How to change Pokémon in Legends Arceus: Update party, moves & nicknames
Personalise your experience by making these changes in Pokémon Legends Arceus.
One of the many things that Pokémon Legends Arceus changes about the franchise is the manner in which you can change your creatures.
From the way you select which Pokémon are in your party, to how you choose which moves those Pokémon have learned, nothing is handled in quite the same way here as it was in the previous games. Even changing your Pokémon's nicknames is done differently now.
So, rather than just sticking to your first set of Pokémon/moves/nicknames for the entire game, read on to learn how you can change all of that!
How to change Pokémon party in Pokémon Legends Arceus
If you're wondering how to change your party in Pokémon Legends Arceus, the answer you're looking for is just to the east of Jubilife Village.
Once you're able to access this area, you will find a female NPC there who is running a little farm for you - the game refers to this area as 'Pastures', and it serves as an ancient equivalent to the Boxes mechanic (which you might remember from previous Pokémon games).
If you want to change your party in Pokémon Legends Arceus, go and speak to this NPC and they will allow you to swap the creatures in your party for the ones in your Pastures. It's like a pre-digital version of Bill's PC, basically!
If you're out and about nowhere near the village, you can also access your Pastures and swap out your party members by talking to the Galaxy Member at the camp site. Just tell him, 'I want to see my Pokémon', and he'll allow you to access the Pastures menu. Simples.
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- Pokémon Emerald cheats - what you need to know
- Best Pokémon gifts - the greatest merch
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How to change Pokémon during battle in Pokémon Legends Arceus
Pokémon Battles with other trainers are fairly rare in Pokémon Legends Arceus, but if you do find yourself in a battle and you want to swap out your Pokémon, it's pretty easy to do.
While you're in a battle, this is how you change Pokémon in Pokémon Legends Arceus:
- When it's your turn, press down on the D-pad
- On the Pokémon menu that appears, select the Pokémon that you want to send out
- From the little drop-down menu that pops up, select 'swap Pokémon'.
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How to change Pokémon moves in Pokémon Legends Arceus
In a nice spin on the usual formula, in Pokémon Legends Arceus, your Pokémon will remember every move they ever learn. They no longer have to forget the old ones. You can only take four moves into battle with you, though, and there's a handy spot in the bag menu which allows you to change your Pokémon moves at any time while you're out and about in the wild.
To change your Pokémon's moves in Pokémon Legends Arceus, this is what you need to do:
- Press up on the D-pad to open the bag menu
- Hover over the Pokémon whose moves you want to change and select them
- From the list of options that pops up, select 'change moves'
- This will bring you to a menu where you can swap moves to your heart's content!
How to change Pokémon nicknames in Pokémon Legends Arceus
In another tweak that has really streamlined a process from the previous games, changing Pokémon nicknames does not require help from a special NPC in Pokémon Legends Arceus. Instead, you can change a Pokémon's nickname any time you want from the bag menu.
To change a Pokémon nickname in Pokémon Legends Arceus, just follow these steps:
- Press up on the D-pad to open the bag menu
- Hover over the Pokémon whose name you want to change and select them
- From the list of options that pops up, select 'change name'
- You can now type in whatever nickname you want. Go wild!
There you have it, then - three different ways to change your Pokémon in Pokémon Legends Arceus and make your gameplay experience that little bit more personalised.
How to change your outfit in Pokémon Legends Arceus
And here's one final thing you might want to change to give your Pokémon Legends Arceus experience a little extra personal touch - you can change your human character's clothing at any time by heading to your bedroom in Jubilife Village. Approach the mirror and interact with it, and this will bring up your wardrobe options.
Read more on Pokémon Legends Arceus:
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- Pokémon Legends Arceus review - our final verdict
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- Pokémon Legends Arceus Bothersome Bidoof - all three quest locations
- How to evolve in Pokémon Legends Arceus
- The Sea's Legend guide for Pokémon Legends Arceus - catch the legendary Manaphy
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Authors
Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.
