nah. If you fast travel to the restaurant, you can run to the right to climb the building right next to it using the ladder. The building in front of the restaurant also has a ladder you can climb, but you’ll need to use Roto-Glide to get on top of the restaurant from there. As for the building to the right, a well-spaced dodge roll should do the trick — just make sure you keep moving forward after the roll.
Once you reach the top of the restaurant, Dratini will be on another section of the roof by itself. It’ll be hard to catch if it spots you, but hitting it with a Poke Ball from behind should increase the chances of catching it successfully. So try circling around the edge of the roof to get behind Dratini before throwing a Poke Ball at it.
Rouge Sector 8
You can find a Dratini on the west side rooftops of Rouge Sector 8. You can get on top of the buildings by climbing some scaffolding. Run in between the buildings and go through the western entranceway. There will be two entranceways, so make sure not to go through the one that has two people talking near it.
You’ll find a ramp on the right as the starting point to the scaffolding. Once you reach the top of it, Dratini should be very close by. There’s not many ways to get around Dratini’s line of sight before it spots you, so a back strike may be difficult. But this Dratini, like the others mentioned, has a 20% likelihood of being an alpha, so you won’t have to worry about it running away in that case.
Bleu Sector 9
Finally, another spot to find Dratini is on the rooftops of Blue Sector 9, west from Cafe Soleil. Getting up here without the nearby Holovator is a bit of a trip though. You’ll want to start by finding the scaffolding located near the patch of grass between Bleu Sector 9 and Bleu Sector 6. You’ll need a dodge roll to get to the second half of the scaffolding, which will put you on top of Bleu Sector 6.
You can make your way to Bleu Sector 9 from there by running along the right side of the roof. You’ll have to pass over some glass windows then go up a set of nearby inclines. Keep going right from there and you’ll see a bridge that’ll take you to Bleu Sector 6’s rooftops. Dratini will be in the opposite corner so whether you go left or right from there is up to you, but I’d personally recommend going left since there’s a slight chance you’ll catch Dratini looking away from you there.
How To Evolve Dratini
Now that you have your Dratini, it’s time for you to start leveling it up if you want a Dragonite. Dratini and its evolutionary line grows really slowly compared to other Pokemon, so you’ll need to put more effort and resources into it than usual if you want to see results. To speed up the process a bit, you can get all the Red Canari Plushes, which increase the amount of Exp. Points your Pokemon will gain.
Dratini evolves into Dragonair at Level 35. If you want to train it in Wild Zones, Wild Zones 11 and under are recommended since any Pokemon in Wild Zones 12 and above will be either overleveled or at a type advantage. But if you managed to catch an alpha Dratini at any of the locations, they should already be above the needed level to evolve. In that case, you can add it to your party and evolve it right away.
Next up is Dragonite, which evolves from Dragonair at Level 55. Dragonair could do decent in Wild Zone 18 with the other Dragon-types, but at that point, you’d probably be better off waiting until nightfall to battle other trainers in the Z-A Royale for Exp. Points. You can also battle at restaurants by buying their full-course feast of battles, but you won’t be able to heal or revive your Pokemon so make sure you’re well-prepared.
How to Get Mega Dragonite
Now that you have a Dragonite, you’ll be needing its Mega Stone so you can Mega Evolve it. Unfortunately, Mega Dragonite comes into the picture very late in the game’s main story. You won’t be able to get it until you complete Main Mission 32, A Rogue Mega Dragonite. You can only start that mission after reaching Rank B in the Z-A Royale. But that gives you plenty of time to train up your Dragonite for the fight!
