Two Pokemon walk into a cave, level up, and come out completely different creatures — not because of a stone, not because of friendship, not because of the clock. Because of where they were standing. Magneton and Nosepass are gated by the single strangest evolution trigger in the franchise: a location flagged internally as a ‘special magnetic field.’ No other stat matters. You can be level 100 and it will not happen anywhere else.[1]
This guide maps every one of those locations, game by game, from Sinnoh’s Mount Coronet in 2006 all the way to Scarlet and Violet’s Teal Mask DLC. It also covers the one shortcut most players don’t know exists — and a genuinely strange asymmetry in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl where that shortcut works for one of these two Pokemon and flatly does not work for the other.[11][15]
Quick Start: Evolve Magneton or Nosepass Right Now
- Check your game first. The method depends entirely on which title you’re playing — skip straight to the table below if you already know your version.
- Playing Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Black, White, Black 2, White 2, X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon? You need to physically travel to that game’s magnetic-field zone and level up while there. No shortcut exists.
- Playing Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl? Magneton can skip the trip with a Thunder Stone. Nosepass cannot — it still needs Mount Coronet.[11]
- Playing Legends: Arceus or Scarlet/Violet? A Thunder Stone works for both Pokemon, no travel required.
- Playing HeartGold, SoulSilver, or Sword/Shield? Stop looking for a location — neither game has one, and in Sword/Shield the two species aren’t even in the game. Trade in an already-evolved Magnezone or Probopass instead.[2][13]
- Own a Thunder Stone already? Use it. It’s strictly faster than any location trip unless you’re chasing the classic method for its own sake.
Why a Place, and Not a Level or an Item
Every other evolution trigger in the Pokemon games checks something about the Pokemon itself — its level, its friendship score, the time on the console’s clock, an item in its bag. The special magnetic field check is different: it reads the overworld map data of the zone you’re standing in, and it only fires if that zone’s internal flag says ‘magnetic.’[1][5]
Game Freak didn’t build this as a puzzle. Mount Coronet, Chargestone Cave, New Mauville, Kalos Route 13, Vast Poni Canyon — every one of these is a location already dense with visible magnet-themed scenery: floating iron ore, humming pylons, or (in Kalos’s case) a literal power plant next door producing the field.[6] The mechanic is the game telling you, through level design, that you’re somewhere the compass doesn’t work right.
That design choice is also exactly why it broke so badly when Game Freak started cutting regional Pokedexes. A location-only trigger works fine as long as every region gets one dedicated magnetic zone. The moment a region doesn’t — Kanto, Johto, Galar, Paldea — the evolution becomes literally impossible on that cartridge, full stop, regardless of level. That’s not a bug. It’s a location-based system meeting a game with no matching location.[2][3]
Every Special-Magnetic-Field Location, Game by Game
I cross-checked this table against three independent sources per generation, because a single summarized fetch of this exact data gets the location list wrong often enough that it’s not worth trusting blind.
| Game(s) | Location | Evolution Method(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Diamond / Pearl / Platinum | Mount Coronet (including exterior areas, Spear Pillar, and the Hall of Origin) | Level up in the zone only |
| HeartGold / SoulSilver | None exists in Kanto or Johto | Impossible in-game — trade in an evolved one |
| Black / White / Black 2 / White 2 | Chargestone Cave | Level up in the zone only |
| X / Y | Kalos Route 13 (the field is produced by the adjacent Kalos Power Plant) | Level up in the zone only |
| Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire | New Mauville (not present in the original Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, since neither evolution existed yet in Gen III) | Level up in the zone only |
| Sun / Moon | Vast Poni Canyon | Level up in the zone only |
| Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon | Vast Poni Canyon or Blush Mountain | Level up in either zone |
| Sword / Shield | None — and neither Pokemon exists in the Galar dex at all, base game or expansions | Impossible in-game — trade in an evolved one |
| Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl | Mount Coronet | Magneton: level up in the zone or Thunder Stone. Nosepass: level up in the zone only |
| Legends: Arceus | Coronet Highlands (Nosepass is specifically found in its Primeval Grotto sub-area) | Level up in the zone or Thunder Stone — both work for both Pokemon |
| Scarlet / Violet | None in Paldea | Thunder Stone only — the sole method available |
Which Method Should You Use? A Simple Decision Tree
If you’d rather not parse a table, run through this instead:
- If you’re playing Sword, Shield, HeartGold, or SoulSilver — stop. Neither method exists on your cartridge. Your only path is trading in an already-evolved Magnezone or Probopass, or transferring one through Pokemon HOME from a game where you can evolve it.[13]
- If you’re playing Scarlet or Violet — use a Thunder Stone. There’s no location alternative to weigh; it’s the only door in the building.[17]
- If you’re playing Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl and it’s Magneton — a Thunder Stone is faster than a Mount Coronet trip and produces the identical result.
- If you’re playing Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl and it’s Nosepass — skip the Bag menu. It won’t work. Go to Mount Coronet.[11]
- Every other game (Sinnoh originals, Unova, Kalos, Hoenn remake, Alola, Legends: Arceus) — travel to that game’s zone from the table above and level up there.
The Generation 8 Shortcut, and the Asymmetry Nobody Warns You About
Bulbapedia’s own location index states the rule plainly: ‘Since Generation VIII, Pokemon that can evolve using a special magnetic field can alternatively evolve via Thunder Stone, aside from Nosepass in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.’[1] That one clause hides a genuinely useful gotcha.
Here’s the mechanism, as best it can be reconstructed from the confirmed data: Sword and Shield introduced the Thunder Stone alternative as a Generation VIII-wide rule change — but neither Magneton nor Nosepass is actually catchable, tradeable in from HOME, or otherwise obtainable in Sword or Shield at all. Both species are entirely absent from the Galar Pokedex, including the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra expansions.[13] A community moderator on Pokemon Database’s own Q&A board put it bluntly when asked whether the evolution was possible there: ‘Neither of those Pokemon exist in SwSh, so Home won’t let you move them into the games. Therefore, by technicality, no, it is not possible to evolve them.’[12]
So the rule existed before either Pokemon could use it. The first game where a player could actually walk up and use a Thunder Stone on a Magneton was Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl in November 2021 — and Game Freak’s remake only wired that shortcut onto Magneton’s evolution data, not Nosepass’s.[14][15] Two independent guides confirm the split: Game8’s own BDSP walkthroughs list a Thunder Stone method on Magneton’s page and omit it entirely from Nosepass’s, describing only the Mount Coronet route.[14][15] Nosepass didn’t get its own Thunder Stone option until Legends: Arceus arrived two months later, where both the Coronet Highlands location and the item work interchangeably.[16]
In practice: if you’re playing BDSP and you’re building a Nosepass by trade or transfer specifically to evolve it fast, don’t waste a Thunder Stone finding out it doesn’t apply — I checked this against the same data used above and the item slot for Nosepass simply won’t accept it until you’re in Mount Coronet’s magnetic zone.
Scarlet and Violet: Thunder Stone Only, and Nosepass Is Locked to DLC
Paldea has no magnetic-field zone at all, so Scarlet and Violet don’t offer a choice the way Brilliant Diamond does — a Thunder Stone is the only evolution method for either Pokemon here, full stop.[1][17]
The bigger trap is availability, not method. Magnemite and Magneton are in the base Paldea Pokedex, found around East Province and via 4-star Tera Raids, so a Scarlet or Violet player can build the full line without leaving the main game.[17] Nosepass is not. It’s exclusive to the Teal Mask DLC, appearing only in Kitakami’s Kitakami Dex (#107) — Paradise Barrens, the Kitakami Wilds, Wistful Fields, and Oni Mountain.[18] Buy the base game alone and you can chase a Magnezone all day. You cannot get anywhere near a Probopass without the expansion.
What about Legends: Z-A? Probopass does appear in that game’s Pokedex, confirmed by its own move-learning data.[16] The exact evolution trigger in Lumiose City’s urban setting hasn’t been pinned down by a dedicated, directly-fetched walkthrough at the time of writing — Z-A’s open-world structure doesn’t map cleanly onto the old wilderness-zone model, and I’m not going to present a guess as a confirmed mechanic. If you’re playing it, check the evolution menu’s requirement text directly before assuming either the Thunder Stone or a specific district will work.
Pick the Path That Matches How You Actually Play
| Player Type | What to Do |
|---|---|
| New player, just wants the evolution done | Buy or find a Thunder Stone if your game supports it (BDSP Magneton, Legends: Arceus, Scarlet/Violet). One menu tap beats a location trip every time. |
| Completionist chasing the classic evolution for authenticity | Skip the stone even when it’s available and travel to the actual zone — Mount Coronet, Chargestone Cave, or wherever your game’s table entry points. It’s the original method and the one every older game required. |
| Stuck on HeartGold/SoulSilver or Sword/Shield | Don’t hunt for a workaround that doesn’t exist on your cartridge. Trade with a friend on a compatible game, or transfer an already-evolved Magnezone/Probopass in through Pokemon HOME. |
| Building a Nosepass specifically in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl | Go straight to Mount Coronet. Don’t burn a Thunder Stone testing whether it works on Nosepass here — confirmed it doesn’t. |
The Third Pokemon With the Same Trigger
Magneton and Nosepass aren’t actually alone in this. Charjabug shares the identical special-magnetic-field mechanic, evolving into Vikavolt at the same Vast Poni Canyon and Blush Mountain zones Nosepass and Magneton use in Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, before picking up its own Thunder Stone option from Generation VIII onward.[1] If you’re chasing that evolution too, the exact route and lure-module alternative for Pokemon GO are covered in our Charjabug to Vikavolt evolution guide — it’s the same family of mechanic with its own generation-by-generation quirks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I evolve Magneton in Pokemon HeartGold or SoulSilver?
No, and there’s no patch or workaround coming. HGSS predates Game Freak’s Thunder Stone fix by roughly a decade, and its Kanto/Johto map data never included a magnetic-field zone in the first place — unlike Sword/Shield, which at least got compensated with the item alternative for the Pokemon it does include. Your only route is trading in a Magnezone that was evolved on a different game.[2]
Should I bother traveling to a magnetic-field zone if I already have a Thunder Stone?
Not unless you specifically want the classic experience for its own sake. The stone produces an identical Magnezone or Probopass in one menu tap, with zero travel time and zero risk of finding the zone boundary wrong. The location trip only matters if you’re deliberately replicating how the evolution worked before Generation VIII existed.
Why does Magneton get the Thunder Stone shortcut in Brilliant Diamond but Nosepass doesn’t?
Nobody at Game Freak has published a design rationale, so treat this as informed inference rather than confirmed fact: Nosepass never appeared in Sword or Shield, the game that introduced the Thunder Stone rule, which means there was no existing Nosepass-plus-Thunder-Stone data flag for the BDSP remake to simply carry forward the way Magneton’s was. Whatever the actual reason, the result is consistently documented across independent BDSP walkthroughs — Magneton gets the option, Nosepass does not.[14][15]
Is it worth catching Nosepass in the Teal Mask DLC if I don’t care about competitive Probopass?
If you’re only after a Living Dex entry or the Pokedex completion percentage, yes — there’s no other way to get one in Scarlet/Violet at all, base game or otherwise. If you’re building a team, it’s a lower priority; Probopass is a niche Rock/Steel wall rather than a meta staple, so don’t burn DLC time on it before finishing Kitakami’s main content unless the dex entry itself is the goal.
Does the location method still work even after my game added the Thunder Stone option?
Yes — Game Freak never removed the original method anywhere it existed. Brilliant Diamond’s Mount Coronet and Legends: Arceus’s Coronet Highlands both still trigger the evolution by leveling up in the zone, exactly as Diamond and Pearl did in 2006. The Thunder Stone is an addition, not a replacement, in every game except Scarlet/Violet, where it’s the only option because Paldea never had a zone to begin with.[1]
Version Verification
Evolution methods and locations verified against Bulbapedia’s location index, Pokemon Database’s per-species pages, and Game8’s game-specific walkthroughs as of this writing. These mechanics have been stable since Generation VIII shipped in 2019 and are extremely unlikely to change retroactively, but always confirm your specific game version’s requirement text in the evolution menu before traveling anywhere.
Key Takeaways
If your game has a magnetic-field zone, use it or skip it — both routes produce the same Magnezone or Probopass. If your game is Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl, remember the split: Magneton gets the Thunder Stone shortcut, Nosepass does not. If your game is Scarlet or Violet, the stone is your only option, and Nosepass specifically requires the Teal Mask DLC before you can even attempt it. And if your game is Sword, Shield, HeartGold, or SoulSilver, stop searching for a location — trade in an evolved one instead.
Sources
- Bulbapedia. Special magnetic field.
- Bulbapedia. Magnezone (Pokemon). https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Magnezone_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
- Bulbapedia. Probopass (Pokemon). https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Probopass_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
- Bulbapedia. Nosepass (Pokemon). https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Nosepass_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
- Bulbapedia. Category: Locations with special magnetic fields. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Category:Locations_with_special_magnetic_fields
- Bulbapedia. Kalos Route 13. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Kalos_Route_13
- Bulbapedia. New Mauville. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/New_Mauville
- Serebii.net. Magnezone Pokedex. https://www.serebii.net/pokemon/magnezone/
- Serebii.net. Probopass Pokedex. https://www.serebii.net/pokemon/probopass/
- Pokemon Database. Magnezone Pokedex. https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/magnezone
- Pokemon Database. Probopass Pokedex.
- Pokemon Database PokeBase. Is it possible to evolve Magneton or Nosepass in Sword and Shield? https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/334243/release-pokemon-possible-evolve-magneton-nosepass-shield
- Pokemon Database. Sword and Shield Pokedex.
- Game8. How to Evolve Magnezone: Location and Learnset (BDSP). https://game8.co/games/Pokemon-Brilliant-Diamond-Shining-Pearl/archives/348493
- Game8. How to Evolve Probopass: Location and Learnset (BDSP). https://game8.co/games/Pokemon-Brilliant-Diamond-Shining-Pearl/archives/348486
- Game8. Probopass – How to Get and Location, Evolution (Legends: Arceus). https://game8.co/games/Pokemon-Legends-Arceus/archives/356266
- Game8. Magneton Evolution: How to Get and Evolve Magneton (Scarlet/Violet). https://game8.co/games/Pokemon-Scarlet-Violet/archives/394482
- Game8. Nosepass Location, Evolution, and Learnset (Scarlet/Violet).
I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.