How to Easily Find Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet/Violet
One of the biggest benefits of owning a Shiny Pokemon (besides bragging rights) is the fact that they’re extremely rare and challenging to find. The main thing that makes a Shiny Pokemon different from the rest of the pack is their unique colorations; they may not have the perfect IVs that you’re hoping for in a competitive scene, but when it comes to standing out from the crowd, they take the cake. Shiny Pokemon are difficult to come across in a “natural” environment. Thankfully, Pokemon games these days now have several in-game mechanics to make the process of catching one easier. Many of these known methods are also in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet—along with a new one. Here’s everything you need to know about Shiny hunting in the latest Pokemon game.
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Looking At the Odds
The odds of finding a Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet/Violet are 1/4096—the same as in the past games. This means that, on average, you’ll only be able to encounter a Shiny once in the 4096 wild Pokemon you’ll meet. It’s a daunting figure and is why other trainers don’t try to go Shiny hunting anymore. However, the shift to overworld encounters has made things much easier for you to encounter and hopefully spot a Shiny out in the field. As long as you have a keen eye, you’ll no longer have to go out of the way to get into battles manually.
Keep An Eye Out for Mass Outbreaks
Much like in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, you can find Mass Outbreaks in the Paldea region. Mass Outbreaks are special events where a Pokemon appears in large numbers on the overworld map. The outbreaks for certain Pokemon happen randomly, so always check your map with the Y button, as each day, you’ll see different sets of Mass Outbreaks. If you knock out many Pokemon in an outbreak, your chances of getting a Shiny Pokemon will improve. The increase of encountering a Shiny is as follows:
Mass Outbreak (more or less 30 defeated/captured)
- 1 in 2048 (without Shiny Charm)
- 1 in 1024.38 (with Shiny Charm)
Mass Outbreak (more or less 60 defeated/captured)
- 1 in 1365.67 (without Shiny Charm)
- 1 in 819.60 (with Shiny Charm)
If you want to defeat multiple Pokemon in a Mass Outbreak with gusto, you can use the Let’s Go feature to let your lead Pokemon out and defeat the wild Pokemon near you. If you’re worried about your Pokemon automatically attacking a Shiny once you find one, don’t worry—they’ll refuse to attack it unless you order it using the R button.
Get the Shiny Charm
If you want to improve your Shiny rates considerably, then obtaining the Shiny Charm is not only a recommendation but a requirement. You’ve probably heard of this item before in previous Pokemon games. The Shiny Charm increases your odds of running into a Shiny Pokemon by a whopping 300%. From 1/4096, the chances of encountering a Shiny mushrooms to 1/1365 by just having the Shiny Charm alone.
That said, getting the Shiny Charm is easier said than done. In true Pokemon fashion, you can only receive it after completing the Regional Pokedex for Paldea. Once you’ve done that, you can pick up the Shiny Charm through Professor Jacq in a classroom at the academy.
In Pokemon Sword and Shield, we had curry. But here in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, it’s all about the sandwiches. Did you know that they can improve your Shiny odds, though? Yep, I never saw that coming at first, either. After beating the main story, you’ll be able to earn ingredients known as Herba Mystica in Terastal Raid Battles. If you’ve completed at least one of the main quests in Path of Legends, then you know what I’m talking about. You can then use these ingredients to craft sandwiches with the Sparkling Power boost; this increases the odds of encountering a Shiny Pokemon of a specific type. Suppose you combine it with other boosts (Encounter Power, Title Power, etc.). In that case, these sandwiches can also spawn many Pokemon of one type in the overworld map, thus improving the chances of finding a Shiny even further.
The improvement rates from using sandwiches to boost your rates of finding a Shiny Pokemon are as follows:
Basic Method (running around, fighting wild Pokemon in an area, etc.)
- 1 in 1024.38 (without Shiny Charm)
- 1 in 683.08 (with Shiny Charm)
Mass Outbreak (more or less 30 defeated/captured)
- 1 in 819.6 (without Shiny Charm)
- 1 in 512.44 (with Shiny Charm)
The Masuda Method Still Reigns Supreme
The Masuda Method is one of the famed ways of getting a Shiny Pokemon. It’s a technique attributed to The Pokemon Company’s very own Junichi Masuda because he noted its existence on his blog back when Pokemon Diamond and Pearl were released. The method is relatively simple; it involves breeding two Pokemon from games with two different languages. This would work if you, for example, have a Japanese Ditto and an English Fuecoco. If you breed these two Pokemon, you’ll increase the odds of encountering a Shiny by a staggering 600%. Here are the rates for the Masuda Method:
- 1 in 682.7 (without Shiny Charm)
- 1 in 512 (with Shiny Charm)
If you’ve noticed, if you want the Shiny rates to be as low as using the Masuda Method, you’ll have to defeat more than 60 Pokemon in a Mass Outbreak. Note that you also have to eat a sandwich that boosts Sparkling Power. This means that the Masuda Method remains the best method to obtain a Shiny Pokemon, as not only does it have lower rates, but it requires the least amount of work to set up.
Since breeding Pokemon in Scarlet/Violet is a different ball game than previous generations, you’re no longer tied to using a Pokemon Daycare. Instead, you can obtain Eggs through the Pokemon Picnic when you have compatible species in your team.
Pick Your Poison
The methods I’ve discussed here are all viable options. While the Masuda Method is still arguably the best (since it has the best rates), it can be a tad boring once you’ve been breeding Pokemon for over 10 hours. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to change things up, such as doing Mass Outbreaks and hosting a picnic.
