Pokemon Isle Of Armor: How To Farm Max Mushrooms And Teach Pokemon To Gigantamax

One of the most touted new features in Pokemon Sword and Shield's first DLC expansion, The Isle of Armor, is the ability to teach a Pokemon to Gigantamax. Up until now, the only way to get a Gigantamax Pokemon has been to catch one in a Max Raid battle, but thanks to a special dish called Max Soup, you can now teach any compatible Pokemon the ability to Gigantamax.

However, Max Soup requires an ingredient called Max Mushrooms, and they can be a bit of a pain to find. To help you out, we've broken down everything you need to know about teaching a Pokemon to Gigantamax below.

The Gigantamax Factor

The Gigantamax Factor is what determines if a Pokemon is capable of Gigantamaxing. Only certain species of Pokemon have Gigantamax forms, but not every individual monster within that species is able to Gigantamax; it needs to have the Gigantamax Factor to take on its Gigantamax form when it Dynamaxes.

Unlike natures and Abilities, the Gigantamax Factor cannot be passed down through breeding, so the only way to get it is to either catch a Pokemon that already has it or feed Max Soup to a compatible Pokemon. This is how you can teach your Galar starter--Rillaboom, Cinderace, or Inteleon--how to Gigantamax. If a Pokemon that already has the Gigantamax Factor drinks Max Soup, the Gigantamax Factor will be removed.

Max Soup

As previously mentioned, Max Soup is a special dish introduced in the Isle of Armor. Feed it to a compatible Pokemon and the monster will gain the Gigantamax Factor, allowing it to take on its Gigantamax form. You'll need to make Max Soup as part of the Master Dojo's second trial. After you complete that, you'll be able to talk to an NPC in the Master Dojo's kitchen and make the soup again at any time, provided you have enough ingredients.

Max Mushroom Locations

Max Soup requires three clusters of Max Mushrooms, a new item that can be found in various areas around the Isle of Armor. You'll find three clusters of Max Mushrooms in the Warm-Up Tunnel as part of the Master Dojo's second trial, but they'll be much harder to come by afterward.

There's a chance a cluster of Max Mushrooms will be growing in the Forest of Focus or one of the caves around the Isle of Armor (Warm-Up Tunnel, Brawler's Cave, or Courageous Cavern), but they're hard to find unless you take part in a Max Raid. After completing Raids, there's a greater chance that you'll find a cluster of Max Mushrooms in one of the aforementioned places.

According to Serebii, you need to clear three Max Raids for one cluster of Max Mushrooms to appear. That means you'll need to do nine Raids to find enough mushrooms to make one helping of Max Soup. Max Mushrooms have a secondary use as well; if you feed a cluster to a Pokemon during a battle, it will increase all five of the monster's stats by one stage.