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Struggling in Pokemon Legends: Z-A? Here’s How to Catch Strong Dragon Pokemon Early

Dragon-types are extremely powerful in this Pokemon game. Here’s how to catch them early and strengthen your team.

The latest Pokemon game, Pokemon Legends: Z-A, has a revamped battle system compared to earlier games in the series, swapping out slow turn-based combat for real-time fights. Having strong Pokemon with hard-hitting moves on your team is one of the best ways to make quick work of its storyline battles as well as compete online in Z-A Battle Club. Picking powerful Pokemon is key.

If you’re new to this roleplaying series, dragon-type Pokemon are some of the strongest you can find. Many of them are colloquially called pseudo-legendaries by players because their impressive stats are second only to those of legendary Pokemon. Consequently, their base forms — the first versions you can find that grow into supremely powerful evolutions — are typically difficult to find, hard to capture and extremely time-consuming to level up.

We’ll leave you to do the training for your party of six, but here’s a simple guide with locations and tips to find and capture strong dragon-types to add to your squad in Pokemon Legends Z-A.

Read more: How to Get Gengar in Pokemon Legends Z-A: Evolving Haunter, Catching and More

Get Dratini by scaling rooftops in Vert Sector 6

The first of the powerful dragon types we’ll help you track down hails from the original (Gen 1) Pokemon games. Dratini is the base form of Dragonite, a dragon- and flying-type pseudo-legendary, and is the easiest to find on this list. To capture one, fast-travel or find your way to Restaurant Le Nah in Vert Sector 6. Once you’re there, face the restaurant, turn right and climb the ladder attached to the building next to it. Once you’re on the roof of this building, you’ll want to turn left and then roll onto the roof of the restaurant. That’s where you’ll find Dratini waiting for you.

Now, Dratini is skittish. It’ll run away the moment it spots you, so you’ll want to be prepared. Save your game before approaching it and ready a Pokemon that can either knock it out with one attack or stock up on Quick Balls and Dusk Balls. I’ve had a lot of success with Dusk Balls in this game,  so I recommend trying to catch Dratini at night.

Dratini evolves into Dragonair at Level 30 and then Dragonite at Level 55, gaining the flying-type with its final evolution. With this dual-typing, Dragonite is strong against dragon, grass, fighting and bug-type Pokemon. However, its strength isn’t limited to type advantages; it also learns hard-hitting moves like Hurricane and Outrage that can get you out of a pickle. It has wide-coverage attacks, like Earthquake, in its move pool to damage multiple Pokemon in one go. You can also Mega Evolve Dragonite in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, although its Mega Stone becomes available after you complete Main Mission 32.

Note: You can also find Dratini or Dragonair on a rooftop in Bleu Sector 9 and Dragonite in Wild Zone 20 after you’ve completed the main storyline.

Capture Gible in Wild Zone 8

If you’ve already got a flying-type Pokemon on your team and want to widen the type matchups you cover, capturing Gible and evolving it into its final evolution, Garchomp, is one of the best things you can do.

You can find Gible in one of Wild Zone 8’s many holes — keep an eye out for its blue fin popping out to show that it has spawned. Depending on your luck, you might find one right away, or it’ll take a few bench resets to spot one among the many Drilbur of this Wild Zone. So, once you’ve spotted the blue fin, save your game and head right into the battle.

Gible isn’t skittish and won’t run away, but Wild Zone 8 can quickly become a fighting fest that’s difficult to manage. Bring a Pokemon that’s fast or can use moves that deal damage over a wide area — think water-type Pokemon. Also bring Great Balls, Ultra Balls, and Dusk Balls; these will be your best bet for capturing Gible, since it has a low capture rate like Dratini.

Gible will evolve into Gabite at Level 24, and then Gabite evolves into Garchomp at Level 48, so be prepared for a long leveling grind to get this top dragon. However, the effort is well worth it because adding the dragon and ground type Garchomp to your team lets you effectively use moves like Earthquake — more so than Dragonite — dealing damage quickly over wide areas, while defending against similarly strong attacks, thanks to its well-distributed stat total. You can also Mega Evolve Garchomp early in the game because its Mega Stone — Garchompite — is easy to get. You can buy it for 70,000 Pokemon Dollars from the Stone Emporium after completing Main Mission 10.

Find Goomy in Vert Sector 9 while it’s raining

Goomy is the third powerful dragon-type Pokemon that you can find early in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. To catch one, you will need to wait for rain in Lumiose City — it only comes out in wet weather.

The weather doesn’t have a fixed pattern in this game, so sitting on a bench to change the time of day is how you’ll get it to start pouring. Once it’s raining, Goomy is easy to find but a little tough to capture.

Goomy spawns in Vert Sector 9. The easiest way to get there is to fast-travel to Vernal Pokemon Center. Once you’re there, enter the alley right before the nearby hair salon and follow the path until you see an arched gateway. The gateway is opposite a battle court and may have boulders blocking your passage. Once you’re past it, take a quick look towards the bridge down below and you’ll see a Goomy waiting for you. This area is also a fixed spawn location for Eevee, if you’re trying to get every Eevee evolution in your playthrough.

Now, Goomy evolves into Sliggoo at Level 40. However, to evolve Sliggoo into Goodra, you’ll need to first train it to Level 50 and then wait yet again for rain in Lumiose City. You’ll only be able to evolve Sliggoo in wet weather — try to time leveling up to 50 or beyond while it’s pouring.

Unlike Dragonite and Garchomp, Goodra is a pure dragon-type and doesn’t have a Mega Evolution, but its extremely high Special Defense stat makes it a great Pokemon to have. Also, if you have the Mega Dimension DLC, then you can also find Hisuian Goodra in five-star hyperspace zones. It’s similar to a traditional Goodra in many ways, but has an added steel-type, giving it an edge in some battles.

Read more: How to Redeem Every Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mystery Gift Code and Reward

More pseudo-legendary dragon-types in Pokemon Legends: Z-A

Apart from Dratini, Gible and Goomy, Pokemon Legends: Z-A features two other pseudo-legendary dragon-type Pokemon: Bagon and Frigibax. Unfortunately, getting them early isn’t possible and for the latter, you need to buy and complete the storyline of the Mega Dimension DLC.

But if you want to add them to your party, Bagon can be found in Wild Zone 18, which unlocks after completing Main Mission 30. You can also catch an Alpha Salamence (Bagon’s final form) right in front of where Bagon spawns, a small test that allows you to start using Salamence right away.

For Frigibax, you’ll need to collect 25,000 Hyperspace Survey Points, activate a special scan by talking to Philippe in Rust Syndicate’s office building and then hope to roll a five-star hyperspace zone which spawns Frigibax. This five-star zone is likely to have its entire evolutionary line, too, so you can also capture Arctibax and Baxcalibur.

Both Salamence and Baxcalibur can also Mega Evolve. To get a Salamencite, collect 360 Mega Shards and head to Quasartico Inc. headquarters to trade for it. And Baxcalibrite was first offered as a reward for reaching Rank S in Pokemon Z-A Ranked Battles Season 4. However, at the time of writing, Ranked Battles Season 6 also offers it as a reward for reaching Rank V.

Other pseudo-legendaries in Pokemon Legends: Z-A

Before we leave you, if you’ve got your fill of dragon-type Pokemon but still have a spot in your party, there are two other pseudo-legendaries worth capturing in Pokemon Legends: Z-A; Larvitar and Beldum.

Larvitar can be caught early in the game, but it requires some precise movement control. I recommend waiting until you’ve started Main Mission 16 and unlocked Roto Glide to catch Larvitar. As for Beldum, you will need to wait until Main Mission 35.

For Larvitar, head to the point marked in the screenshot below; it’s located in Vert Sector 2. Once you’re there, climb up the nearest ladder, turn left and walk along the rooftop. Once you’re at the end with the boxes, use Roto Glide to cross the gap and you’ll find Larvitar waiting to be captured.

Capturing Beldum is much simpler, but you’ll need to complete over half the main storyline before you get a chance to capture one. Beldum always spawns on floor B1F in Lysandre Labs. After you unlock the location, head to the room marked in the screenshot to find one. Beldum tends to spawn in pairs.

Occasionally, you’ll also find a Metang in the same Lysandre Labs basement. This one is even harder to capture, so make sure to have Dusk Balls handy and a Pokemon that can afflict status conditions like sleep or paralysis. You should also try to perform a manual save right after you knock out Beldum or Metang in battle so that you can soft reset and get another shot at capturing it.

You’re now set to power up your team in Pokemon Legends: Z-A with strong dragon-types and other pseudo-legendaries that are available. So head out there and capture these Pokemon to tackle the brand-new battle mechanics and online players.

Technologies

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

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Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

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Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know

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