Pokemon Violet Sinistea Chips and Malicious Armor are how you get Ceruledge and evolve Charcadet, though you can't do it in Pokemon Scarlet. The Malicious Armor and Auspicious Armor are specific to Pokemon Violet and Scarlet respectively, so players will only be able to get either Armarouge of Ceruledge, and sometimes it's about Bronzor fragments, not Sinistea chips.
Whichever you're looking to get in either game, we'll go into more detail about how to get Sinistea Chips, the Malicious Armor, and evolving Charcadet into Ceruledge in Pokemon Violet in our guide below!
How to get Sinistea Chips in Pokemon Violet
You can get Sinistea chips in Pokemon Violet by defeating wild Sinistea, the Ghost-type Pokemon that looks like a small cup (or its evolution Polteagiest). When defeated or caught, Sinistea drops the chips - usually one or two per victory, though it may drop none if you're unlucky.
Sinistea location
Whichever version of the game you're playing, you can find Sinistea in the lower left corner of the map - specifically the fields just outside Alfornada in South Province (Area Six). Head out of the city in a Southwest direction - Sinistea are a rare spawn in the fields just beyond the city (though you might get lucky, we were fortunate enough to find an outbreak when we went looking). They also appear around Zapapico, but we found this a lot less reliable.
How to get the Malicious Armor
Once you have 10 Sinistea Chips, head to Zapapico. On the East side of town, by the fountain near the Pokemon Center, is an older man who you can talk to. If you're playing Violet, he'll offer to trade 10 Sinistea Chips for the Malicious Armor! Not only that, but you can go back and do this deal again at any point to get more Malicious Armor.
How to evolve Charcadet into Ceruledge
Find all the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Stakes and Shrines for the legendary Ruinous quartet here!
Once you have the Malicious Armor, you can find it in the "Other Items" section of your inventory. From here the process is incredibly simple - when you have Charcadet in your team, simply select the Malicious Armor and use it on Charcadet like you would a Water Stone on a Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Eevee.
It'll consume the Armor, but your Charcadet will immediately evolve into Ceruledge, a powerful Fire/Ghost type! In this regard it actually matches the typing for Skeledirge, the final evolution of one of the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet best starters, so if you missed your chance then, here's a good substitute.
How to get Ceruledge in Pokemon Scarlet
There is no easy way to get the Malicious Armor in Pokemon Scarlet. Instead, in that game, the trader will give you the Auspicious Armor, and he trades for Bronzor Fragments rather than Sinistea Chips. The Auspicious Armor can be used on Charcadet to make it evolve into the more glamorous Armarouge, a Fire/Psychic type.
To get Ceruledge in Pokemon Scarlet, you'll have to do one of the following:
- Trading. This is the obvious one - because Malicious Armor can be bought multiple times, a friend of yours who owns Violet could evolve a Charcadet and send it over to you, or make another Pokemon hold the Armor and send you that.
- Raid Battles. Check with friends or online - a player with Violet could start a Raid Battle with Ceruledge, then invite a Scarlet player into the raid to fight it and catch it!
Beyond that, there isn't a lot you can do - Ceruledge is specifically tied to Violet and Armarouge to Scarlet, so there has to be some connection between the two versions in one way or another if you want to get that special, rather edgelord Pokemon.
