How To Hunt Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Solve Their Riddles

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Shiny Pokémon are special variants that come with different coloring from their usual forms. Sometimes the color change is subtle, like a darker or lighter shade, while other times they have completely different color schemes. The chance of finding a shiny in Pokémon games is about 1 in 4,096 encounters.

You can tell if a Pokémon is shiny by its different appearance, which includes sparkles around it and a twinkle sound when you’re close. Even Alpha Pokémon can be shiny!

In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, shiny Pokémon work a bit differently. The game keeps a record of up to ten shiny Pokémon in your save file. If you leave an area where a shiny appeared and return later, it will still be there unless you’ve already reached the limit of ten, in which case the oldest shiny will be replaced by a new one. These shiny Pokémon stay in the same spot until they are caught, defeated, or they flee.

You can see which Pokémon are shiny in your team and storage boxes by looking for the shiny star icons next to their levels.

To improve your chances of finding a shiny, you can get the Shiny Charm, which increases the odds to about 1 in 1,024.38. You need to complete a lot of Research Requests for Mable to earn this reward, but it significantly boosts your chances of encountering shiny Pokémon.

The best place to farm for shiny Pokémon is Wild Zone 3. Because the game only stores up to ten shiny Pokémon, repeatedly entering and exiting a building in that zone helps refresh the Pokémon around you. Each time you do this, the Pokémon in the area reroll, increasing your chances to find shinies. Many players have found that using an elastic band on the left thumbstick to keep their character moving in and out rapidly can help automate this process. This method can lead to multiple shiny Pokémon appearing in about an hour of effort, with some players reporting three shinies waiting for them.

Keep in mind, both the Fletching Alpha on the roof and the Litleo Alpha near the entrance can also be shiny, adding extra opportunities during your farm runs.