Pokémon Sword and Shield Route 8 and Steamdrift Way - available Pokémon, items and trainers

Route 8 and Steamdrift Way are the next connecting routes, and follow on from Route 7 in your quest through Pokémon Sword and Shield's main story.

On each page of our walkthrough like this, we'll cover any and all of the obtainable Pokémon, item locations, trainers and their teams that you might come across here, as well as walking you through any key steps of the story, puzzles or challenges along the way.

Where applicable, note that our walkthrough pages will be down into separate sections referring to each of your visits to a given location, seeing as you often backtrack or revisit various places in your quest to become Galar League Champion. And of course if there are any, we'll clearly mark any spoilers, too!

For more explainers, meanwhile, or walkthrough pages on more locations in Sword and Shield, head back to our main Pokémon Sword and Shield walkthrough and guide hub.

On this page:

Pokémon Sword and Shield: Route 8 - available Pokémon, items and trainers

Route 8 is an interesting, ruin-filled area that heads north towards Circhester.

It's also one of the more complex routes in the game - although it's hardly challenging, don't worry - and there are so many Pokémon roaming the cramped spaces here that it can get a little awkward to navigate. Just remember that the exit is in the north-east, though, and you'll be fine. Hang right whenever given the choice until you reach the first Falinks, then go all the way to the left before going all the way back to the right again, for the shortest route through.

There are plenty of items here - eight visible and five hidden, in all - so have an explore, and enjoy!

Available Pokémon

Available Items

Trainers and Battles

There's a campsite you can visit at the end of the route - with an item at a dead end to the right of it - then continue through the wall in the north to a short connecting part of Route 8 called Steamdrift Way.

With it finally in the wild, here's how to start the Crown Tundra DLC and our full Pokémon Crown Tundra walkthrough. Plus, here's how to catch Calyrex, Glastrier and Spectrier, the Regieleki and Regidrago puzzle solution and Regirock, Regice, Registeel locations, details on how to catch Legendary Birds Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres in the Crown Tundra, the Ultra Beasts and Necrozma adventure, Dynamax Adventures, including the legendries you can catch on these adventures, and the new Crown Tundra Pokédex and returning Pokémon explained. For Isle of Armor players, here's how to find the Slowpoke, where to find Max Mushroom locations, and how to get Kubfu, become best friends and evolve it, plus all Diglett locations too! For the base game, here's info on the ability to transfer Pokémon to Pokémon Home, the Wild Area, lists of all TM locations and TRs, all Galarian forms and finally our main Pokémon Sword and Shield walkthrough for the whole game.

Pokémon Sword and Shield: Steamdrift Way - available Pokémon, items and trainers in the northern part of Route 8

Steamdrift Way is a short-but-sweet area connecting the north of the hot, arid Route 8 to Circhester, a snowy, winter city. Don't ask how that works, but here's what you can find on the steamy, hot-and-cold part of the route.

Available Pokémon

Available Items

Trainers and Battles

That's everything here for now, so continue on to Circhester, just to the north, for the next steps in your quest, or head back to our main Pokémon Sword and Shield walkthrough and guide hub for all the other in-depth guides and walkkthrough pages we have like this.