The Complete Guide to Shiny Hunting in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

As a longtime Pokémon trainer with hundreds of shinies caught across generations, I live for the thrill of shiny hunting. So when Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were announced, I eagerly anticipated returning to the hunt in the Paldea region. With over 100 new shinies to catch there, I wanted to share everything I’ve learned to help fellow collectors grab that sparkling addition to their team.

Shiny Hunting Odds and Rates

Before we dive into the enormous list of available shinies, let’s go over some need-to-know details on hunting mechanics. Here are the base odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon by method:

As you can see, outside of tedious catch combos, outbreaks will give you the best shot at finding shinies in Scarlet and Violet. I’ll go into more details on outbreak hunting later.

First, let’s talk about the most powerful tool for collectors:

The Shiny Charm

Finishing the Paldea Pokédex awards you with this precious Key Item, which boosts shiny odds for random encounters to 1 in 2048. This stacks with other modifiers like outbreaks too.

Based on my testing, here are the updated outbreak shiny rates with the Shiny Charm:

As you can see, the boost is significant. I highly recommend completing as much of the Pokédex as you can stomach before dedicated shiny hunting. It makes a tangible difference.

Now let’s move onto arguably the most efficient (and for me, most exciting) method for shiny catching in Scarlet and Violet:

Mass Outbreak Hunting

New to Generation 9 are Mass Outbreaks – events where hordes of a particular Pokémon species spawn together for an extended period of time. These make completing the Pokédex much easier, while also providing a hugely boosted shiny rate.

During an outbreak, the base 1 in 4096 shiny odds are dramatically cut down to about 1 in 158. Even with bad RNG, if you clear the spawns repeatedly you should expect a shiny within 1-2 hours.

Here are some key outbreak hunting tips I’ve learned over my time in Paldea:

• When an outbreak is announced on the map, fly/race over as soon as possible – they are time limited!
• Move systematically and clear spawns rather than rushing around – I work in rows.
• Keep battling and catching outbreak Pokémon until the outbreak ends. Shinies can spawn at any time, even on your 50th battle there.
• Make sure you have Pokéballs stocked so you don‘t lose one! I keep 200+ standard Pokéballs minimum.
• Use smoke bombs to quickly respawn more outbreak Pokémon as you clear them. You can craft or buy these.
• If it’s a rare spawn like evolved forms, catch comboing can help force more rapid respawns.

Patience is key! Anecdotally from my grinding, I’ve found shinies appear most consistently around the 40-60 minute mark and beyond. Don’t expect instant gratification – stick with it and that rainbow sheen will appear.

Okay, let’s get into the mega list of shinies available across Scarlet and Violet!

Scarlet Exclusive Shiny Pokémon

Scarlet players have exclusive access to these shiny palette swaps in Pokémon outbreaks:

Image	Pokémon	Common Locations
	Drifloon	West/South Provinces
	Drifblim	South/East Provinces
	Armarouge	Evolution

See the full list of Scarlet exclusive shinies here.

I particularly recommend outbreak hunting for Drifloon and Drifblim – their increased spawn rates from outbreaks makes clearing them faster. Armarouge‘s line remains scarce, making them a tougher target.

Violet Exclusive Shiny Pokémon

Similarly, Violet players can hunt these version exclusive shinies in Paldea‘s outbreaks:

Image	Pokémon	Common Locations
	Misdreavus	South Provinces
	Ceruledge	Evolution
	Tauros (Aqua)	West/East Provinces

See the Violet exclusive shiny list here.

Misdreavus is a fun shiny to hunt given the variety of colorful options its spectral body provides. Like Scarlet, the Ceruledge line sees relatively limited outbreaks so patience and dedication is advised there.

And now, the shinies any player can hunt for in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet:

Mutual Shiny Pokémon

The following shinies have no version exclusivity – they can outbreak in all copies of Scarlet and Violet:

Image	Pokémon
	Pikachu
	Magikarp
	Ditto
	Charmander

See the full mutual shiny list here.

The Kanto classics like the Pikachu line, Magikarp, and various starters make for common outbreak targets I‘d recommend. Their evolved forms can make for especially lucrative shinies.

And now, the unfortunate exclusions:

Legendary & Mythical Restrictions

As expected, the box legendaries Koraidon and Miraidon cannot be encountered in shiny form. The same goes for professors‘ partners Cyclizar, as well as ancient titans Tatsugiri, Great Tusk and Scream Tail. Mythical Pokémon are shiny locked as always.

This preserves some exciting exclusivity for these special Pokémon. But as an avid collector, I‘m hopeful for event distributions in future!

Key Shiny Hunting Tips

Over my long Pokémon history, I‘ve come to swear by a few key strategies when shiny hunting:

• Patience is essential. Be ready to put in 1-2 hours per outbreak with no guarantees – but know that statistically, you will eventually encounter that sparkling sprite!
• Come prepared! Make sure you have plenty of Pokéballs, Wing Balls, smoke bombs and other essentials before each outbreak. Nothing worse than running dry mid-hunt or losing catch chances.
• Consistency matters. Try to hunt every outbreak possible rather than cherry-picking favorites – each one is an opportunity. Clearing as many hordes as possible is mathematically your best shot at shining gold.
• Persist and have fun! Even during unlucky dry spells, remember millions share your challenge. Stick it out, try not to stress losses, and landing that dream shiny makes all the effort worth it.

I hope these tips help you in your Paldea shiny hunts – best of luck fellow trainers! Please share your triumphs (and tribulations) in the comments.