A newly-discovered method of hunting Shinies in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet makes the famously rare encounters much easier to find. Although they have no advantage over other Pokémon in actual gameplay, the fact that Shiny Pokémon have a visibly different color palette makes them instant status symbols for many in the Pokémon community. Having even a single Shiny can be an indicator of both good luck and dedication, and allows both the Pokémon and its trainer to immediately stand out from the rest. As such, any new and effective method for finding these elusive Pokémon is sure to prove popular.
There have been a variety of good and bad influences on Shiny Hunting in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. On one hand, combining the effects of features like Meal Powers and Mass Outbreaks can make Shiny Hunting far easier than in older games which had far less ways to manipulate the odds. However, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have also arguably made Shiny Hunting Pokémon harder than it needs to be in some respects. For example, although the new Let’s Go mechanic makes training Pokémon much easier, a wandering Pokémon could also automatically defeat a random Shiny before its Trainer has a chance to notice and recall it.
Hunting Shiny Pokémon Is As Simple As Counting
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A new Shiny Hunting method, credited to Reddit user zQubexx in a now-removed post and spread by X user SBCoop, offers a simple way to quickly judge whether a Shiny is present in a group of Pokémon, something especially useful with the obscuring rocky armor of Minior. This method takes advantage of how Pokémon spawn into Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s overworld, noting that a group of Pokémon in an isolated area can actually be counted to reveal any Shinies, as long as other conditions are also met when they spawn. But assuming this preparation is completed, any group of 16 Pokémon seems guaranteed to contain a Shiny.
To find a Shiny using this method, people must first travel to their target area and make a sandwich with the Sparkling Level Three and appropriate Encounter Level Three meal powers, which raise the Shiny odds and guarantee a certain Type of Pokémon spawning, respectively. Then they simply need to repeatedly begin setting up and packing away their picnic, making sure to not move the player character during this stage (rotating the camera is not included in this). By waiting for around 10 seconds after each cycle of the picnic, which forces new spawns, and then counting the nearby Pokémon, a Shiny can easily be found.
Naturally, merely counting until there is a total of 16 Pokémon spawns makes investigating a group of Pokémon for Shinies much quicker. However, given the underlying rates of Shiny Pokémon, this may still take many “resets” through the use of the picnic to be successful. Additionally, there are some other details to keep in mind when hunting Shinies this way; firstly, it is possible that one or more Pokémon may spawn out of sight, or even inside walls. In order to make counting reliably accurate, a clear view and level terrain are undoubtedly valuable, although Shiny Hunting mountain-dwelling Pokémon may prevent this.
The New Shiny Hunting Method Has Advantages And Disadvantages
An additional complication that must be kept in mind when Shiny Hunting this way is that some wild Pokémon in the overworld can actually be consistently appearing Static Spawns. These can artificially inflate numbers in an area, as their spawn mechanics are separate from normal, randomly generated wild Pokémon, and so Shiny Hunters must make note of these Pokémon and exclude them from their counts. In other words, if one Pokémon in a given area is a Static Spawn, then including it in population counts would make the target number of wild Pokémon become 17.
Why Shiny Hunting In Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Is About To Get Harder
It appears that Shiny Hunting in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will soon become harder for players, as a result of an imminent change to the games.
As this method works for any Pokémon, it can greatly improve Shiny Hunts for any Pokémon. However, its time-saving potential is especially notable with Pokémon like Minior, which are extremely hard to identify as Shiny. Minior’s actual Shiny form, as with all of its Core forms, are completely hidden by its initial Meteor form. With other Shiny Hunting methods, searching for a Shiny Minior requires battling each individual Pokémon, as it cannot be identified from a distance. However, by counting Pokémon populations, any groups of Pokémon with no Shinies, including Minior, can be excluded from searches much quicker.
In addition, SBCoop also notes that the group of 16 spawned Pokémon do not necessarily need to be of the same species, although matching Types may still be a factor. For example, if several species of Normal-Types spawn in a group of 16, then the Shiny Pokémon may belong to any one of those species. In order to narrow down the range of possible spawns, alongside carefully selecting a location and the use of Encounter Meal Powers, people can wait for specific weather conditions and times of day, which also affect which Pokémon can spawn.
All Shiny Locked Pokémon In Scarlet & Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC introduces several new monsters and 25 returning Legendaries, but a lot of Pokémon are Shiny locked.
Shiny Pokémon Won’t Lose Their Appeal With Easier Hunting Methods
Although the value of Shinies is tied in large part to their rarity, it is unlikely that any amount of improved Shiny Hunting tactics will lower appreciation for them. Although zQubexx’s new method and other pre-established ones can reduce the overall time needed to find a Shiny, there is still a large element of chance involved. Ultimately, methods such as these simply make the tedious process of finding a Shiny more tolerable. The unique appearances of Shiny Pokémon mean that there will always be those who covet them, and their rarity will aways be a factor in how impressive ownership of even a single Shiny can be.
This new and highly effective method of Shiny Hunting will undoubtedly speed up the process, particularly with those Pokémon whose shiny forms need close examination to identify. The fact that Shinies represent an additional spawn in an area is an interesting quirk of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and one that Shiny Hunters will want to keep in mind. As a result, although these special Pokémon will always be rare, they will perhaps still be easier to find than ever before.
- Franchise
- Pokemon
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch
- Released
- November 18, 2022
- Developer(s)
- Game Freak
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo , The Pokemon Company
- Genre(s)
- RPG , Adventure , Action
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op , Online Multiplayer
- ESRB
- E
