Pokémon Legends: Arceus has a much more open and sprawling structure than past Pokémon games, with a bunch of optional side-quests that reward you for venturing off into the wilderness at the request of villagers.
While rewards for side-quests vary, one early mission offers players a guaranteed shiny Pokémon: Ponyta, a Gen 1 classic that is well worth picking up as soon as possible.
So, if you want a shiny Ponyta with bright blue flames on your team as you travel through Pokémon Legends: Arceus, here’s how to grab one.
What is a shiny Pokémon?
Every time you meet a Pokémon in the wild, there is a very small chance it may have an unusual coloration and sparkles that emanate from it at the beginning of the encounter. This is a shiny Pokémon.
Shiny Pokémon don’t have better stats than their regular counterparts, but they look cool and are often treated as an exciting discovery for those lucky enough to stumble upon one.
In the more recent Pokémon games, the odds of randomly encountering a shiny Pokémon are one in 4,096. There are sometimes methods for increasing these odds, and some games even make battling one of these creatures part of the story, such as the iconic Red Gyarados in Pokémon Gold and Silver.
Much like Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, shiny Pokémon in Legends: Arceus appear in their shiny form in the overworld, making them much easier to look out for when exploring.
How to start the shiny Ponyta quest in Pokémon Legends: Arceus
The quest “A Peculiar Ponyta” becomes available at the end of the first major area in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Once you’ve calmed the first Frenzied Noble Pokémon, Kleavor, you will be able to pick up this quest by returning to Jubilife Village. Head inside Galaxy Hall and go to Professor Laventon’s office to the left of Cyllene’s office, where you report progress on your Pokédex. Here, you’ll notice a chalkboard where villagers leave requests — these are side-quests, and this is where you’ll find “A Peculiar Ponyta” listed.
If the side-quest is not listed on the board, try catching a regular Ponyta from the Horseshoe Plains in the Obsidian Fieldlands and check you have not already accepted the quest in your pending Requests list. It will appear in your Requests tab as Request 19.
You will be told that Yota has seen a strange Ponyta, which apparently needs to be investigated for the good of science. You’ll find Yota on a bridge to the west of Jubilife Village, between the combat training grounds and the farming fields. He will explain that a Ponyta with an unusual appearance has been spotted in the Horseshoe Plains.
Catching shiny Ponyta in Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Following the quest marker to the Obsidian Fieldlands will lead to a cutscene that draws your attention to a Ponyta with bright blue flames. Unlike most Ponyta found in the game, the shiny Ponyta in this quest is incredibly friendly. It will not run away from you as you approach, even if you run toward it at full speed. This is not the case for shiny Pokémon outside of this particular quest, however, so be sure to exercise more caution if you ever see any other ones.
Catch this shiny Ponyta the same way you would any other Pokémon: either sneak up on it and throw a PokéBall, or engage with it in battle. Don’t worry if you knock this Ponyta out — it will run away, and you can retry the quest by returning to Jubilife Village and then going back to the Horseshoe Plains. This will not be the case for shiny Pokémon outside of this quest.
If you engage the Ponyta in battle, you’ll notice a sparkle icon next to its name to denote it as a shiny variant. Once you catch the “Unusual Ponyta” you’ll be told to report back to Yota. Don’t worry, you will get to keep the shiny Ponyta, so you should still complete the Request for its completion reward.
Your Shiny Ponyta is basically just a regular Ponyta, but with a rarer coloration. It can later be evolved into a majestic shiny Rapidash.
Written by Laura Dale on behalf of GLHF.
