How to recruit team members in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team

Building the perfect team is the best way to ensure a successful mission in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team.

As you progress throughout the game, you’ll unlock the ability to recruit new members for your Rescue Team from various Dungeons and story encounters, including some fan-favorite starters and powerful Legendary Pokemon.

Here’s a complete guide to unlocking Friend Areas, recruiting Rescue Team members, and recruiting Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team.

How to unlock Friend Areas

Unlocking Friend Areas in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team requires you to progress with the main story up until you rescue Diglett and speak with Wigglytuff.

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Caterpie being rescued in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team.

You won’t have access to Friend Areas until you’ve made significant progress in the early stages of Red Rescue Team.

After the initial Caterpie rescue, you’ll get tasked with rescuing two Magnemites from Thunderwave Cave on B6F. This Dungeon is a little trickier than the Tiny Woods Dungeon, so make sure to heal up and make use of items like Orbs as you go.

Once Magnemite has been successfully rescued, your Rescue Team will head home to sleep. The next day, you’ll need to pick up some basic missions from the Pelipper Post Office to make progress with your team.

Your partner Pokemon will also give you a brief tour of Pokemon Square, featuring an empty Wigglytuff stall. This is where you can unlock Friend Areas, but it won’t be available to you just yet.

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Charmander and Chikorita in Pokemon Square.

Finish up a mission in Tiny Woods or Thunderwave Cave to wrap the day up, and make sure to keep an eye out for handy items as you go.

Your Rescue Team will head home to sleep afterward, prompting a dream during the night about a very realistic earthquake. Your character will be woken up and prompted to take a mission from Dugtrio, who says Diglett has been kidnapped and taken to Mt. Steel.

At the summit of Mt. Steel, you’ll run into your first boss battle with Skarmory, who insists the earthquakes are because of Diglett and Dugtrio. A handful of Gravelrocks will make quick work of this fight, even if you’re at a low level.

After the fight, the Magnemite duo will reappear to help rescue Diglett and safely return the group home. Your partner will ask them to join the team – Magnemite will be excited, then have to turn down the offer due to the lack of housing.

The next day, you’ll be able to visit Wigglytuff in Pokemon Square and unlock Friend Areas, finally presenting you with the ability to recruit Pokemon.

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Wigglytuff, Charmander, and Chikorita at Pokemon Square.

Wigglytuff will initially give your Rescue Team access to two Friend Areas for free, before Magnemite shows up and asks for their Friend Area to be given as a freebie, too. Wigglytuff will agree, allowing you to recruit Magnemite, nickname them, and send them to their new home.

How to get Rescue Team members

Aside from story recruits like Magnemite, recruiting members requires you to defeat them in combat during a Dungeon. Pokemon will randomly ask to join you if you have their Friend Area unlocked.

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Potential recruits in a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Thunderwave Cave run.

To recruit a Pokemon during a Dungeon mission, you’ll need to make sure that you have unlocked the relevant Friend Area for that Pokemon.

If you’re unsure whether a Pokemon in the Dungeon is eligible for recruitment, you can check by hitting B and opening the menu, selecting ‘Others’, and reviewing ‘Potential recruits’.

If the Pokemon’s name is on the list, you’re in luck. The next step is to find the target Pokemon by running around the Dungeon or waiting for enemies to approach you.

You’ll need to defeat the target Pokemon in combat to have a chance of recruiting them. There is no guarantee that the Pokemon will ask to join you, so you may need to battle a few Pokemon before one requests a spot on the team.

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Rattata joining the Pokemon Rescue Team.

When a Pokemon does ask to join, you’ll get the chance to accept or decline before nicknaming them if you agree to take them on. Then, you’ll need to keep them alive until you leave the Dungeon. If they faint, they will instantly leave the team.

How to recruit Legendary Pokemon for your Rescue Team

Every Legendary Pokemon in Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team has different unlock rules but generally, you’ll need to defeat them, have the right Friend Area, and complete the main story.

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Chikorita and Charmander after defeating Skarmory.

To recruit Legendary Pokemon in Rescue Team Red, you’ll need to make sure that you have plenty of space on your team.

Most Legendary ‘mons take up double the space of a regular Pokemon in a party, so trying to recruit them with a full team won’t work. Try to tackle them with just your main Partner, as most will take up 4 out of 6 party slots.

Additionally, when recruiting Legendaries, it is essential to make sure that your Pokemon is directly in front of the target and dealing the final blow.

Some Legendary Pokemon require you to have their Friend Area already unlocked before joining you, along with other tasks. The requirements for each Legendary can be found below – if it does not say “have access to…” then the Pokemon will give you the Friend Area.

It’s important to note that, just like regular Pokemon, Legendaries are not guaranteed recruits. RNG can differ between the ‘mons, so prepare to take them on several times before adding them to your team.

The majority of the Legendary ‘mons won’t be available until you’ve progressed past Sky Tower, both in terms of them being unlocked and being feasible to defeat. They’re well worth chasing down, though, as they can make playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team a lot more fun.