While the core gameplay loop of beating gym leaders and getting stronger remains largely intact forPokemon Scarlet and Violet, Game Freak has shaken up how players get to that point. Featuring a huge new land called Paldea, players are sent off from the local university to pursue things as they want. Three mainly story missions await, includingbattling Team Star at their own bases, helping Arven find unique herbs by battling Titan Pokemon, as well as taking on the traditional gym challenge.
With a big open world to explore at the player’s leisure, Game Freak has also introduced plenty of new features as well, including theability to use a TM Machine to craft their own movesas needed, provided they have the correct resources. During their playthrough, players will likely accumulate tons of resources and items that can be used, from berries and potions, to materials that can be sold, as well as other things which may not be quite apparent as to how they work.
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One such item inPokemon Scarlet and Violetis the Bottle Cap, an item which sounds fairly generic but in actuality, is very important for those who want to power up their creatures. Here’s how to find these rare resources and how to effectively use them.
What Are Bottle Caps?
Bottle Caps are materials that can be used byPokemon Scarlet and Violetplayers to boost and upgrade a creature’s individual values in a specific stat. Every Pokemon has unique Individual Values which vary from 0 to 31, with 31 being the very best and also quite rare to see. Keep in mind that these resources are intended to be a late game item and can’t be used untilsix of eight Paldean Gym Leaders have been defeatedand the Pokemon to receive the buff is at least level 50.
Players should head to the Hyper Training Expert located in the snowy area of Montenevera in the Glaseado Mountains to use the Bottle Caps. Players trade various amounts of Bottle Caps in exchange to raise stats.
Where to Find Bottle Caps
Regular Bottle Caps are fairly easy to find as players have two ways to come across them. Once the conditions above have been satisfied, players can visit any town with a Delibird Presents shop to purchase them. Typical locations includemajor towns in Paldealike Cascarrafa, Mesagoza, Artazon, and Levincia. It’s worth noting that these items are fairly expensive coming in at 20,000 Poke Dollars, so players will need to make sure they’re stocked up on cash by selling valuable materials like Star Dust and other items that server no purpose.
For those who may be short on cash or don’t want to spend that much money in one go, an alternative way to score Bottle Caps is throughthe new Tera Raid Battles. These can be found all over Paldea and appear as star shaped elemental icons on the map. Players can choose to fight them solo with NPC characters or go online to team up with other players. Unlike the Sowrd and Shield raid battles, these are no longer turn based, so all players can pick their moves and battle in real time. Bottle Caps can be given as a reward for besting a 4, 5, or 6 star Raids.
What are Gold Bottle Caps?
In addition to regular bottle caps, players can get their hands on a Golden version. However, these are much rarer and can only be obtained through auctions at Porto Marinada by placing the winning bid. Another issue is that the items being sold at the auction are random, so Golden Bottle Caps are not always available to bid on. Auctions reset over the course of 1 in-game day, which last about 30 minutes in real time.
Acquiring these materials is worth the effort though as they maximize the IV for all stats instead of just one like the regular Bottle Cap. While not necessary, many players enjoy attempting to maximize their Pokemon, so being able to alter stats like this as well ashunting for specific Pokemon Naturesare an important element to the franchise.
