In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, alternately colored Pokemon once again make their return to provide some unique looking team members to the player’s party. These Shiny Pokemon, as they are known by the community, are extremely rare and difficult to find, requiring dedication and good luck to acquire. There are means to make this easier, however, and the game offers several different ways of improving the chances for players to find a Shiny Pokemon.
These methods include the return of the Shiny Charm to increase the base chance of finding a Shiny Pokemon, as well as the inclusion of sandwiches which can be used to increase the chance further of Pokemon that are not Shiny Locked. There is another method, however, that can be used to increase the chance of finding a Shiny Pokemon from breeding known as the Masuda Method, and here is what players need to know to use it for themselves.
The Masuda Method and Shiny Chance
In Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, the Masuda method, as it’s informally called, is a technique for increasing the chances of finding a Shiny Pokemon by breeding. The method takes its informal name from Junichi Masuda, the game director of many of the Pokemon games, as he described how it works in a blog some years ago. Basically, the method involves using Pokemon that originally come from different languages, and was placed into the games to encourage people to utilize the trade systems that allowed players to trade Pokemon all across the world. If two Pokemon who are compatible and come from two different games with two different languages, then the chance to breed a Shiny is drastically increased than it otherwise would be.
The base chance of finding a Shiny Pokemon through regular gameplay is 1 in 4096. This means that for every 4096 Pokemon a player encounter, one of them will be a Shiny on average. This make these Pokemon extremely rare encounters, with players being likely to play through the entire game without encountering one. Even worse is that these Pokemon are Standard to their species in every way except their appearance, and so they can be accidentally fainted through battle or missed entirely as they roam throughout the Paldea Region.
The Masuda Method is useful because it makes it easier to acquire a Shiny of any Pokemon that players want, allowing a more focused search for the desired Shiny. The Masuda Method increases the base chance of finding a shiny from 1 in 4092 to 1 in 682, or 1 in 512 if players have the Shiny Charm. It will still take time and commitment to find a Shiny this way, but these chances are much greater than they otherwise would be. Players should remember that this only applies during breeding Pokemon, but the catch is in finding a Pokemon that was originally from a version of the game in a different language.
Surprise Trade and Obtaining Pokemon
The most reliable means of acquiring Pokemon from around the world is to use the surprise trade function present in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Using the surprise trade, players will have the opportunity to acquire a random Pokemon from any other player who is also using the surprise trade.
The surprise trade can be found in the PokePortal menu option when players press the X button on their controller. Players can then navigate to the suprise trade option to set up a Pokemon that will be randomly traded for another.
This means that Pokemon of all kinds can be found, and if players are lucky they may find a Pokemon of the species they want the shiny for. Ideally, players will be able to find a Ditto from another language, as it will then be able to breed with any Pokemon the player wishes, allowing the Masuda Method to work for all Pokemon. Regardless of whether they find a foreign language Ditto, players that continue to surprise trade will eventually acquire some Pokemon from other languages that can be bred with the Masuda Method. Players can also trade with someone they already know in another country by setting up a link code and connecting through the link trade option, allowing those with friends all over the world to bypass the need to surprise trade.
How to Perform the Masuda Method
Once players have acquired two different Pokemon to breed, the next step for players will be to go on a picnic. Players should bring with them the two or more Pokemon that are compatible, ensuring that as many of these Pokemon are from different languages as possible.
Once players have done this, players can make a sandwich with the egg power meal effect, or go to a restaurant in a town that sells a meal with the egg power effect. Once players have their meal with the egg power effect, players can continue to play with their Pokemon while continuing to check the egg basket at the end of the table. After a few eggs are gathered, players can hatch the eggs by walking around with the eggs in their party. Shiny Sandwiches will not help with the chance for an egg to be Shiny, so players should prepare other sandwiches for their eggs.
Players will need to repeat this until they have hatched a shiny Pokemon, though there are a few things they can do to further increase their chances.
Tips for Faster Shiny Breeding
The first tip for players to increase their odds of obtaining a Shiny Pokemon is to first obtain the Shiny Charm. The Shiny Charm is an item that will greatly increase the players chances to obtain a Shiny Pokemon, though it will take some time to acquire.
The second tip is for players to bring with them multiple breeding pairs of Pokemon to increase the chances of getting more eggs. For instance, having a Ditto or other compatible Pokemon for every Pokemon the player is trying to breed. This will increase the odds of obtaining eggs that could be Shiny during the picnic, and while this will not increase the chance of each individual Pokemon, it will increase the speed that Pokemon can be hatched.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available now on Nintendo Switch