Pokemon Scarlet & Violet changes the formula, letting your Pokemon Trainer fully explore the vat open-world wilderness. No longer trapped in small routes, you’ll now have entire fields to explore. More cast expanses of outdoors mean more Pokemon to catch, and the rarest of all Pokemon are the Shiny Pokemon. Shiny Pokemon are special, extremely rare variants with new color schemes. They aren’t more powerful and they don’t do anything special. They just have a new color palette — and that’s enough to make them extremely valuable for collectibles. Getting your first Shiny Pokemon is a right of passage, and we’re going to help you get one of your own.
Shiny Pokemon have a few important twists you need to know about in Scarlet & Violet. There are new and old methods for increasing your Shiny Pokemon chances — and we’ll lay out the details below. Old methods like the Masuda Method are confirmed to still function in Scarlet & Violet. You’ll also find returning methods from side-series like Pokemon Legends: Arceus — and a totally new method that’s unique to Scarlet & Violet. Here’s what you need to know about shiny farming.
More Pokemon Scarlet & Violet guides:
Beginner’s Guide | Combat Tips | All Version Exclusive Pokemon | All New Pokemon | Which Starter To Pick First | Best Gym Leader Order | How To Breed Pokemon | How To Unlock Evolution Stones | Pre-Order Bonuses | How To Get A Starter Pikachu | Where To Catch Eevee & All Evolution Methods | Where To Catch Ditto | Better Performance
Shiny Pokemon | What Are They?
Shiny Pokemon are rare variant Pokemon that randomly appear in the wild — Shiny Pokemon can be identified by their alternative color palette. They look slightly different compared to regular Pokemon of the same species. Here’s a quick rundown of everything you need to know.
- Shiny Pokemon are rare variant Pokemon with a unique color palette.
- Shiny Pokemon have a 1 in 4096 chance of spawning.
- Shiny Pokemon will appear in the overworld — if you see a Shiny Pokemon wandering around, try to catch it!
Shiny Pokemon are variants that are categorized in the same Pokedex Entry as a standard Pokemon. You can complete your Pokedex without catching a single Shiny Pokemon — and completing the Pokedex will actually increase your chances of spotting a Shiny Pokemon.
There are multiple methods you can use to increase chances of discovering Shiny Pokemon. Let’s cover all the methods below.
How To Increase Shiny Pokemon Chances | The Masuda Method
Like we stated earlier, the Masuda Method is a confirmed feature in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. This old method still functions the same after all these years — by breeding Pokemon from different language regions, you’ll increase your odds of spawning a Shiny Pokemon.
- Masuda Method: Breed two Pokemon from different language regions to gain a +x6 chance of spawning a Shiny Pokemon.
- This increases Shiny Rate when breed from 1-in-4096 to 1-in-683.
- How To Use The Masuda Method: You’ll need to trade. By trading Pokemon with foreign friends from other countries, you can instantly boost your Shiny Chances.
- Trading for a Ditto from foreign regions was one of the best strategies for farming Shiny Pokemon through breeding, due to Ditto’s ability to breed with any other Pokemon.
How To Increase Shiny Pokemon Chances | The Shiny Charm
The Masuda Method can only be combined with one other returning method — the Shiny Charm.
- Shiny Charm: A special unlockable that increases all Shiny Pokemon chance of spawning by +x3 or +x2 when combined with other methods.
- At its base value, the Shiny Charm will increase the Shiny Rate of all Pokemon (breeding or capturing in the wild) from 1-in-4096 to 1-in-1366. That’s three times better odds.
- How To Unlock The Shiny Charm:
- Complete the Paldea Pokedex. After catching all Pokemon, you’ll earn the Shiny Charm and instantly start improving your Shiny Pokemon odds.
The Shiny Charm combines with all other Shiny Pokemon chances — with the Shiny Charm equipped, all other methods on this list will have significantly increased odds.
How To Increase Shiny Pokemon Chances | Hunting In Mass Outbreaks
Mass Outbreaks are a returning feature from Pokemon Legends: Arceus — daily, a huge swirl of Pokemon would spawn in a specific area of the map. By fighting and defeating many Pokemon, you’d increase your odds of seeing a Shiny Pokemon. This is a daily event and the Pokemon that appear in Mass Outbreaks are especially difficult.
- How Mass Outbreaks Work: An alert will appear to warn you of a Mass Outbreak in a map. Many Pokemon — often from different regions — will appear randomly in the affected area.
- This is a good way to catch rare Pokemon. That includes Shiny Pokemon.
- Mass Outbreaks are a daily event. Mass Outbreak events will appear at several locations in Paldea.
- About 120~ Pokemon will spawn in a Mass Outbreak.
Mass Outbreaks are also a great way to unlock Shiny Pokemon. By defeating many Pokemon in a Mass Outbreak, you’ll increase your odds of seeing Shiny Pokemon in the Mass Outbreak. The boost is only temporary, and is only applied while in a Mass Outbreak event.
NOTE: After defeating 120~ Pokemon the Mass Outbreak will end.
- How To Increase Shiny Chances In A Mass Outbreak: By defeating enemies in a Mass Outbreak, you’ll apply a temporary buff to your Shiny Chances during the Mass Outbreak Event. After the event is over, or if you leave the event, you’ll lose the Shiny Chance Buff.
- Defeat or Catch 30~ Pokemon: Increases Shiny Chances by +x2. Odds go from 1-in-4096 to 1-in-2048.
- Defeat or Catch 60~ Pokemon: Increases Shiny Chances by +x3. Odds go from 1-in-4096 to 1-in-1366.
You can combine the Mass Outbreak Shiny Buff with the Shiny Charm and one final method to increase your Shiny Chances exponentially. The last method is only available in Scarlet & Violet — Sandwiches!
How To Increase Shiny Pokemon Chances | Shiny Sandwiches
The final method for increasing your Shiny Pokemon chances is totally unique to this game — you won’t find it anywhere else. Very late in the story, you’ll unlock the ability to cook up Shiny Sandwiches.
- How To Boost Shiny Chances With Sandwiches: By completing 5-Star Tera Raid Battles you’ll earn Herba Mystica materials. These can be used to make special sandwiches that boost the appearance rate of Shiny Pokemon of specific types.
- The Shiny Buff lasts for 30 minutes — each Herba Mystica material boosts a different Pokemon type.
- This method only boosts appearance rates for Wild Pokemon. It will not improve odds when breeding.
By combining these methods, you can lower the odds from 1-in-4096 to as low as 1-in-512. We’ll cover the details for that on a separate article. For players just getting started, its important enough to know that Shiny Pokemon appear on the field. No need to fight to see if a Pokemon is shiny!
