Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: How To Catch Shiny Pokémon And Improve Shiny Odds

Getting Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet takes plenty of patience, just as in previous games – but thanks to the sandwich mechanic, possibly not quite as much as it did before. Shiny Pokémon are still quite rare, though you can significantly improve your chances in a few specific ways.

This guide explains how to get Shiny Pokémon and how to tell when a Pokémon is Shiny.

How to tell if a Pokémon is Shiny in Scarlet and Violet

Once you start a battle with a Shiny Pokémon, there are two ways to tell if it’s Shiny. One is the telltale sparkle that shines across the Pokémon for a brief moment once the battle begins, and the other is the Pokémon’s appearance. You can also spot if they're a Shiny on the overworld, but only by their appearance — they do not sparkle or make a noise like in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Most Pokémon that aren’t new to the series have distinctly different appearances compared to their non-Shiny forms. Altaria is yellow instead of blue, for example, and Spiritomb is blue instead of purple.

Paldea Pokémon are a bit different. The visual differences for many of them are so indistinguishable from the usual forms that you may struggle to identify them except in auto-battle mode with the camera zoomed in. Shiny Charcadet, for example, has blue eyes instead of red – and that’s the only difference.

How to get Shiny Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet

Normally, you have a 1 in 4,096 chance (thanks Serebii) of encountering a Shiny Pokémon, but you can make Shiny hunting easier with a few methods.

Mass outbreaks

One is through mass outbreaks, which we detail in our mass outbreak guides. The chances of encountering a specific Shiny Pokémon in a mass outbreak are dependent on whether that Pokémon shows up in an outbreak, so you could go a few days or more without seeing the ‘mon you want.

Scarlet and Violet’s Shiny Charm

The Shiny Charm is back, and with it comes a substantial increase in your chances of finding a Shiny. The Charm doubles your chance of encountering a Shiny Pokémon, making it 1 in 2,048. You must complete the Pokedex and speak with Mr. Jacq, the biology class teacher, to get the Shiny Charm, though.

Shiny Sandwich

Once you unlock 5-star Tera Raids, you’ll start earning Herba Mystica items that you can use to make a sandwich with Sparkling Power. At Meal Power Level 3, your base chance rises to 1 in 1,024. You can make a plain Shiny Sandwich for the Sparkling Power boost and hope it works for any mass outbreak, or, if the Pokémon you want isn’t part of an outbreak, you can tailor your ingredients to the type of Pokémon you’re after – a Fire-type, for example, or a Fairy type.

Sandwich boosts last for 30 minutes, so you'll have to keep topping up on snacks if you want to hunt for plenty of Shiny Pokémon.

Add all these together – Meal Power, mass outbreaks, and the Shiny Charm – and you can raise your chance of encountering a Shiny ‘mon to 1 in 502. It’s still a long shot, but a much more likely scenario than just going in with nothing to help out.

Check out our Pokémon Scarlet and Violet walkthrough for more tips and tricks!