How to Reset or Despawn Mass Outbreaks in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Mass Outbreaks in Pokémon was introduced in the instalment before Scarlet and Violet, that of Arceus. The feature is exactly what it says on the tin – a Mass Outbreak – or gathering – of Pokémon species come together to make a certain area overrun with them. Its feature bears fruit to plenty of randomised benefits, such as resources and even rate increases of encountering Shinies as rewards. It is well worth exploring or rather, exploiting, to make the very best use out of the feature possible. Here’s how.

How to Reset or Despawn Mass Outbreaks in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

How to locate these Mass Outbreaks are easy enough due to the labelling on the map. Your cursor will flash and visually indicate when you are hovering over a Mass Outbreak. Furthermore, the Pokémon icons of those within the area will either be question marks if you have yet to capture the Pokémon within the section or be the sprites of the Pokémon you have previously encountered. The latter especially makes it much easier to determine if heading towards the area is what you want to do.

This is extremely helpful to manage your time when getting the most out of Mass Outbreaks. While they refresh daily, players can manually alter and influence the Pokémon that they can find and obtain. With up to 120 Pokémon appearing with each Mass Outbreak, the chances of encountering a Shiny Pokemon increases the more you whittle the numbers down within an entire Mass Outbreak. Aim for around at least 60 to hit a sweet spot for Shiny encounters if that is your intention.

Remember to manually save with each step that you do here so that you are not losing any major progress you have made in this objective of yours. This is because you will now be playing around with the Nintendo Switch settings to refresh and respawn the Mass Outbreaks that you are not wanting to interact with. Go into the settings options and locate the synchronised clock. Turn its internet feature off and simply change the time and day. This will bring up new mass outbreaks.

That’s everything you need to know about resetting or despawning Mass Outbreaks in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. For more assistance for the game, check out our guide hub.

Related: What Area Has the Highest Level Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?