How to Hunt Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Legends Z-A

Shiny Pokémon have always been sought after, and that’s no different in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. If anything, Shiny Pokémon are that little bit easier to track down in Lumiose City thanks to visual and sound cues that appear when one is nearby, but there are still a few things you can do to boost your chances of catching a Shiny in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

In this guide, we explain everything you need to know about Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, including Shiny Rates, best Shiny Hunting methods, how to get the Shiny Charm, and all Shiny-Locked Pokémon in the game.

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How to Hunt Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Shiny Pokémon are rare, alternative colour variants of pre-existing Pokémon species that can be found out in the wild depending on shiny odds. Due to their rarity and the fact they look a little different, plenty of keen players will want to get their hands on one, whether that’s by sheer luck or actively Shiny Hunting.

A few things you ought to know about Shiny Pokémon before trying to hunt one down in Pokémon Legends: Z-A are as follows:

• A sound cue will play when a Shiny Pokémon is nearby, to help you tell apart Shiny Pokémon from non-Shiny Pokémon.
• When you throw a Poké Ball at a Shiny Pokémon, sparkles will fly off them, helping you to confirm that the trapped Pokémon is Shiny.
• It’s highly recommended to stock up on powerful Poké Balls – such as Ultra Balls – for catching Shiny Pokémon, as this increases your chances of successfully catching them.
• When you catch a Shiny Pokémon, its Shiny variant will replace traditional variants in the Pokédex. You can switch this back and forth.
• Side Mission 17 acts as an introduction to Shiny Pokémon and allows you to catch a Shiny Mareep following it.
• Pokémon in Wild Zones and the overworld – which consists of Lumiose City’s alleys and rooftops – can be Shiny.

Now that we’ve run through some tips for identifying and catching Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, let’s talk about your exact chances of catching one and how to increase those chances.

Thanks to Austin John Plays for the below information.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A Shiny Odds

You have a one in 4096 base chance to encounter a Shiny Pokémon naturally in Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s overworld. Those are the Shiny odds that you’ll have throughout most of your time exploring Lumiose City.

How to increase Shiny Rates in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

There is only one way to increase your Shiny rates in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and that’s by unlocking and equipping the Shiny Charm.

The Shiny Charm increases your chances of catching a Shiny Pokémon in the overworld to a one in 1024 chance of catching one, which is a significant improvement from the one in 4096 base chance of catching one. That said, getting your hands on the Shiny Charm takes some work.

How to get the Shiny Charm in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

The Shiny Charm is obtained by reaching Level 50 of Mable’s Research in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. This means completing all of her Research Requests (and there’s a lot!) and ultimately completing the Pokedex, so it’ll be a long while before you can get your hands on it.

Best Shiny Hunting methods in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

There’s only one tried and tested method for Shiny Hunting in Pokémon Legends: Z-A so far, and that’s by ‘rerolling’. In a Wild Zone, there’ll be a set pool of Pokémon for you to battle and/or catch, but by walking far enough away from the Pokémon you’re trying to Shiny Hunt that they despawn, you can walk back to find the Pokémon will have rerolled.

For example, you’re in Wild Zone one hunting down a Shiny Fletchling, and let’s say you find a male Level 3 Fletchling. If you run away far enough – so that Fletching despawns – then come back, you might find that the male Level 3 Fletchling has been replaced with a female Level 5 Fletchling, or something along those lines. Essentially, the original Fletchling despawned and was rerolled for a new Pokémon, and by repeating this – and ultimately seeing more unique Pokémon – there’s a chance you’ll encounter a Shiny Pokémon eventually.

The much faster way of rerolling in Pokémon Legends: Z-A is by fast-travelling to and from your chosen Wild Zone. Of course, if you have the Shiny Charm equipped by doing this, your chances of finding a Shiny while rerolling will be even higher.

To summarise, the most efficient way of Shiny Hunting in Pokémon Legends: Z-A at the time of writing is as follows:

• Visit a Wild Zone or overworld area – with wild Pokémon – of your choice, and look at all the Pokémon to determine if there are any Shinies present or not.
• If not, simply fast travel back to that Wild Zone or area and look again.
• Keep repeating this process – looking for Shinies and fast-travelling back to the area – until you encounter a Shiny Pokémon, identifiable by its visual and sound cues.

Another tip for Shiny Hunting is that Shiny Pokémon, once they appear, will remain in that spot until you have interacted with them. For example, if a Shiny Eevee spawns on a nearby rooftop while you’re walking along the road below but you don’t interact with it, you can return to it later and it will still be a Shiny Eevee. It will stay this way until you catch it or it flees. This can be the case for up to ten Shiny Pokémon at a time, and ultimately makes the autosave function in Pokémon Legends: Z-A pretty useful.

Though, a good rule of thumb is to still manually save your game whenever you hear or see what you suspect might be a Shiny Pokémon. This means that Shiny Pokémon will be saved in your game files and will therefore remain present until you catch it or it flees.

The only thing to take note of when it comes to Shiny Pokémon saves is when the pool of Pokémon changes between nighttime and daytime. For example – and as Austin John Plays demonstrates in their video – if you find a Shiny Magikarp in Wild Zone 2 but haven’t interacted with it yet, that Pokémon will become a standard variant Staryu during nighttime. However, if you return during the next day, the Shiny Magikarp will have returned once the nighttime/daytime Pokémon pools switch.

It’s also worth noting that there are no Mass Outbreaks and no breeding in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, so you won’t be able to try these pre-existing methods of Shiny Hunting.

All Shiny-Locked Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Some Pokémon are Shiny-Locked in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, meaning that it is impossible to get your hands on a Shiny variant of that Pokémon in-game. This is typically because they’re either a legendary Pokémon or they’re given during the storyline, like the starter Pokémon.

All Shiny-Locked Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A are as follows:

• All Gift Pokémon – this includes all Pokémon gifted to you during Story Missions excluding Fossils. You can later find and Shiny Hunt these Pokémon in the wild, however.
• All Story-Related Traded Pokémon – this includes all Pokémon traded with you as part of Story Missions, such as the early-game Heracross you receive in exchange for Pikachu. Again, you can later find and Shiny Hunt some of these Pokémon in the wild.
• Static Pokémon – this includes any Pokémon placed in the overworld specifically for Missions, whether it’s a Main Mission or Side Mission, such as Rogue Mega Pokémon.
• All Rogue Mega Pokemon – Rogue Mega Pokemon are considered static story-based Pokemon and therefore will not be available as shinies.
• Legendary Pokémon – Legendary Pokémon are considered static Pokémon and will therefore not be available as Shinies.

Good luck hunting for Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A!