Here are 22 things you need to know before starting your adventure on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV)! Read on for useful tips to improve your Paldea experience, from exploring the Pokemon-filled open world to preparing for battles and Tera Raids!

Exploration Tips

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Use Let's Go Auto Battle for Passive Exp and Item Farming, as well as Shiny Checks! Shops you can enter have door mats Use the lock-on feature Adjust the viewpoint by pressing the Right Stick Cross gaps by starting a battle Have the map fixed to the north

Use Let's Go Auto Battle for Passive Exp and Item Farming, as well as Shiny Checks!

Pressing the R button when facing a wild Pokemon or Item will have your lead Pokemon automatically battle or pick up the item, making it easier to farm Exp and Items while exploring!

Use a Fast Pokemon for Item Farming and Exp Farming

Fast Pokemon like Revavroom run towards items and wild Pokemon faster and further than slower counter-parts, and keeping one as your lead to pick up items can help you collect items faster. As there are lots of valuable items like Nuggets, Rare Bones and Comet Shards to be found, this can be a good way to passively money farm.
Money Farming Guide: How to Make Money Fast

Shiny Pokemon Will Not Be Engaged in Auto Battles

The Let's Go feature also allows you to easily check for Shiny Pokemon, since your lead Pokemon will always refuse to attack wild Shiny Pokemon.
How to Tell if a Pokemon is Shiny

Shops You Can Enter Have Door Mats

In towns and cities, you'll know if you can enter a shop if it has a door mat outside. Shops you can enter will also have an icon on the map (opened by pressing Y) if you zoom in using ZR or the Right Analog Stick.

Use the Lock-On Feature

While in the wilds, you can lock-on a Pokemon by holding the ZL button to check the level and the name of the Pokemon (if you already encountered it). A Poke Ball icon will also appear beside the level to indicate that you already caught and registered the Pokemon in your Pokedex.

Pressing the ZR button while locked-on will send out your lead Pokemon to battle against your target. Doing this while the Pokemon is unaware will catch it off-guard and give you a preemptive advantage!

Use the Lock on Feature to Identify Disquised Pokemon

Unregistered on Pokedex	Registered on Pokedex
Name displays as "???"	Name displays as Ditto

Ditto and Zorua are Pokemon tha can be tricky to find as they disguise themselves as other Pokemon. One way to identify them in the wild is to aim and lock-on it using the ZL button.

This allows you to see the name of the Pokemon and their level. This method does not work if you do not have Ditto, Zorua, or the transformed Pokemon registered in your Pokedex. Instead, it will display three question marks "???".

Adjust the Viewpoint by Pressing the Right Stick

Zoomed In	Zoomed Out

You can adjust the viewpoint by pressing the Right Analog Stick. Using the zoomed out viewpoint while exploring the open world is recommended to help spot items and Pokemon around you as well as prevent motion sickness.

List of Settings and Best Settings

Cross Gaps by Starting a Battle

Do you notice how you move closer to the Pokemon when you throw your Poke Ball at it and start a battle? You can actually use this to cross gaps in the early game if you don't have the necessary Ride Upgrades yet! Simply lock-on to the Pokemon on the other side using the ZL button and send in your lead Pokemon with ZR.

Have the Map Fixed to the North

Fixed	Moving

This icon is found on the lower left corner of the map screen.

You can have the map fixed to the north direction or let it move depending on the direction you're facing by pressing the Right Analog Stick. See what helps you more in navigation!

Map Guide and Icons Explanation

Battle and Tera Raid Tips

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Tera Raid Pokemon have 100% catch rate Recover PP indefinitely Weather can affect combat Reset Tera Crystals by adjusting system time

Tera Raid Pokemon Have 100% Catch Rate

Each participating player in Tera Raids will have an opportunity to catch the Tera Pokemon after defeating it. This will be a guaranteed catch, so you can throw your preferred Poke Ball for the Tera Pokemon or stick with a normal and cheaper one.

Tera Raid Battle Guide and How to Win

Recover PP Indefinitely

You can replenish the PP of a Move by forgetting and relearning it. This trick is useful as it can be done anytime and anywhere as long as you can open the menu (X buttton).

Weather Can Affect Combat

The weather can have an effect in combat as it can empower or weaken certain types of Moves. For example, Snow will be constantly in effect during the Glaseado Gym battle, giving Blizzard higher accuracy and increases the Defense stat of Ice-types.

Weather effects

Weather Effects and How to Change the Weather

Reset Tera Crystals by Adjusting System Time

How to Reset Raid Dens

The placement and the Pokemon on Tera Crystals reset every day in real time, and you can quickly do so by adjusting the system time on your Switch. You can use this trick if you're looking for a specific Tera Pokemon in Tera Crystals. It is also a great way to farm 7-Star Tera Raid Event Rewards!

Tera Raid Events and Schedule

Rematch a Tera Crystal by resetting

Just in case you accidentally miss the catch phase of a Tera Raid or don't get the rewards you want, you can save in front of the Tera Crystal before starting the battle. This can be done even when joining online Raids!

Tera Raid Battle Guide and How to Win

Pokedex Completion Tips

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Titan Pokemon can be caught in a rematch Know which Pokemon your trade partner is missing Use Quick Balls Get a Galarian Meowth by completing events with Salvatore Gimmighouls respawn Complete the Pokedex to receive the Shiny Charm

Titan Pokemon Can Be Caught in a Rematch

After defeating a Titan during the Path of Legend questline, you can return to its lair for a rematch. It will be back to its regular size and you will be able to catch it during this fight. However, if you defeat it during the rematch, the former Titan Pokemon won't spawn again.

Caught Titan Pokemon will have a special Titan Mark

What makes them special when caught is they will have the Titan Mark, which adds "the Former Titan" suffix on their names when sent out to battle. Additionally, if you show them to an NPC in Mesagoza City, they will receive the Jumbo Mark, which will add "the Great" suffix instead when the mark is selected.

How To Catch Titan Pokemon

Know Which Pokemon Your Trade Partner is Missing

When trading Pokemon with other trainers, you might see some of your Pokemon in Boxes will jump and have a background glow on their slots. This means the trainer you're trading with doesn't have these Pokemon in their Pokedex yet!

How to Trade Locally and Online

Use Quick Balls to Catch Pokemon Easier

Quick Balls are an effective way to catch Pokemon easily. This type of Poke Ball has a high capture rate when used right at the start of an encounter.

1	Encounter a Pokemon.
2	Throw a Quick Ball on the first turn. A Quick Ball is most effective when used at the start of a wild encounter.
3	If it breaks out, run away. Quick Ball loses its effectiveness if it is thrown after the first turn, so it is best to simply run away from the battle and encounter the Pokemon again to essentially reset the battle.
4	Repeat steps 1-3 until it is captured.

How to Get Quick Balls

Get a Galarian Meowth by Completing Events With Salvatore

Paldea Dex #	Pokemon	Location / How to Get
	Galarian Meowth	Can only be obtained by completing all interactions with Salvatore.

You can get a Galarian Meowth by completing all classes and conversations with your Language professor, Salvatore. Its evolution, Perrserker, is very useful in high star level Tera Raids, so be sure to get it as soon as you can!

Teacher Friendship Events, Quests, and Rewards

Gimmighouls Respawn

Catchable	Not Catchable
Gimmighoul (Chest Form)	Gimmighoul (Roaming Form)

The Chest Form, which are found in specific locations, and the Roaming Form Gimmighoul can respawn. This Pokemon drops Gimmighoul Coins that can be used to evolve your own Gimmighoul to Gholdengo.

Since the Chest Forms give more coins than Roaming Forms and they are always found in watchtowers, you can go around the map to quickly farm them.

How to Farm Gimmighoul Coins

Complete the Pokedex to Receive the Shiny Charm

Shiny Charm
Effect	An item that increases the chance of finding Shiny Pokemon to 1 in 1365.3.
Buy Price	N/A
Sell Price	N/A

Register all 400 Pokemon in your Paldea Pokedex and you will receive the Shiny Charm from Jacq—perfect for shiny hunting as it triples the appearance rate of Shiny pokemon!

How to Complete the Pokedex and Rewards

Other Useful Tips

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Breed Regional Variants to Get Them in Special Pokeballs Some Abilities can hatch Eggs faster Restoring backup save data Check Pokemon friendship level in Cascarrafa City Synchronize does not work with Nature hunting Press the right D-pad to view Meal Powers

Breed Regional Variants to Get Them in Special Pokeballs

Regional Variants, such as Kantonian Wooper and Hisuian Zoroark can not be caught in the wild, and are instead obtained through in-game trades or mystery gift codes. This means that the first one you obtain will always come in a specific Pokeball.

There is a way, however to get these Pokemon to be in special Pokeballs such as Moon Balls and Love Balls through Breeding!

Event Pokemon in Cherish Balls, such as Hisuian Zoroark are unable to pass the Cherish Ball to their offspring, and using the method above, it means there will be a 50% chance to receive a Hisuian Zorua egg inside a regular Pokeball from the Cherish Ball parent.
Breeding Guide: How to Breed Pokemon and Get Eggs

Some Abilities Can Hatch Eggs Faster

When hatching an Egg, it is recommended to have a Pokemon with Flame Body, Magma Armor, or Steam Engine in your party to reduce the number of required steps by half. Add both the Pokemon and the Egg in your party then start walking around!

How to Hatch Eggs Faster

Restoring Backup Save Data

1	Navigate to the title screen and press Up, X, and B at the same time. Doing this will open up the Backup Data menu.
2	In the Backup Data menu, select "Start from backup data" to load the currently saved backup data.

The game automatically backs up your save data at certain points while playing. Your backup save data can then be used in emergencies, such as if you accidentally defeat a Legendary Pokemon and save your game.

How to Backup Your Save Data

Check Pokemon Friendship Level in Cascarrafa City

You can check your Pokemon's friendship by talking to the woman with a Marill in Cascarrafa City. She can be found near the fountain at the center of the city. The Pokemon doesn't need to be in your party to be checked as talking to the NPC opens up your Boxes.

How to Check Friendship

Synchronize Does Not Work With Nature Hunting

In the previous games, having a Pokemon with the Synchronize Ability as a lead makes opposing wild Pokemon to have the same nature as yours. However, this Ability's hidden effect does not work in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Synchronize Effect and Pokemon With This Ability

Press the Right D-Pad to Show All Active Meal Powers

You can press the Right D-Pad to bring up the notice menu on the right side of the screen. This menu shows a list of all active Meal Powers, their duration, and level.
List of Meal Powers and How to Check

Share Your Tips in the Comments!

Add More Cool Tips and Tricks!

Know some really cool tips or tricks that aren't listed above? Let us know in the comments to share them with other trainers!

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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tips and Tricks