How to complete Big Buizel, Little Buizel request in Pokemon Legends: Arceus

“Big Buizel, Little Buizel” is one of the most frustrating requests in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, mostly because of how simple it seems yet how tedious it can actually be. It doesn’t help that it’s one of the earliest requests in the game.

Dorian, a red-robed guardsman, asks the player for a Buizel taller than his. What makes it complicated is that he doesn’t say exactly how tall his Buizel is. Plus, it’s difficult to pinpoint an oversized one on sight. Here’s what you need to do to complete the “Big Buizel, Little Buizel” request.

Where to find Big Buizel, Little Buizel request

Dorian wears a red samurai-like robe and a straw hat like many of the default NPCs throughout the game. He should be standing just outside of Jubilife Village next to his partner, Buizel. It’s the gate leading out to the lake, not the front gate leading to the different excursion regions.

The “Big Buizel, Little Buizel” quest should appear early in the game, right after you pass the test to join the Survey Corps. Just look for the little quest marker above Dorian’s head.

What is a Big Buizel?

Some might think “big Buizel&” means “alpha Buizel,&” but that’s not the case. Alphas are the biggest Pokemon in the game. Big simply means big–or at least taller than Dorian’s Buizel.

Each Pokémon has a different height and weight recorded in its summary. That being said, it’s inconveniently difficult to know a “big” Buizel when you see it. What might seem like an average-sized Buizel might actually be larger than average if you don’t have a small one for comparison. So just keep catching Buizel until you have one that’s 2’8″ or taller. You can check a Pokemon’s height and weight on the first page of their summary.

Where to find Buizel

Buizel can be found near the rivers in Obsidian Lands. Warning: These feisty water weasels attack on sight! They appear in the first area of the map before the bridge (before your first star) as well as across the bridge. If you search across the bridge, be careful not to engage with the alpha Floatzel to the far north of the map unless you’re ready for it.

I still can’t find Big Buizel…

Some unfortunate souls have captured enough Buizels to fill an entire pasture without finding one tall enough to submit for the quest. So, what’s one to do if big Buizel remains so elusive?

One Redditor reported that a 2’7″ Buizel worked for them after hours of infernal grinding, though it’s unclear what allowed the game to accept this over a 2’8″ one. The popular guess is that the game secretly has a metric value that Imperial measurement countries can’t see in the localization.

So, if you really can’t find a 2’8″ one, try submitting 2’7″ tall Buizels. If none of them work, then it’s back to the fields.

Alternatively, as reported by Kotaku, players might consider waiting until after the Kleavor boss fight. Alpha Pokemon, including Buizels, have a better chance of spawning after defeating that first Noble Pokemon. This checks out, considering I caught an alpha Bidoof and alpha Buizel after the fact.