You're standing in the tall grass of Poni Island, your 3DS battery light is flickering red, and you’re still missing that one elusive entry in your Pokédex. It's frustrating. We've all been there, staring at those empty grey silhouettes while wondering if there's a faster way than just grinding random encounters for hours on end. Well, there is. Ultra Sun and Moon QR codes aren't just a gimmicky leftover from the 3DS era; they are basically a legal cheat code for completionists who value their time.
Honestly, the QR Scanner is one of those features that Game Freak introduced and then sort of let wither away in later generations like Sword and Shield or Scarlet and Violet. That's a shame. In the Alola region, these little pixelated squares are the difference between a half-finished Dex and getting that Shiny Charm.
It's simple. You open the menu, hit the scanner, and point your camera at a code. Boom. 10 points. Do it ten times and you trigger an Island Scan. But there’s a lot of nuance to how this actually works that most people just skip over.
How the Island Scan Actually Changes Your Game
The Island Scan is the "meat" of the system. Once you’ve scanned enough Ultra Sun and Moon QR codes to hit 100 points, you can trigger a scan of your current island. This isn't just for show. It spawns a rare Pokémon that isn't normally found in the Alola regional Pokédex. We're talking about starters from other regions, high-tier competitive threats, and fan favorites like Luxray or Aegislash.
Wait. Don't just fire it off as soon as you hit 100 points.
You need to be tactical about where you are standing. If you trigger an Island Scan while you're on Melemele Island on a Tuesday, you're going to get a very different result than if you do it on Poni Island on a Saturday. Each island and each day of the week has a fixed encounter. If you're looking for a Charmander, you specifically need to be on Melemele on a Sunday. If you mess that up, you've wasted your 100 points and have to wait for the scanner to recharge. It’s a slow burn.
The Pokémon you find through this method usually come with a special move, too. It makes them slightly more "boutique" than your average catch. Plus, for the shiny hunters out there, these encounters aren't shiny-locked. You can save right before the encounter and soft-reset, though the odds are the standard 1 in 4096 unless you’ve already put in the work to get the Shiny Charm.
The 20-Point "Special" Codes
Most QR codes give you 10 points. Boring, right?
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But there are specific "Special" QR codes that give you 20 points instead. This cuts your grind in half. These were originally released through promotional events, movie tie-ins, or the Pokémon TV app. The most famous one is undoubtedly the Magearna QR code. Unlike the others, this one doesn't just give you points; it actually gives you a Mythical Pokémon.
You can’t just scan it the second you start a new save file, though. You have to become the Champion first. Once you're in the post-game, you head over to the Antiquities of the Ages shop in Hau'oli City. The deliveryman there will hand over your Magearna. It’s probably the easiest Mythical Pokémon to get in the history of the franchise, mostly because the code never expires. It’s a permanent fixture of the game’s ecosystem.
Catching the "Uncatchable" with Ultra Sun and Moon QR Codes
One common misconception is that scanning a code for a Pokémon like Marshadow or Zeraora will make them appear in your game.
It won't.
Let's be real: Game Freak isn't that generous. Scanning a QR code for a Mythical or a Legendary simply adds that Pokémon to your Pokédex as "Seen." While that might feel like a letdown, it's actually incredibly useful for the GTS (Global Trade Station). If you haven't seen a Pokémon, you can't search for it by name in the GTS unless you manually type it in, which is a pain. Having the "Seen" data allows you to see exactly what people are asking for in exchange.
Also, if you're a completionist, seeing that "Seen" number go up is a dopamine hit. You can find massive grids of these codes online—literally hundreds of them lined up—and just scan them while watching Netflix. It takes maybe 20 minutes to fill out the visual record of your entire Dex.
The Secret Utility: Seeing Spawn Locations
Another thing people forget is that once a Pokémon is scanned, the Dex shows you exactly where it lives. No more Alt-Tabbing to a wiki or a Serebii page every five minutes. You just check your in-game map.
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For rare spawns with a 1% or 5% encounter rate—think Dhelmise or Mareanie—this is a lifesaver. It confirms you're actually in the right patch of grass or at the right fishing spot. There is nothing worse than spending two hours fishing for a Dratini only to realize you were at the wrong set of ripples.
Breaking Down the Island Scan Schedule
If you're hunting specific mons, you need to know the schedule. It's rigid.
Melemele Island
On Mondays, you'll find Squirtle. Tuesdays give you Onix. Wednesdays are for Horsea. Thursdays see Scatterbug. Fridays belong to Bulbasaur. Saturdays are for Litwick, and Sundays are the Charmander days.
Akala Island
This island leans into the Johto and Hoenn starters. Mondays are Spheal. Tuesdays are Combusken. Wednesdays are Honedge. Thursdays see Beedrill. Fridays are for Sceptile. Saturdays bring Marshtomp, and Sundays are for Ralts.
Ula'ula Island
Things get a bit more "heavy metal" here. Mondays give you Swinub. Tuesdays are for Prinplup. Wednesdays are for Roselia. Thursdays bring Staravia. Fridays are Grotle days. Saturdays are Monferno, and Sundays give you the powerhouse Axew.
Poni Island
The final island is where the high-level stuff lives. Mondays are for Eelektross. Tuesdays are Aggron. Wednesdays are Leavanny. Thursdays bring Chesnaught. Fridays are for Delphox. Saturdays are Greninja (not Battle Bond, unfortunately), and Sundays are for Eelektross again or sometimes Talonflame depending on your version.
Common Glitches and Restrictions
Sometimes the scanner just... won't work. It’s usually not a bug with the game, but a physical limitation. The 3DS camera is, to put it bluntly, ancient technology by 2026 standards. If you’re trying to scan a code off a high-resolution smartphone screen, the glare might be washing out the pixels.
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Try turning down your phone's brightness. Or, if you're scanning from a laptop, don't have the screen tilted at an angle. The 3DS needs a flat, clear image. Also, you only get 10 scans in your "bank." Once you use them, you have to wait. It takes two hours to regenerate a single scan. That means you can do one full Island Scan every 20 hours.
If you're impatient, you can try the system clock trick—changing the date on your 3DS. But be warned: Pokémon games have built-in "anti-cheat" for the clock. If you change the time, it often freezes all time-based events (like the QR scanner or Berry growth) for 24 to 48 hours. It’s usually better to just be patient.
Maximizing Your Collection Efforts
The best way to handle this is to integrate it into your daily routine. Wake up, do your ten scans while you have breakfast, and trigger your Island Scan. Catch the Pokémon, then let the timer reset while you're at school or work. By the time you're home, you've got another 4 or 5 scans ready to go.
Focus on the starters first. Since you can't get the other two starters in a single playthrough without trading, the Island Scan is the only "organic" way to get them. Once you have a Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard with your own Trainer ID, you're well on your way to a Living Dex.
Don't forget that you can share your own Pokémon as QR codes too. If you have a particularly rare Shiny or a legendary, you can generate a code in your Pokédex and show it to a friend. They won't get the Pokémon, but they get the "Seen" credit. It’s a nice way to help out the community without actually losing your prized mons.
To make the most of your journey through Alola, start by hunting down a "Master List" of QR codes online—there are several archived on Reddit and community forums that contain every single form, including Alolan variants and gender differences. Download that image or bookmark it on your phone. Dedicate your first few Island Scans to the Kanto starters on Melemele Island, as they are the easiest to catch early on and provide a significant power boost to your team before you even hit the second grand trial. Finally, always keep a "False Swipe" user in your party when you trigger a scan; since you only get one shot at that rare encounter per day, you don't want to accidentally knock it out with a stray critical hit.