How to Get Xerneas in Pokémon X: Story Path, Lv. 50 Battle and Catch Odds

You get Xerneas in Pokémon X during the story, in the deepest room of Team Flare Secret HQ under Geosenge Town. The path opens after you beat Olympia at the seventh Gym in Anistar City: go back to Lumiose City, get through Lysandre Café and Lysandre Labs, then follow Team Flare to the standing stones in Geosenge Town. At the bottom of their base Xerneas wakes from its tree form, and you battle it at Lv. 50. It has a catch rate of 45, it can never be shiny, and the story won't go on until it's in one of your Poké Balls, so you can't miss it or lose it for good.

This page is for Pokémon X on Nintendo 3DS and 2DS. Pokémon Y has Yveltal in the same spot instead (more on that below). Pokémon Legends: Z-A on Switch has its own Xerneas encounter that works differently, so none of these steps carry over there.

Xerneas at a glance

Xerneas is No. 148 in the Mountain Kalos Pokédex. You get exactly one per save file. After the catch the room stays empty, and nothing in the game brings Xerneas back.

When you can get Xerneas: the story path

There's no shortcut. Xerneas only appears once the story reaches it, and the steps come in this order:

1. Beat Olympia, the Psychic-type Gym Leader in Anistar City, for your seventh badge.
2. After Lysandre's broadcast, go back to Lumiose City and head for Lysandre Café in Magenta Plaza. The café has a hidden door that opens into Lysandre Labs.
3. Lysandre battles you on the first basement floor of the Labs. His team is Lv. 45 to 49 and ends with a Lv. 49 Gyarados. After the battle he tells you that one of his scientists has the Elevator Key.
4. Search the same floor and battle the Team Flare Scientists. Mable, the one you beat at Frost Cavern, is in a room on the east side. She gives you the Elevator Key when you beat her again.
5. Take the elevator down to B3F and the scientist Xerosic. He leaves you a red button and a blue button. Whichever you press, the ultimate weapon still blooms out of the ground in Geosenge Town.
6. Fly to Geosenge Town. Team Flare Secret HQ has a secret entrance in northwest Geosenge Town, and you can only enter after the ultimate weapon activates.
7. Work through the base. Lysandre battles you a second time on 1F, then your rival joins you for Multi Battles against Admins and Grunts.
8. In the deepest room, Xerneas is locked in the weapon's machine. After the scene it wakes up and you battle it.

If Xerneas isn't there yet, you skipped a step: the Secret HQ doesn't open until the Labs are done, and the Labs don't open until you have Olympia's badge.

Lysandre Labs isn't where Xerneas is

Some lists call the place "Team Flare's lab", which sends people searching Lumiose City. Lysandre Labs is the base behind the café in Lumiose. You beat Lysandre and Xerosic there, but Xerneas isn't in it. The legendary is in a different base, Team Flare Secret HQ, under Geosenge Town, west of Lumiose City. If you're standing in a room full of computers in Lumiose, keep going with the story.

Getting into the Secret HQ in Geosenge Town

Geosenge Town sits at the end of Route 10, the trail of standing stones that runs north from Cyllage City. While the weapon is up, a Team Flare member blocks Route 10, so Fly in. The way into the base is a secret entrance in northwest Geosenge Town, and you can only enter after the ultimate weapon activates. The base is a run of linked rooms with Team Flare members in most of them, so heal at the Geosenge Pokémon Center before you go in.

Route 10 stays closed until you clear the base, and so does Route 18 out of Anistar City. Both open on their own after the Xerneas part of the story.

Inside the base

Lysandre is waiting on 1F with a team of Lv. 47 to 51, ending with a Lv. 51 Gyarados. After him, your rival (Calem or Serena) teams up with you on the walkway for Multi Battles against Admins and Grunts, and two more Admins stand in the legendary room. Bring enough Potions and Revives for all of it. In the last room, Lysandre's machine holds Xerneas as a tree. After the cutscene it turns to you, and the battle starts.

What to bring for the Xerneas battle

Xerneas isn't a hard catch. Its catch rate of 45 is the same as a Kalos starter's, and far easier than the catch rate 3 legendaries after the Hall of Fame. Bring these:

• 10 or more Ultra Balls. They do most of the work once its HP is low.
• A few Quick Balls, if you have them. Thrown on the first turn they're the best ball you can use at full HP.
• A Pokémon with False Swipe. It leaves Xerneas at 1 HP and can't knock it out. TM54 False Swipe comes from the female Scientist on the third floor of Professor Sycamore's lab in Lumiose City once you've seen 20 Central Kalos Pokémon.
• A sleep or paralysis move. Spore, Sleep Powder, Hypnosis, Thunder Wave or Stun Spore all raise your odds a lot. Sleep is worth more than paralysis.
• A Steel or Poison type to take hits. Moonblast does little to them, and they hit back hard, so keep an eye on Xerneas's HP.
• A save right before the room, so you can reset for a better Nature (see below).

Its moves and stats at Lv. 50

Fairy Aura powers up every Fairy move on the field, including Xerneas's own Moonblast. Geomancy is the turn to watch: once it goes through, Xerneas gets faster and hits harder with Moonblast. If you see it start charging, use that turn to put it to sleep or to throw a ball.

The ranges run from the worst to the best IV, with a neutral Nature. A boosting Nature adds about 10%, so a Modest Xerneas with 31 Sp. Atk IVs has 166 Sp. Atk at Lv. 50. Because three of its stats are always at 31, at least half of those rows will be at the top of the range.

Type matchups

Fairy is weak to Poison and Steel, resists Fighting, Bug and Dark, and is immune to Dragon. Leave your Dragon types in the Box for this one: Moonblast hits them for double damage, and their Dragon moves do nothing. A Steel type like Aegislash, Klefki or Magneton takes Moonblast for half damage and lasts long enough to set up a status move. Lucario doesn't count: its Fighting type cancels out the Steel resistance, so Moonblast hits it for normal damage.

Catch odds for each ball

Here's the chance per throw, ignoring the rare critical capture:

The quickest way: throw a Quick Ball on turn one. If it breaks out, bring Xerneas into the red with False Swipe or a weak attack, put it to sleep, and throw Ultra Balls. A sleeping Xerneas at low HP is caught by about four of every five Ultra Balls. Whenever it wakes up, put it back to sleep before you throw again.

Don't use your Master Ball on Xerneas

You'll have the Master Ball by now. The president of the Poké Ball Factory, north of Laverre City, gives it to you after you drive Team Flare out of his factory. You choose between the Master Ball and a Big Nugget, and he gives you the other one too. It works on Xerneas, but Xerneas is easy and can't be lost, so the ball is wasted here. Keep it for Zygarde, Mewtwo or the legendary bird after the Hall of Fame. All three have a catch rate of 3 (see catch rates and the Master Ball).

If Xerneas faints, you run or your party is full

Xerneas can't be lost, so a stray critical hit only costs you a few minutes. If your party is full when you catch it, say yes to the swap so Xerneas can come with you for the battle right after.

Getting a good Nature and IVs

Xerneas always has at least three IVs at 31, but its Nature is random. For a special attacker you want Modest (+Sp. Atk, −Attack) or Timid (+Speed, −Attack). For a mixed set, try Mild, Rash or Hasty. There are two ways to stack the odds:

• Synchronize: put a Pokémon with the Synchronize ability first in your party, with the Nature you want. It works even if it has fainted. Wild Pokémon then have a 50% chance of sharing its Nature, and that includes Xerneas. Ralts on Route 4 and Abra on Route 5 can have Synchronize.
• Soft reset: save in front of Xerneas, catch it, then check its Summary. If you don't like it, press L + R + Start (or L + R + Select) to reset and try again from your save. Our soft reset page has the details.

To see which stats are 31 without math, the IV judge in the Kiloude City Pokémon Center will tell you after the Hall of Fame. You can't change its Nature after the catch in X and Y, so do your resets now. Missing moves can come back later through the Move Reminder in Dendemille Town.

After you catch Xerneas

Lysandre comes for one last battle right after the catch. His team is Lv. 49 to 53 and ends with a Gyarados that Mega Evolves. Mega Gyarados is Water and Dark, so Xerneas's Moonblast hits it for double damage. Once Team Flare is beaten, Route 10 opens, and Route 18 from Anistar City leads on to Couriway Town and, after that, the eighth Gym in Snowbelle City.

Xerneas is great for the rest of the game, too. Moonblast with Fairy Aura is a strong hit against Drasna's Dragon types in the Elite Four. Watch out for Wikstrom's Steel types and Malva's Fire types. It's banned from the Battle Maison, so you'll need a different team there. Our best Pokémon list covers where it fits in a team.

Can you get Yveltal in Pokémon X, or Xerneas in Y?

Not by catching. The battle in the Secret HQ checks which game you're playing: Pokémon X gives Xerneas and Pokémon Y gives Yveltal, in the same room at the same level. To get the other one, trade with a friend who has the other version, over local wireless. Online trading for 3DS ended on April 8, 2024. Pokémon Bank still moves Pokémon between compatible saves and on to Pokémon HOME, but first-time downloads ended in March 2023. If you downloaded it before, you can re-download it until it shuts down on February 25, 2027, at 7:00 p.m. PST. Pokémon HOME can't send anything back to X or Y. The version exclusives page lists the other Pokémon that are only in one game.

The in-game Xerneas can never be shiny. Shiny Xerneas only came from events: in Japan from October 29, 2015 to January 12, 2016, then in South Korea (for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire only), North America and Europe in 2016. All of them have ended. Our page on shiny locked Pokémon has more on that.

This isn't Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Legends: Z-A on Switch is set in Lumiose City too and has its own Xerneas encounter, in Wild Zone 11. Its map, story and videos don't match X. Everything on this page is for Pokémon X on 3DS.

More Kalos help

• The legendary Pokémon in Pokémon X page covers Zygarde, Mewtwo and the bird that come after the Hall of Fame.
• The Kalos map shows Xerneas's room in Team Flare Secret HQ in 3D.
• Route 10 reopens once the base is cleared, and its yellow flowers are the best spot for wild Eevee.

FAQ

Where is Xerneas in Pokémon X?

In the deepest room of Team Flare Secret HQ, under Geosenge Town. The secret entrance is in northwest Geosenge Town. You get there during the story after the seventh Gym and Lysandre Labs.

What level is Xerneas in Pokémon X?

Lv. 50, with Gravity, Geomancy, Moonblast and Megahorn and the ability Fairy Aura.

Is Xerneas in Lysandre Labs?

No. You beat Lysandre and Xerosic in Lysandre Labs in Lumiose City, but Xerneas is in a different base: Team Flare Secret HQ in Geosenge Town.

What happens if you knock out Xerneas?

If you knock it out or run away, you can challenge it again in the same room. The battle gives no EXP either way. You can't finish the story without catching it.

Should I use the Master Ball on Xerneas?

No. With a catch rate of 45, Ultra Balls at low HP and with sleep catch it about 80% of the time. Save the Master Ball for Zygarde, Mewtwo or the bird, which have a catch rate of 3.

Can Xerneas be shiny in Pokémon X?

No. The story encounter is shiny locked, so resetting for a shiny Xerneas never works.

Can you catch Xerneas again?

No. There's one Xerneas per save. For a second one you need a trade, or Pokémon Bank if you already have it.

Can you get Xerneas in Pokémon Y?

Not by catching. Pokémon Y has Yveltal in that room instead, so a Y player needs a trade from an X save.