One of the new mechanics introduced in Pokémon Legends: Arceus is Research Levels for your Pokédex. It’s no longer enough to simply see or catch a Pokémon, each has a list of Research Tasks to complete in order to raise that species’ Research Level, up to a maximum level of 10.
How is a Pokémon’s Research Level calculated in the Pokédex?
This can be confusing initially, as there are a lot of numbers and they probably don’t add up to the Research Level you’re seeing. But here’s a really simple way to understand it:
- Research Level is essentially the number of checkmarks you have
- Check marks in rows that are marked with the red box containing two arrows are counted as two points per checkmark
You may be tempted to simply add the numbers that are first displayed in front of each row’s progress, but these are not important for calculating the Research Level. They simply track your progress towards each row’s goal.
Example of Research Level calculation
Below is my Cascoon’s Research Tasks, with a total Research Level of 9. I have added the number of points each task contributes to the overall Research Level.
Keep in mind that even if your points would go over 10, your Research Level will max out at level 10 and stop increasing.
What’s the benefit of increasing a Pokémon’s Research Level or completing all Research Tasks?
Besides raising your status in the Survey Corps? Shiny hunting! You’ll get a small boost to the likelihood of encountering a Shiny Pokémon of that species. There are actually two separate bonuses and therefore two ways to increase your Shiny encounter rate:
- Research Level 10 means your effective Shiny encounter rate is 1/2048.25 because you’re granted an extra Shiny roll
- All Research Tasks complete mean you’re getting the Research Level 10 bonus plus two extra rolls, effectively making your chances 1/1024.38
You may also unlock new clothing options for male and female trainers!
What’s with the green boxes?
Sometimes you may see boxes with a pale green background. You can see in Pikachu’s Research Tasks below that I have defeated a Pikachu once and seen it use Thunder Shock twice, therefore reaching the first total in that row that counts towards completion. So why no checkmarks? It has not been caught yet. You must catch a Pokémon in order to gain Research Levels and have the Prof. check off those boxes.
But wait! I’ve caught a Pokémon and am still seeing green boxes! This means that you have not yet turned in your research to the Prof. Those boxes will get checked when he views your Pokédex progress!
