What is the Masuda Method in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet?

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is meant to be enjoyed in several ways. While collecting the game’s Pokemon and filling out your Pokedex, completing the story, or vying for competitive dominance online are all worthwhile, there’s an entire sub-culture to the Pokemon fandom dedicated to shiny-hunting. Shiny-hunting is when you actively pursue the ultra-rare alternate-colored variants of Pokemon, of which there is one for every species. Shiny hunters have had to use several techniques to make this easier, and the Masuda Method appears in Scarlet & Violet.

How Does the Masuda Method Work in Scarlet & Violet?

The Masuda Method, named after one of Game Freak’s founders Junichi Masuda, increases the odds of breeding a Shiny Pokemon if each Pokemon originate from a game copy in a country with a different primary language. If you breed a Pokemon out of a player’s copy originating from England, and a Pokemon out of one from Spain, your odds of getting a random Shiny to go from 1 in 4096 to 6 in 4096. If you add the Shiny Charm you can get from completing the Pokedex, the odds increase, usually to 8 in 4096. This will cut down on your time spent shiny-hunting and likely the amount of Pokemon you’ll have to release into the wild.

The Masuda Method, despite being usable in Scarlet & Violet, predates the game and originated in Generation IV with the advent of the Global Trade System (GTS.) The method was likely coded in as an incentive for people to use the GTS, but it is greatly appreciated and is one of the best-known methods for Shiny-Hunters. Despite the trading system looking different now, the spirit of this method lives on. If you’re just getting into this hobby while playing Scarlet and Violet, the Masuda Method is fun and easy as long as you have a friend in another country you’re able to reliably get one of these from.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet released on November 18, 2022, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.