Get ready for a packed month of in-game events in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet this December, leading up to Tera Raid Battles with Shiny Rayquaza

A series of Tera Raid Battles and Mass Outbreaks will be coming to Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet starting Friday November 29th, and running all through December. These events will lead up to special 5-star Tera Raid Battles with Shiny Rayquaza from Friday December 20th.

To commemorate Shiny Rayquaza appearing in Paldea, a short animation has been released on YouTube.



Though not explicitly stated in these announcements, it seems likely that this appearance of Shiny Rayquaza is tied in some way to the current storyline in the Pokémon Horizons anime in Japan, with Liko, Roy, and the others currently searching for the Six Heroes once owned by Lucius, including his Black Rayquaza.

Mass Outbreaks
Five separate sets of Mass Outbreaks will occur over the event period, starting with one Mass Outbreak that will run throughout the entire event period.

• November 29th-January 5th, 2025: Chansey will be appearing in Paldea.

These Chansey will award high amounts of Exp. Points when defeated, making them perfect for Trainers needing to level up their teams.

Three more Mass Outbreaks will run for one week each in the weeks leading up to the arrival of Shiny Rayquaza.

• November 29th - December 5th: Tinkatink will be appearing in Paldea, and will be more likely to have the Ferocious Mark than those typically encountered in the wild.
• December 6th - 12th: Wooper will be appearing in Kitakami, and will be more likely to have the Absent-Minded Mark than those typically encountered in the wild.
• December 13th - 19th: Girafarig will be appearing in the Blueberry Academy, and will be more likely to have the Intellectual Mark than those typically encountered in the wild.

A final fifth set of three separate Mass Outbreaks will then run during Shiny Rayquaza's appearance from December 20th to January 5th, 2025.

• Cetoddle will be appearing in Paldea.
• Carbink will be appearing in Kitakami.
• Fraxure will be appearing throughout the Terarium at the Blueberry Academy.

All three of the Pokémon from this final set of Mass Outbreaks are black when Shiny, matching Rayquaza, and will have a higher chance of being a Shiny than normal during these Mass Outbreaks.

All of these Mass Outbreaks begin at midnight (UTC) and end at 11:59pm (UTC) on their respective days. To participate in these mass outbreak events, players will need to download and install the latest update data; and to download the latest Poké Portal News. If players have connected their Nintendo Switch system to the internet while playing Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet, this should happen automatically. Players can also manually download the Poké Portal News by selecting Poké Portal from the X menu, and then selecting Mystery Gift, and then Check Poké Portal News. A paid Nintendo Switch Online membership is not required.

5-star Tera Raid Battles
Three separate sets of 5-star Tera Raid battles will run in the first half of the event period, for a period of one week each:

• November 29th - December 5th: Corviknight and Bellibolt will be available.
• December 6th - 12th: Azumarill and Clodsire will be available.
• December 13th - 19th: Annihilape and Kingambit will be available.

All of these raids begin at midnight (UTC) and end at 11:59pm (UTC) on their respective days. These Pokémon will be available in a variety of Tera types.

Following the conclusion of these first three sets of raids, the event will then culminate in the previously mentioned 5-star Tera Raids with Shiny Rayquaza, commencing on Friday December 20th at midnight (UTC), and continuing through until Sunday January 5th, 2025 at 11:59pm (UTC).

This event's Shiny Rayquaza has the Dragon Tera Type. This Shiny Rayquaza can only be caught once per save data. Players who catch it will not be able to catch it again at any point in the future, however they will still be able to participate in battles against Shiny Rayquaza so long as the event is running to obtain various rewards. This Shiny Rayquaza may appear again in other events, or be encountered in different ways in the future.

Though Shiny Rayquaza cannot normally be encountered during regular gameplay in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, Rayquaza can be caught in Paldea, though only after receiving the Rayquaza Treat from Snacksworth, and then only once.

To encounter this Rayquaza in Tera Raid Battles, players will need to first download the latest Poké Portal News. If players have connected their Nintendo Switch system to the internet while playing Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet, this will happen automatically. Players can also manually download the Poké Portal News by selecting Poké Portal from the X menu, and then selecting Mystery Gift, and then Check Poké Portal News. After that, players will be able to start a Tera Raid Battle simply by walking up to and interacting with an appropriate Tera Crystal in-game. In the overworld, the Tera Crystals associated with these raids can be differentiated from other Tera Raid crystals by their aura, which is mostly clearly visible when looking at crystals on the map.

A paid Nintendo Switch Online membership is required to participate in Tera Raid Battles with other Trainers online, however players will still be able to challenge these Tera Raid Battles solo (supported by AI bots), or with other Trainers in local play without a membership.