How to Find & Catch Ting-Lu

Learn how to find and catch the legendary Pokémon Ting-Lu in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. This guide covers its location, weaknesses, and the best strategies for capture.

Alright, so you're looking to snag yourself Ting-Lu, one of the legendary Treasures of Ruin? It's a bit of a quest, but totally doable! Ting-Lu is chilling out in a special shrine, and you'll need to do a little legwork around Paldea before you can even think about battling it.

Where to Find Ting-Lu:

First off, Ting-Lu is sealed away behind a green shrine. You'll find this shrine over at Socarrat Trail, which is north of the big Casseroya Lake. It's a pretty distinctive green shrine, so keep an eye out. Before you can even get to it, though, you've got a mission: you need to find and remove 8 green stakes scattered across the north-west part of Paldea. Our Green Stakes page has the exact spots for those, so definitely check that out. Once all 8 stakes are gone, you'll get a message saying a sound is coming from the shrine. That's your cue! Make sure you save your game right before you inspect the shrine's seal – this is important! – because that's when Ting-Lu will appear for a fight.

How to Catch Ting-Lu:

So, Ting-Lu is a Dark/Ground type, and it's a real tank. Its 'Vessel of Ruin' ability is active right from the start, which is a bummer for your Special Attack stats, but hey, it doesn't affect Ting-Lu itself. This Pokémon boasts incredible HP and Defense, a strong Attack stat, and a decent Special Defense, but it's pretty slow and doesn't hit hard with Special Attacks.

Watch out for its moves: 'Stomping Tantrum' is its main Ground STAB, and 'Throat Chop' is its Dark STAB that also blocks sound-based moves. It's got 'Ruination', which will slice your Pokémon's HP in half, and 'Rock Slide' which is a threat to Flying types. Fun fact: Stomping Tantrum gets stronger if Ting-Lu's previous move failed, like if Rock Slide or Ruination missed, or if it was paralyzed.

Ting-Lu has a notoriously low catch rate, so your best bet is to inflict a status condition. Sleep or Paralysis are your top choices here. Sleep lasts a bit but has better odds (think moves like Hypnosis or Yawn), while Paralysis lasts forever but is a bit harder to land (moves like Glare). Burn and Poison can work, but they're less ideal.

When you're chipping away at Ting-Lu's health, super-effective moves are fine, but avoid anything with a super high base power (like 100+) because Ting-Lu is so bulky. As its HP gets lower, definitely consider switching to 'False Swipe'. If you don't know it, Jacq, your homeroom teacher, can teach it to you. False Swipe will always leave the target with at least 1 HP, preventing you from accidentally knocking it out.

The good news? Ting-Lu can't heal itself. So once it's low on health and hopefully status-afflicted, you can breathe a little easier. Still, it hits hard, so don't be shy with your healing items. If you're taking a beating, an X Defense can help, but remember that Ruination deals fixed damage, so defenses won't help against that specific move.

Pro-Tip: Flying-type Pokémon are immune to Stomping Tantrum, which is a huge help! Just be mindful that many Flying types are weak to Rock Slide, so Pokémon like Corviknight, Hawlucha, or Flamigo, which take neutral damage from it, are solid choices. Hawlucha is particularly great because it can learn False Swipe itself and also dish out super-effective Fighting attacks before switching to False Swipe. You might need another Pokémon to apply a status condition like Paralysis, but it's a solid strategy.

Once Ting-Lu is at low HP and has a status ailment, start chucking those Poké Balls! Ultra Balls are always a safe bet. If it's nighttime, Dusk Balls are better. If you've been battling for more than 10 turns, Timer Balls become the best option. And if Ting-Lu is asleep, Dream Balls are fantastic, though they're pretty rare.