PSA: Pokemon Legends: Z-A Players May Have a Free Shiny…

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is a dream come true for shiny hunters, as it features all the quality-of-life mechanics necessary to give players the best chance at finding a shiny critter out in the wild. The return of the shiny sparkle sound when one appears on screen makes hunting in Pokemon Legends: Z-A much easier than in Scarlet and Violet, and on par with Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The game even features a broken shiny hunting method that is nearly guaranteed to get results, but players could be missing out on even more easy shinies using this strategy by failing to check one nearby area.

Shiny hunting in Pokemon Legends: Z-A is further aided by the fact that shiny Pokemon won't despawn unless they are knocked out in battle or scared away. This means that players may have shiny Pokemon just waiting to be caught if they haven't checked certain areas while out on a hunt. With how effective the Wild Zone 3 shiny hunting method is, players could have accidentally spawned a shiny they weren't aware of just outside this Wild Zone.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Shiny Hunters Shouldn't Overlook This Area While Farming Wild Zone 3

By far the best place to shiny hunt in Pokemon Legends: Z-A is in Wild Zone 3, since players can use the interactable staircase that automatically takes players up to the top of a lookout tower in the zone. By going back and forth between the top and bottom of this tower, players can quickly reset the Wild Zone 3 spawns until a shiny appears. Through this method, players can easily find shinies like:

Skiddo (Ground, Southwest area)
Pancham (Ground, variable location)
Litleo (Ground, Northwest area)
Espurr (Ground, Northeast area)
Flabebe (Ground, middle)
Pikachu (Ground, Southeast area)
Litleo (Alpha, building entrance)
Fletchling (Alpha, building rooftop)

Pokemon that Spawn on the Building Next to Wild Zone 3 are Affected by the Staircase Reset Method

Obviously, the spawns inside Wild Zone 3 are going to be the main targets for this hunting method, but there is another location that is also affected by the staircase reset method. Just outside of Wild Zone 3, players can find one of Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Holovators that allow them access to Lumiose City's rooftops. This location is close enough to the Wild Zone that going in and out of the lookout tower will also reset the wild Pokemon that can spawn here as well. As such, it's possible that players who have spent a lot of time shiny hunting in Wild Zone 3 may have unintentionally spawned a shiny Pokemon on this rooftop without even realizing it.

Up to 10 shiny Pokemon will remain on the map at a time, so players who are having a hard time getting new ones to spawn may want to check this area to clear out any shinies that may be taking up a slot here.

Potential Shiny Pokemon Players Could Be Missing by Not Checking This Roof

Scatterbug
Vivillon
Budew
Goomy (Overcast Weather)
Sliggoo (Overcast Weather)

The most common shiny Pokemon to appear in this location are nothing too special. Scatterbug and Vivillon are not the most interesting critters, but both have solid shinies with the dark grey parts of their bodies becoming white, while Budew's green front leaves become purple. The real stars of the show are Goomy and Sliggoo, who have fantastic shiny variants that change their entire bodies from purple to yellow. Goomy and Sliggoo may have the lowest chance of spawning, given that they only appear during overcast weather, but potentially having a shiny Psuedo-Legendary Pokemon like this waiting for them is as good a reason as there is for players to take a peek at the rooftops near Wild Zone 3, just in case.

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