Snorlax and other Pokemon sleeping on grass.
Screenshot via The Pokémon Company

How to catch Pokémon in Pokémon Sleep

Prepare for a few sleepless nights.

Catching different Pokémon in Pokémon Sleep is different and more grindy from your usual Pokemon experience, and can be a bit confusing for those unaware of the built-in mechanics.

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There are a lot of mechanics in play not only in how you sleep, but how you “play” the game to make sure you are in the best position possible to get some of the best and rarest Pokémon currently available.

So, how does it all work?

How to find and capture Pokémon in Pokémon Sleep

Dozing, snoozing, and slumbering Pokémon
These Pokémon are sleepy, just like you. Image via Niantic

For starters, every Pokémon in Pokémon Sleep will only appear depending on the type of sleeper you are.

For example, if you are a constant snorer you will never come across the Pokémon that will appear for the Dozing and Slumbering types, such as Bulbasaur and Squirtle. In fact, if you aren’t a varied sleeper, you might just never see certain types of Pokémon and it wouldn’t even be your fault.

Each week from Monday to Sunday, players will level up their Snorlax which will unlock rarer Pokémon throughout the week. Meaning that by the weekend, in theory, you will be in the best position possible to find some of the rarest Pokémon in-game.

But back to the point at hand. To capture Pokémon, you need to, first of all, go to sleep and then wake up to Pokémon that have appeared overnight. You can then click on them and add their sleeping animations to your Sleeping Pokédex.

Once they have woken up, it’s time to decide which of the Pokémon that appeared that you want to add to your party. Once you have decided, you will need to feed them Pokéball Cookies which can either be found or bought with in-game or actual money. When you rank up a Pokémon to level 1, it’ll be caught and stick around for the long term.

This is equally important to know in case you come across an elusive Shiny Pokémon, as the same method of capturing it applies.


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Author
Adam Newell
Assigning Editor. In 2015, Adam graduated from the University of Aberystwyth with a bachelor's in Media and Communications. Working in the industry for over ten years. If it has anything to do with Nintendo and Pokémon chances are you will see me talking about it, covering, and likely not sleeping while playing it.