How to find Shiny Pokémon in the 'Legends: Arceus' Massive Mass Outbreaks

Over the weekend, Nintendo unveiled a few new updates during its Pokémon Day stream. The announcement of generation nine took most of the spotlight, but fans were still drooling over the reveal of Pokémon Legends: Arceus’ first update since launch. Update 1.1.0, labeled Daybreak, introduced the Massive Mass Outbreak mechanic that fundamentally changes how herds of Pokémon interact on the game map.

Here’s what you need to know about how massive mass outbreaks work and how to unlock them.

How to unlock Massive Mass Outbreaks in Pokémon Legends: Arceus

In order to get access to Massive Mass Outbreaks, you’ll first have to complete the main storyline of Arceus and update your game to the latest version. Once that’s done, you’ll need to go to the Heights Camp at the Obsidian Fieldlands and speak to Mai who is standing next to her Munchlax. She’s going to tell you to travel to Ramanas Island as a new phenomenon is pulling her partner towards that area.

Once there, you’ll encounter a group of Zorua that you’ll either need to catch or battle. Once completed, multiple black marks with question marks in them will appear on the map and you’ll have to head to three. Clear or catch the Pokémon hanging out in those areas to complete that area. To complete Mai’s quest and permanently unlock massive mass outbreaks, you’ll need to finish three encounters in the Crimson Mirelands, Cobalt Coastlands, Coronet Highlands, and Alabaster Icelands. After you complete each one, Mai will be waiting in Jubilife Village to give you the next leg.

What are Massive Mass Outbreaks?

In the original version of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, trainers could encounter Mass Outbreaks when leaving Jubilife Village and heading to a zone. Only one type of Pokémon would spawn per area and players could consistently restart their games to hunt for rarer or shiny Pokémon and maintain those spawns.

Massive Mass Outbreaks are different and much more challenging to master. When you head out from Jubilife Village, once you have them unlocked, you’ll see a question mark icon appear over an area that has one of these new Outbreaks. If you leave that area, save your game at Jubilife Village, and then check the map again, you’ll notice that the massive mass outbreak has changed locations.

Once in an area with a Massive Mass Outbreak, you can head over to Mai and feed her Munchlax five Aguav berries to reveal what Pokémon will be spawning at these question marks, changing the icons on your map.

You’ll notice that Pokémon that aren’t normally seen in that area are appearing, meaning that pretty much anything but legendaries can be found in any part of the map. Starter Pokémon that normally don’t spawn in the wild can also appear.

When approaching an Outbreak, you’ll notice that it’s raining and you'll see about four to six Pokémon spawn. They can be Alphas, evolutions, or just normal Pokémon. Their levels are usually above 50, so it’s best to come with a team that can fight. Spawns are a bit of a game of luck, so if you don’t see any of the pocket monsters that you want, you can exit back to Jubilife Village and try again.

How to get a Shiny Pokémon with Massive Mass Outbreaks

After feeding Munchlax his berries, you might see a shiny yellow ring around a Pokémon icon on the map. That means that the second group that spawns after clearing the first will either be all evolved Pokémon, all Alphas, a shiny Pokémon can appear, or it can be a combination. Finding a shiny isn’t a guarantee, but it’s a lot more consistent than the previous method, which just forced you to keep resetting the game over and over.