Slumbering Weald

The Slumbering Weald (Japanese: まどろみの Slumbering Forest) is a forest in southern Galar, located west of Postwick.
==Role==
At the start of the game, the Slumbering Weald is blocked by a closed gate. After the and Hop obtain their first partner Pokémon, a crashes through the gate, prompting the two to enter the area to rescue it. After the first grass patch and before leaving the third grass patch, the player may talk to Hop any number of times to heal their Pokémon. After leaving the second grass patch, the player and Hop hear a cry, and Hop automatically heals the player's Pokémon. Soon after leaving the third grass patch, Hop runs ahead of the player; after following him, the two run into a thick wall of fog and are suddenly approached by a mysterious Pokémon. None of the player's Pokémon's moves have any effect on it, and they and Hop are soon knocked unconscious as the mysterious Pokémon envelops them in opaque fog. The two wake up and are found soon after by Leon, who also managed to find the runaway Wooloo, and leads everyone out of the forest. The gate closes again at this point, and does not re-open until much later in the game.
During this first visit, the game does not allow the player to leave the Slumbering Weald. After the second and third grass patches, Hop also prevents the player from backtracking to the grass patch they just left.
After Rose interrupts the Champion Cup by starting the Darkest Day, the player and Hop enter the forest again in order to find the Pokémon they met before, since legend says it once stopped the Darkest Day in the past. The player and Hop eventually find both of the Pokémon described in Galarian legends, and Sonia explains that they are known as and , which were born somewhere beyond the Slumbering Weald long, long ago. At an altar at the deepest part of the forest, the player and Hop discover the Rusted Sword and the Rusted Shield, ancient artifacts that were once used to stop the Darkest Day. Each of them takes one of the relics, before traveling to Hammerlocke to stop Rose. While the player and Hop confront , Zacian and Zamazenta awaken from their long sleep near the altar and rush to join the battle.
During the post-game, the player meets Hop at Slumbering Weald and battles him. After the player has defeated Hop yet again, the two return the relics to the altar, only for Sordward and Shielbert to show up and snatch them. The player manages to recover one of the items, but the two brothers get away with the other one.
Later, Hop pursues Zamazenta/Zacian to the Slumbering Weald after the twin brothers had driven it berserk, and manages to calm it down by the time player is done the other Legendary Pokémon and they and Sonia reach the Slumbering Weald. The Legendary Pokémon then willingly lets itself to be caught by Hop, becoming one of his partners. Hop then requests the player battle him for one last time, in the same place where their adventure first began. Once the battle is over, Hop declares that his new dream is to become a Pokémon Professor, and Sonia offers him a place as her assistant, which he accepts.
==Geography==
Slumbering Weald is a maze-like foggy forest off Postwick. Low-leveled Pokémon are found near the entrance, with stronger ones being found deeper inside. A small river flows through the forest, with stone bridges leading over it whenever the forest path crosses it. In one spot, a fallen log also provides access to the opposite side of the river.
At the deepest part of the forest is an altar dedicated to and . Behind the altar is a small lake, which is likely connected to the river flowing through the forest.
==Items==
==Pokémon==
===Hidden encounters===
===Visible encounters===
===Curry encounters===
===Wanderers===
*A hides mostly beneath the soil with only its lips visible, resembling a tiny item ball. It will emerge from the dirt if stepped on or if the player whistles. It is near the deepest part of the forest, just south of the Smoke Ball. It respawns every time when exiting and re-entering the area.
===Special===
On the player's first visit, they are forced to participate in three guaranteed hidden encounters, one for each of the first three patches of grass. Unlike usual, the player cannot move after the exclamation mark has popped up in front of them, and the encounter begins immediately afterward even though the player has not made direct contact with the exclamation mark.
This is followed by a special battle with /. In this battle, that Pokémon's name and level are replaced with ??? and the player only has the option to Fight or Run, although selecting run only displays the message "You can't run away for some reason!" and the player's turn is not taken up. All of the player's Pokémon's moves have no effect; if move animations are turned on in the options, Zacian/Zamazenta will only shimmer slightly in response to any move. Zacian/Zamazenta does not use any moves; instead, it keeps making the fog in the battle thicker and thicker until the player passes out at the end of the third turn.
None of these Pokémon can be caught, as the player has no Poké Balls at this stage of the game. In addition, no wild Pokémon will appear outside of these scripted encounters. This prevents the player from using up all of their first partner Pokémon's PP and selecting against Zacian or Zamazenta.
==Trainers==
===First post-game visit===
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====Pokémon Sword====
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====Pokémon Shield====
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===Second post-game visit===
====Pokémon Sword====
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====Pokémon Shield====
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==In the spin-off games==
===Pokémon Masters EX===
Artwork depicting Slumbering Weald is seen in 's mindscape.
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==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
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The Slumbering Weald first appeared in Sword and Shield, Slumbering Weald!. and Goh ended up there after pursuing a that had stolen one of their scones from a train. Goh ended up the Bunnelby, but he then became separated from Ash. While there, Ash encountered , and Goh encountered . They tried battling them, but the two Legendary Pokémon were completely immune to all of the moves used. Ash and Goh were then briefly knocked out by a thickening fog before regaining consciousness and making it out of the forest.
In Sword and Shield: "From Here to Eternatus!", Goh revisited the forest with Sonia in order to ask for Zacian and Zamazenta's help in stopping the Darkest Day. Following the illusions of the two Legendary Pokémon, they found an altar at the center of the forest, where Goh found the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield. Taking them with him, he and Sonia then headed to Hammerlocke.
In Sword and Shield... The Legends Awaken!, Ash and Goh revisited the forest together to return the Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield to the altar. As they did, they expressed their hopes that they would get to meet Zacian and Zamazenta again in the future.
In Getting More Than You Battled For!, the forest briefly appeared during the World of Pokémon opening.
==In the manga==
===Pokémon Adventures===
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The Slumbering Weald first appeared in a flashback in Ooh Shiny!! Legendary Equipment. One year before the events of the arc, and entered it after seeing a pair of Wishing Stars falling there. After finding them, Henry also wished to see the legendary Rusted Sword and Rusted Shield at the heart of the forest. Upon finding the artifacts, they were confronted by and . As all of Casey's Pokémon's attacks just phased right through them, Henry was able to identify them as nothing but harmless illusions and just walked right through them, after convincing them that he was not going to steal anything. However, before the two could reach the artifacts, they were blinded and knocked unconscious by a bright burst of light. When they woke up, the artifacts and Casey's Pokémon were all gone. Henry, feeling partially guilty of the event, decided to help Casey find her missing Pokémon by joining the Gym Challenge with her, hoping to use the publicity brought by it to help find Casey's Pokémon.
In Swaying!! Murky Memories, Casey regained some of her memories of the incident, revealing to Henry that the sword, the shield, and her Pokémon had been taken away by two men who referred to themselves as celebrities. In Unbending!! Meet the Celebrities, she further recalled that they had also been the ones to wipe her memories of the incident by having their absorb her life force.
In Shock!! Chairman Rose's Plan, a pair of stones near the altar in Slumbering Weald was seen reacting to the Darkest Day.
==In the TCG==
The following is a list of cards mentioning or featuring Slumbering Weald in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
==Gallery==
Concept art
==In other languages==
==Related articles==
Category:Sword and Shield locations
Category:Forests
de:Schlummerwald
es:Bosque Oniria
fr:Forêt de Sleepwood
it:Bosco Assopito
ja:まどろみのもり
zh:微寐森林