With the introduction of the Wild Area, the world of Pokemon can feel bigger and more daunting than ever in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Luckily, players soon get access to a way to fly from location to location. But when do you get the ability to Fly? In this Pokemon Sword and Shield fast travel guide, we’ll answer that question and tell you how to warp from place to place.
How to Fly in Pokemon Sword and Shield
Like Pokemon Sun and Moon before them, Pokemon Sword and Shield do not include traditional HMs — “hidden moves” past Pokemon games gave players to allow for actions like traveling on water and cutting down bushes. Instead, Pokemon Sword and Shield use a combination of different mechanics to enable traversal. The first is the Rotom Bike, which allows players to quickly move around the Wild Area, but the more universally useful mechanic is the Flying Taxi service.
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After a few hours of gameplay, players will eventually find themselves traversing the wide-open Wild Area and arriving at Motostoke city. After completing a few story sequences there, a trainer will approach the player outside the league building and give them access to the Flying Taxi service, which allows a Corviknight to ferry you from place to place. If you haven’t gain access to the service yet, just keep following along with the story until this trainer approaches you.
To use the taxi, press X to bring up the main menu and select the map. Choose a location you’ve previously been too and press A. You’ll then be asked if you’d like to travel there with the taxi. Say yes, and you’ll enter a brief loading screen (you won’t have to sit through a flashy animation like in past games) and find yourself where you wanted to go. The Flying Taxi is particularly useful because of the Wild Area, since it allows you to quickly warp back to the zone whenever you want to catch Pokemon there. The Pokemon in the wild area change as you level up, so be sure to Fly back often.
