The Pokemon Scarlet & Violet games have some of the most diverse multiplayer features out of any Pokemon game in the series.

Whether you want to catch Pokemon with friends, trade with them, or even take part in Tera Raids to farm items, there will be a multiplayer option to suit you in the game.

In this guide, we will look at how to play with friends in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, looking at any limitations to be aware of, the different ways you can interact with your pals, and the benefits of using the multiplayer features.

How to Invite Friends

First of all, you need an Online Nintendo Membership to access the game’s online features.

There are a lot of ways to invite your friends to play in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and it depends on what type of content you want to do.

Union Circle

Union Circle

The Union Circle is a multiplayer feature in Pokemon Violet & Scarlet where you can form a group of four and adventure together.

To form a group with the Union Circle, you can go to the Poke Portal or a Pokemon Center and either start a group or join a group.

Firstly, you need to connect to the internet before doing anything else. Once your Switch connects, you will need to switch to online mode in the game. Just press the L button to connect to the internet while in the Poke Portal.

After doing so, you can just form a group or join a group. When you are forming a group, you will have a link code on the screen you can send to your friends.

If you are joining a group, you need to input a link code to join.

Once everyone is in, you can start the adventure together. It is worth noting that you cannot invite more friends once the group is already formed.

Tera Raid Battles

Friends

If you are not in a Union Circle group, you can invite friends manually through a link code. Go to a Tera Raid Battle or den and challenge it as a group.

If you challenge as a group, you can choose to make it open for everyone to join or just your friends through a link code. You will have a 6-character link code, but in local mode, you only have a 4-character link code.

Send your code to your friends so they can join the Tera Raid Battle. You only have 3 minutes until the session expires. However, you can still host the same Tera Raid Battle if it expires.

To join a Tera Raid Battle, go to the Poke Portal and go to the Tera Raid Battle section. You will find randomly hosted Tera Raid Battles here but choose the magnifying glass to choose a specific Raid Battle with your friends.

Input the link code, and you should be able to enter the group.

How Does Union Circle Work?

Once you start a group and adventure with three other friends, you will all see each other in one world. In this shared world, you will be able to do whatever you want with regard to your story progression.

For example, assume that player A has already beaten the game, player B has only just defeated the Open Sky Titan, and player C just beat the 1st gym.

Each player will still follow their own progression in the world. Each individual can choose to continue their story and it will not affect the other players.

If the host disconnects, crashes or disbands the group, everyone will disconnect and restart the instance.

Do You See Different Pokemon in the World?

No, everyone sees the same Pokemon in the overworld. If you see a shiny Pokemon, only one player can capture it, so it is a free-for-all.

How Do Version Exclusives Work?

As long as there are two different versions of the game active in the group, all exclusives from both versions will spawn in the same world.

This is perfect for capturing exclusives you don’t have as long as you play with your friend with a different version of the game in a Union Circle group. If you want to catch every Pokemon in the game, this is a great path to take.

How Do Tera Raids Work?

When you are playing with other friends, there will be a lot of dens spawning around the map. The Tera Raid Dens are different for each player in the world.

However, all the players can see everyone else’s Tera Raid Dens. You will be able to see the other player’s dens and interact with them.

Interacting with them gives you League Points, but you will not be able to see the Pokemon or host the raid. It will just say that it belongs to a different player.

Does Everyone Get Shinies from Tera Raids?

Yes. If the Tera Raid spawned a shiny Pokemon, everyone who decided to catch the Pokemon would get a shiny version of it.

Can You Fight Titans Together?

No. You cannot do this story-related content together. They will be separate instances for each player depending on their story progression.

Tips and Tricks

Tera Raid Battle Spam

5 Star Battle Reward

When you form a Union Circle, everyone will get instantly invited to join a Tera Raid Battle if someone in the group hosts it.

They can press ‘Y’ once they see the notification on the top of their screen to join.

You will be able to farm Exp Candies using this method because they drop in large amounts from Tera Raid Battles. If you’re looking to level up quickly, this is a great method. The quality of candies is dependent on the difficulty of the raid.

Farming Outbreaks

Outbreaks are separate in each world, but if you join a group in a Union Circle, the Outbreaks follow the host’s Outbreaks in their world.

If you are looking for a specific Pokemon to farm, you can switch hosts to check out different Outbreaks in different worlds.

Outbreaks are one of the best ways to farm shiny Pokemon because they spawn one particular Pokemon in huge numbers. They will continue to spawn rapidly, so you can just quick battle them to reset.

What to Do Next

Now you know how to play Pokemon Scarlet & Violet with friends, why not take some screenshots together and change your profile? There’s plenty of great ways to customize your game and being able to show off photos with your friends is a lovely feature.

If you want to customize your game further, you can even change your appearance and grab a Rotom Phone case to match. This is all purely cosmetic, of course, but being able to display any collectibles while you’re playing with friends is a nice touch.