Just about in every new Pokémon game, a new way to catch shiny Pokémon turns up along with it. The new Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are no exception.
This time around, the latest — and probably the last — installments feature wormholes that give players the chance to capture Ultra Beasts and Legendary Pokémon, including Lugia, Ho-oh, Thundurus, Kyogre, and many others.
From the look of things, the spacetime passages also increases the odds of encountering shiny Pokémon, which in standard terms is pegged at a rate of 1 in 4,096. At that, everybody's now hoarding every one they can get.
How To Catch Shiny Pokémon In 'Ultra Sun,' 'Ultra Moon'
Step 1: Beat Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon first.
Step 2: Go to either the Altar of the Sunne or Altar of the Moone, where you should find the entrance to the wormhole.
Step 3: Enter it by choosing Return to the Ultra Wormhole, and you'll ride either Solgaleo or Lunala through it.
Pro tip: In the wormhole minigame, motion controls are the default. If that's too difficult to manage, then you can head on over to Akala Island's Heahea City, go to the Game Freak building to the right of the Pokémon Center, climb the stairs to the second floor and enter the door on the right, and talk to the Aether Foundation scientist to the left to change the controls to the Circle Pad.
Step 4: Basically, you're objective here is to catch the golden rings to speed up, avoid the Warp Holes and electric orbs, which will slow you down and end your run too early, and get as far as you can.
Step 5: As you progress through the wormhole, you'll eventually see "upgraded" Warp Holes surrounded by flashing rings. There are three kinds to look out for: Warp Holes with a single flashing ring, two rings, and another two rings that more or less flash more intensely.
Step 6: When you've slowed down way too much, it'll be harder to control Solgaleo or Lunala, and you'll eventually get sucked in a Warp Hole by force. Once you've noticed that you're nearing that phase, do your best to enter one of the aforementioned "upgraded" Warp Holes.
Note: It's unclear whether or not the chances of running into a shiny Pokémon will get a boost the more advanced the Warp Hole you manage to go through, but that's presumably the case.
Step 7: Rinse and repeat until you get all the shinies you want.
Pro tip: Since you arrive at Ultra Space Wilds as you enter a Warp Hole, you can save your progress, verify whether or not it's a shiny Pokémon, and soft reset until you get the nature and IV you want, according to Serebii.
Bonus tip: You can change the Legendary Pokémon you're riding in Ultra Megalopolis by talking to Zossie, who is the little girl you should see on the right once you get there. This doesn't matter much, though, since both Solgaleo and Lunala have the same hitbox.
How To Get Shiny Legendary Pokémon In 'Ultra Sun,' 'Ultra Moon'
Once you've landed on the other side of the wormhole and confirmed that it's a Legendary Pokémon, you can save and soft reset until it becomes shiny. That's similar to the method on how to get a shiny starter Pokémon.
As a side note, you can KO the Legendary Pokémon you'd find in the wormholes in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and you'd still encounter them again. They'll stop showing up only when you capture them.
In Pokémon Sun and Moon, SOS battles were the go-to method to catch shiny Pokémon, but it's just too tedious and time consuming. In contrast, Ultra Wormhole running is a lot more engaging, and it provides better odds to boot, not to mention that the minigame is almost like playing Subway Surfers or Temple Run.
