Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: How To Get Sinistea And Sinistea Chips

How to get Sinistea and Sinistea Chips in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is a bit of a process at first. Sinistea is tucked away in Paldea’s far southwest corner, near Alfornada, where you normally don’t visit until much later in the game. However, if you’re keen on adding Charcadet evolutions to your Paldean Pokédex sooner, rather than later, you’re in luck.

This guide explains where to find Sinistea and what to use Sinistea Chips for.

How to get Sinistea in Scarlet and Violet

Sinistea only has two habitats: around Alfornada and in a small part of East Province. Wild Pokémon levels are more manageable in the early game in East Province, but you have a better chance of running into a Sinistea or three around Alfornada.

Whichever route you choose, it’ll take a while to get there. In East Province, you’ll need to visit Levincia via the same route as if you were going to trade for Gengar and exit via the north path. Head into the wasteland toward the western ruins as shown on Sinistea’s habitat map.

Getting to South Province Area Six takes a bit more time. Travel to West Province Area One, south of where you face the Bombirdier Titan, and take the path south until just before Alfornada Cave. Normally, you have to acquire Miraidon’s or Koraidon’s super jump to make it through the cave, but if you jump off the western cliff, you can take the alternate route around.

This path leads you through a different part of Alfornada Cave. Follow the path up, then turn left at the woman who asks about the weather. Make sure to at least run up to the Pokémon Center counter outside Alfornada and its Gym to register it as a flying location.

Sinistea is tiny and very easy to miss as a result. It floats around the field between Alfornada and the coast at night, but you may need to keep the camera close to spot it.

If you want to evolve Sinistea into Polteageist, head over to our Cracked Pot and Chipped Pot guide for the details.

How to get Sinistea Chips

Sinistea Chips are a Pokémon material, and like other materials, you get them by catching or defeating the wild Pokémon bearing their name. That’s Sinistea in this case, naturally.

Sinistea has low defense and is weak to Ghost and Dark types, so defeating them will likely be easier than catching them – especially if you decide to do this earlier in the game. Bring a strong Maschiff or even Gengar along to make short work of them.

The wild Pokémon around Alfornada are roughly level 40, and those in East Province range from 20 to the low 30s. Bear that in mind when deciding on your team.

What are Sinistea Chips for?

You need 10 Sinistea Chips to craft Malicious Armor in Zapapico City, on the edge of the wasteland in East Province Area Three.

Malicious Armor triggers Charcadet’s evolution into Ceruledge in Pokémon Violet.

Aside from that, you use Sinistea Chips to craft TMs, specifically:

• Trick (TM109)
• Shadow Ball (TM104)
• Phantom Force (TM151)

Check out our Pokémon Scarlet and Violet walkthrough for more tips and tricks!