Isolated Encounter Method explained – Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s isolated encounter method for shiny hunting has made the extremely tedious process of finding shiny Pokemon easier than ever.

The isolated encounter method is a shiny hunting method that is one of the most effective in the game. By greatly eliminating the number of Pokemon that can appear in an area, the isolated encounter method means that finding the shiny Pokemon you’re looking for is easier than ever.

But how do you do the isolated encounter method in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet? Read on below to find out.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Guides:

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet walkthrough, tips, and Pokemon locations | Roaring Moon location | Iron Valiant location | Shiny sandwich recipes | Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Legendaries | Pokemon type chart

What is the isolated encounter method?

When you enter a new area in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the game draws an encounter table that determines the specific Pokemon that can be encountered in that area. For example, ensuring that low-level Pokemon appear in early areas of the game.

Each area has a list of Pokemon species that can appear, that only change based on weather conditions or time of day. This means that if only one Pokemon of a certain type appears in a certain area, you can force the game to make every spawn in that area that specific Pokemon, massively increasing your chances of finding a shiny Pokemon.

The Isolated encounter method seeks to completely eliminate most of the Pokemon from appearing in the overworld. For example, in the grass near the Fairy-type Team Star base, a large number of Pokemon can appear. However, Espeon is the only Psychic-type Pokemon that can appear in that area.

Using the isolated encounter method, you can force the game to only spawn that type of Pokemon, meaning that the chances of finding a shiny Pokemon are greatly increased, as Pokemon begin to appear in numbers even higher than that of a mass outbreak, as long as you’re in the right area.

What Pokemon can be found using the isolated encounter method?

While not every single Pokemon in the game can be found using the isolated encounter method, as some Pokemon share locations with other types that would also be triggered by hunting for that type of Pokemon using a Shiny Sandwich, there is a significant number of them.

YouTuber cbk zip has created a list of all of the Pokemon in the game and exactly where you can use the isolated encounter method, should they work.

Bare in mind, there are still some Pokemon that are listed as “No” on the chart that can be hunted slightly easier using isolated encounters, such as Eevee, which shares a few spawns with Jigglypuff, which is also a normal type, as this would still eliminate all non-normal type Pokemon.

How to do the isolated encounter method

Like so much of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet shiny hunting, it all comes down to the shiny sandwich. When you’re creating a sandwich you can choose a specific type of Pokemon to target.

Once you’ve checked the list of Pokemon above, head to the area you want to hunt. Once there, set down a hard save, and make sure auto saves are off. Once you’ve done that, create the sandwich based on the type of Pokemon you are looking for, and start running around.

If the Pokemon that appear aren’t shiny, simply run far enough away for them to despawn, then run back, and a new batch of Pokemon will appear. If you don’t find a shiny version of the Pokemon you’re looking for before your time is up, simply close your game without saving, and you’ll regain all of the rare sandwich ingredients, meaning you can try again.