In addition to the 700 normal stages, Pokémon Shuffle offers special stages, available for a limited time and renewed every week. This is where you catch most legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon and rare forms, earn power-up items and take part in competitions. This page presents each category and its rules.
Individual stages
A specific Pokémon is available for a few days, often a week. Mew was the first, right at the game’s launch on February 18, 2015; Kyogre, Rayquaza, Groudon, Celebi, Victini, Giratina, Darkrai and most legendary Pokémon followed. Since the game no longer receives new Pokémon, these stages come back in rotation.
Two individual stages have become permanent:
- Eevee, from Tuesday to Friday: one free attempt per week, with no heart needed, which earns a Super Skill Booster and sometimes more. Additional attempts cost one jewel.
- Meowth, from Friday to Monday: one free attempt per week; it can’t be caught, but every match earns coins.
Daily Pokémon
A series of five Pokémon, one per day from Monday to Friday. Each can be challenged as many times as you like during its day. The first series, launched on February 23, 2015, featured the forms of Rotom. Series come back regularly, including “special” series of Wink Pokémon, variants with distinctive colors or expressions. Our article from the time, Daily Pokémon, details the first series.
Safari Pokémon
Introduced on April 20, 2015 with update 1.1.10, the Safari groups five to seven Pokémon behind a single entry: you don’t know which one you will face before the stage begins, and some, rarer or more useful, appear less often. As a result:
- automatic team selection is disabled;
- most Safari stages allow only three Pokémon, which makes the Pokémon -1 item unusable;
- Safaris have often accompanied a competition for the Mega Stone of one of their Pokémon.
See our article from the time, Safari Pokémon.
Start-of-month and mid-month challenges
Since August 2017, a “Start of the Month” challenge runs from the 1st to the 4th of each month, and since October 2017 a “Mid-Month” challenge runs from the 15th to the 18th. They work like a Safari, with five guaranteed-catch Pokémon that each give a reward: a Hyper Skill Booster for Bulbasaur, Mega Speedups for Charmander and Audino, coins for Squirtle, hearts for Espurr. The first attempt is free, the following ones cost one jewel, and each Pokémon can only be encountered once.
Ranked stages (competitions)
The first ranked stage, Mega Lucario, took place on March 16, 2015. The principle: achieve the best possible score on a stage, with a leaderboard split into three major regions (Japan, North America, Europe and others). The top players win the Pokémon’s Mega Stone and items; the other participants receive a more modest reward. The first ranked stages were played in one minute; since May 18, 2015, recurring competitions are played with a limited number of moves.
Our article Special Competitions recounts the first competitions, from Mega Lucario to Mega Blaziken, with the ranking thresholds of the time.
Escalation Battles
The same Pokémon to face again and again: each victory moves you up a tier and increases its HP. The catch rate depends on the tier reached, not on the moves left. Rewards drop at certain milestones:
| Tier | Usual reward |
|---|---|
| 1 | Exp. Booster |
| 2 | 2 Exp. Boosters |
| 3 | Super Exp. Booster |
| 5 | 2 Super Exp. Boosters |
| 8 | Hyper Exp. Booster |
| 13 | Skill Booster |
| 21 | Skill Booster |
The milestones follow the Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21…). See also our article Escalation Battles.
Tips
- Check the Special section every week: this is where Pokémon you can’t find anywhere else appear.
- Keep some jewels for the hard special stages and for the start-of-month challenges.
- The Safari is played with three: prepare a versatile team rather than a targeted one.
