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Apr 02, 2024

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Outbreak Shiny Hunting

...and the Picnic Purge Method Contents In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, every day, a new set of outbreaks appears on the map. They are designated by a Pokémon icon in front of a glowing outbreak icon.

...and the Picnic Purge Method

Contents

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, every day, a new set of outbreaks appears on the map. They are designated by a Pokémon icon in front of a glowing outbreak icon. This signifies that a large number of Pokemon of that species are spawning there that day.

Outbreaks have 4 rounds of Pokémon. Each round can have around 20-30 Pokémon. (This is not exact, because it’s a pain to tell non-outbreak Pokémon apart.)

Here are the messages for each round:

This Scarlet and Violet shiny hunting strategy is taken from Twitter. Credits to Anubis.

As more Pokémon in a Mass Outbreak are cleared, the shiny rate increases. You get +1 shiny roll at 30 cleared, and +2 at 60 cleared. This is one way to get a lot of a specific Pokemon.

The strategy works like this:

This works best in wide-open areas where there is plenty of room for spawns. Optionally, if the outbreak is at a town border, it also works to walk into the town to purge spawns, then walk out.

Pokémon are cleared when you defeat or capture them. Let’s Go (autobattles) count as defeating and are the fastest way to clear Pokémon.

Because the size of each outbreak is different, the round starting messages usually don’t line up perfectly with the shiny bonuses. Furthermore, it can be impossible to tell if a Pokémon of the outbreak species is part of the outbreak since natural spawns still occur.

Some methods around this:

No, only defeating or capturing counts.

No, again only defeating or capturing counts.

Yes, this does not affect the total count.

Yes, this does not affect the total count.

Yes, this does not affect the total count.

Yes, this does not affect the total count.

No. The shiny roll bonuses only apply to Pokémon in the specific outbreak. They do not apply to Pokémon of the same species outside of the specific outbreak, Pokémon in other outbreaks, or Pokémon not associated with any outbreak.

There is no “chaining” involved. “Chaining”‘ implies you must defeat the same Pokémon one after another without interruption. You can clear Pokémon in any order while the outbreak is active.

Interacting with another Pokémon will not disrupt the outbreak’s total count. The shiny bonuses are based on the total cleared, not how you got there.

Yes, you can continue opening/closing picnics for more shinies until you are bored. The limit is the total number of Pokémon in that specific outbreak.

No, the count only matters for the current outbreak.

You can close the game, change the clock to earlier in the same day, and then re-launch the game.

Yes, outbreaks are derived from the host’s map. The count for the outbreak is the same for all participants, but each person will spawn Pokémon with their individual bonuses (Charm, Sparkling Power). These Pokémon are visible to others. I did not try picnic extensively but it does not seem to clear spawns the same way as long as any user is still outside of a picnic.

You can simply change the clock. Even changing it backwards on the same day while the game is open can trigger a reroll. Try it to find out the best methods

Yes, though they won’t have the bonus shiny rolls, and certain fixed symbol encounters such as wild Tera Pokemon may persist through picnics.

If you can’t open a picnic, the best you can do is move away from the area and come back to refresh spawns.