At long last, one of the most collector-friendly critters has arrived in Pokemon GO. If you're wondering how to get Scatterbug in Pokemon GO and attempt to add the dozens of Vivillon patterns to your collection, read on. It's going to be a long one.
Having debuted in Pokemon X and Y, the Scale Pokemon has the most form variants of any around, making them a dream for collectors. Likely created to encourage Wi-Fi trading, each country gets a different pattern version of the critter, with a similar system in place for the mobile game that's no stranger to locking forms (and even sometimes Pokemon) behind borders.
For a few more choice words on the game, check out our ever-popular guides on the best Pokemon GO Arlo counters, Sierra counters, and Cliff counters. Once you best them, you'll want to know the best Giovanni counters, too.
How to get Scatterbug in Pokemon GO
Before you can start collecting Vivillon patterns in Pokemon GO, you need to learn how to get Scatterbug, too. This tiny buggy-wuggy evolves into Spewpa before spanning its wings to evolve into Vivillon.
You can't normally find Scatterbug out in the wild. Instead, you need to pin postcards you get from friends to your Postcard Book. Check out our Pokemon GO friends guide if you've been playing solo this whole time.
click to enlarge
+ 2Postcards come from gifts sent along by people on your friend list, and you need to pin more and more postcards from the same region to encounter subsequent Scatterbugs.
If you pin enough postcards from other regions, either obtained by spinning Pokestops in those regions yourself or from friend gifts, you'll encounter a Scatterbug from that region, guaranteeing that it'll turn into a Vivillon of that region, too: complete with its unique pattern.
How to get more Vivillon patterns
Because Vivillon's wing pattern is affected by the climate, the Pokemon has dozens of unique wing patterns available in-game.
Though you can get each of these unique patterns by visiting each country and finding a Vivillon out in the wild, the easiest method for most people will be to exchange friend codes with people from all over the world.
Again, refer to our Friend Code page for the finer details, but using a community tool like Discord, Twitter, Facebook, or Silph Road can be a great way to meet like-minded players from other regions.
Beyond long-distance trading, the best way to collect every Vivillon pattern is to make a lot of international friends. By collecting the postcards from their gifts and pinning them to your Postcard Book, you'll encounter a Scatterbug that evolves into their region's Vivillon version.
click to enlarge + 2How many Vivillon patterns are there? - Vivillon pattern map
- Archipelago
- Continental
- Elegant
- Garden
- High Plains
- Icy Snow
- Jungle
- Marine
- Meadow
- Modern
- Monsoon
- Ocean
- Polar
- River
- Sandstorm
- Savanna
- Sun
- Tundra
There are 18 Vivillon patterns available in Pokemon GO from the start. Though they don't specifically give away the regions you'll find them in, they give decent enough hints.
You can check the Vivillon Map in your Pokedex to confirm where in the world you can find each one. Once you know that, you know who to seek out to be your friend.
We're sure to see more Vivillon patterns over time. With almost two dozen, we're two short with this initial release, with the Fancy pattern (the default Pokemon Scarlet and Violet pattern) and the Pokeball pattern missing in action.
Until they arrive, you can check out the latest Pokemon GO promo codes to back some freebies. And check out our updated Pokemon GO raid bosses list to see who to go after this month.
For more articles like this, take a look at our OMG Guides , Pokémon GO , and Only Mobile Gaming pages.