The hunt for those elusive shiny Pokémon is back in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but there are a few tricks to help improve your odds.

In case you’re not familiar, shiny Pokémon are differently coloured from other Pokémon. This can be dramatic or subtle, but the Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will also sparkle as you enter battle, so you’ll know when you’ve found one.

There’s no benefit to using them - except bragging rights. And who doesn’t want those? So let’s get hunting.

On this page:

How to find Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

According to one of the game’s Biology lessons, shiny odds are 1 in 4,000. In other games they’ve been 1 in 4069, so it’s likely that this is a simplification, but either way, it’s very possible to go through the entire game without seeing any.

  • How to find Shiny Pokémon
  • Catching Shiny Pokémon using Mass Outbreaks
  • Catching Shiny Pokémon using Sandwiches
  • Obtaining Shiny Pokémon with the ‘Masuda Method’
  • How to get the Shiny Charm in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Luckily, Shiny Pokémon are visible in their overworld sprites, so the first step is keeping your eyes open!

They’re still extremely rare, though, so there are a few methods for increasing your odds. And if you are hunting, the game will also keep track of how many you’ve encountered on your Profile card.

Catching Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet using Mass Outbreaks

Mass Outbreaks are events where many Pokémon of the same species appear in the same place. By defeating or capturing them, you can increase your odds of a shiny Pokémon appearing.

The easiest way to do this is simply to allow a powerful Pokémon to autobattle their way through the waves of spawns.

After a while, if you’re lucky, a shiny Pokémon will appear. I used this method to catch the shiny Bronzor as shown above, for example.

Luckily, your Pokémon won’t automatically battle a shiny, allowing you to catch it.

You’ll know an autobattle was attempted because of the red wave animation, but your Pokémon won’t actually attack. This can be useful if the shiny looks similar to the regular Pokémon.

Here is TheMGSlow on YouTube to show this in action:

It can take around 20 minutes to clear out a whole Mass Outbreak, although there’s no guarantee that a shiny will appear on your first attempt, so this could still take a few hours. And when it does - we recommend saving beforehand in case you don’t manage to catch it.

Catching Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet with the Sparkling Power buff

There is a way to craft Sandwiches that will boost your Shiny rate in Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, although you’ll need to beat all the Gyms first.

Once you do that, 5 star Tera Raids will begin appearing in the world. One of the potential rewards for beating these raids are Herba Mystica. Crafting sandwiches using Herba Mystica (they appear in the condiments menu) will give you a Sparkling Power level.

It will only affect a certain type of Pokémon depending on the other ingredients you use, so choose carefully based on what you’re hunting. In particular, you may want to target the types of any Mass Outbreaks happening nearby.

Our Pokémon Scarlet and Violet walkthrough can take you through the entire game - including The First Day of School, Victory Road, Starfall Street, Path of Legends and when you’re ready, The Way Home and the final boss.

Elsewhere, we can help with the Normal Gym test Secret Item menu, version differences, the best Scarlet and Violet starter, EXP farming, shiny Pokémon and learning how to fly, swim, climb and dash.

When it comes to individual Pokémon, we can help with Gimmighoul, Ditto, Bellibolt, Pawmot, Scovillain, Frigibax, Sinistea, Brambleghast, Annihilape, Farigiraf, Dudunsparce, Lycanrock forms, Armarouge and Ceruledge.

Obtaining Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet with the ‘Masuda Method’

The so-called ‘Masuda Method’ has made its return in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. This increases the odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon when breeding if the parent Pokémon come from games set to different languages.

If you don’t have a friend who’s playing in a different language, the Wonder Trade will link you up with random players from around the world, which can be a method for collecting quite a few global Pokémon, although you won’t be able to choose which species you get.

The community has set up specific Link Codes so that people looking for certain trades can find one another. The code for a Ditto swap is 4448-4448, for example, and I was able to find a trade partner within a couple of minutes.

Since Ditto can be bred with anything, using this code to find someone with a foreign language Ditto is a good way to up your Shiny chances.

How to get the Shiny Charm in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

As in other Pokémon games, there is an item known as the Shiny Charm which will increase your odds of finding a shiny Pokémon.

However, the Shiny Charm is quite difficult to obtain - you will need to finish the Pokédex first.

Once you’ve caught or traded for all 400 Pokémon, speak to Jacq in the school’s Biology Lab and he’ll give you the charm.

You can see this in action via That Bald Gamer on YouTube:

For more help in Paldea, we’ve got a walkthrough, including help with the Starfall Street, Victory Road, and Path of Legends stories.