Stage (Shuffle)

Stages in Pokémon Shuffle are the individual puzzles that the player can challenge. Each stage has a six-by-six board of tiles on the lower part of the screen and an opponent Pokémon on the top part. The board is the player's puzzle, which they must solve by making matches to defeat the opponent. When the stage starts, the board is generally filled with a random arrangement of the player's chosen Support Pokémon. Matching three or more icons (in a line or in T, L, or cross shapes) deals damage to the opponent depending on the Attack Power of the matched Pokémon. When the opponent's HP is depleted, it can be caught (if it hasn't been already). Some stages may include disruptions: obstacles introduced to the board either at the start of the stage or by the opponent.

Stages typically cost Heart ×1 to play. Some stages may cost more, while certain special stages require Coins instead. Clearing a stage awards Coins and experience, with more Coins received the first time a stage is cleared than subsequent times. If the player runs out of moves or time, experience is only awarded in proportion with the damage done to the opponent's HP. If the stage is cleared, the Support Pokémon whose icons were cleared most (identified by a crown on its head) receives twice as much experience. Many stages also have other rewards for completing them, such as currency, items, or Mega Stones.

Typical rewards

Stage group	Initial Coins	Subsequent Coins	Experience
Main stages	Coins ×100	Coins ×30 (3DS) or Coins ×20 (Mobile)	Equal to move limit
Expert stages	Coins ×300	Coins ×30 (3DS) or Coins ×20 (Mobile)	10 Exp. Points
Special stages	Coins ×200	Coins ×0-30	5 Exp. Points

Prior to starting a stage, the player can also use Coins to buy items to alter the way the stage plays out.

Rank

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Requirements for C/B/A-Rank

When a stage is completed, a Rank (C, B, A, or S) is given based on the number of moves or amount of time that was left at the end of the stage. For most main stages and expert stages, the requirement for S-Rank is for the player to finish with at least half of their initial moves or time remaining (rounded down). The initial moves/time includes the effect of the items Moves +5 or Time +10, if either were used (making an S-Rank easier to achieve). Special stages generally have custom requirements for an S-Rank; some do not even award this sort of Rank at all (often due to using a different type of ranking).

If the player has cleared a stage at least once, their highest Rank will be displayed on the stage's "overworld" icon and on its title card.

Ranks have no explicit effects except for in expert stages, which are unlocked depending on the number of main stages the player has achieved an S-Rank on.

Groups

Stages are split into three groups: main stages, expert stages, and special stages. Each group of stages can be accessed from the others, as well as a Survival Mode. Survival Mode is a marathon challenge of 60 of the first 300 main stages using one set of Support Pokémon.

Main stage

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: 1) Details on what allows certain main stages to be skipped. 2) Is Survival Mode still unlocked after completing the first 150 Main Stages?

Main stages are the game's "main" mode (equivalent to a story mode). These stages restrict the number of moves the player is able to use to try to win. By virtue of the large number of stages, the main stages offer a large number of Pokémon to catch in the game.

The first 11 main stages constitute a tutorial run by Amelia, guiding the player through basic mechanics and ending after explaining Mega Evolution. These are the first 11 stages the player must play in any game; upon completing the 11th stage (Happiny), access to the special stages mode is unlocked.

Main stages are divided into areas. Each area has its own name, visual design, and music. Main stages are unlocked sequentially by clearing the previous stage.

The final stage in each area is a "boss" battle, usually featuring a Mega Evolved Pokémon (nominally owned by a Trainer who only appears briefly as a silhouette at the start of the stage). The first time these final stages are cleared, the player is rewarded with items such as: the Mega Stone of the foe they defeated, Jewels, Hearts, or Enhancements. In Blau Salon onwards, some stages with boss-like difficulty and rewards appear in the middle of an area as well as at the end.

UX stages, a harder version of main stages, can be unlocked after clearing main stage 700 and earning 500 S-ranks. UX stages generally have 3× the HP of their main stage counterparts.

However, HP is not increased for "pure puzzle" stages, where the player must make specific moves in order to clear the stage. These puzzles generally rely on pre-set Pokémon to deal damage, rather than the player's selected Support Pokémon - so increasing HP would not increase the difficulty of the stage. Note that stages which start with a puzzle before then giving the player freedom to use their Support Pokémon do not count as "pure puzzle" stages, therefore they will still have increased HP.

Area	Stages	Final boss
Puerto Blanco	1-10	Mega Audino
Sandy Bazaar	11-20	Mega Kangaskhan
Night Festival	21-30	Mega Sableye
Isla Asul	31-45	Mega Slowbro
Rainbow Park	46-60	Mega Lopunny
Galerie Rouge	61-75	Mega Altaria
Sweet Strasse	76-90	Mega Mawile
Silbern Museum	91-105	Mega Ampharos
Mt. Vinter	106-120	Mega Glalie
Castle Noapte	121-135	Mega Gengar
Jungle Verde	136-150	Mega Mewtwo Y
Wacky Workshop	151-180	Mega Aerodactyl
Pedra Valley	181-210	Mega Heracross
Albens Town	211-240	Mega Medicham
Roseus Center	241-300	Mega Rayquaza
Desert Umbra	301-350	Mega Mewtwo X
Violeta Palace	351-400	Mega Scizor
Blau Salon	401-450	Hoopa Unbound
Graucus Hall	451-500	Mega Metagross
Nacht Carnival	501-550	Mega Aggron
Prasino Woods	551-600	Mega Sharpedo
Zaffiro Coast	601-650	Shiny Yveltal
Marron Trail	651-700	Primal Kyogre

For a period of time, clearing certain main stages would unlock the next two stages, allowing the player to skip the immediately-next stage. This may have been because of the difficulty of those stages, which was scaled down in later versions. On the 3DS, this feature may have been introduced in version 1.3.0; it is uncertain when it was introduced in Mobile, or when it was removed in either version. UX stages do not offer skips.

3DS main stages

The latest version of the 3DS game available from the eShop was 1.5.0; updates were downloaded by checking in. If the 3DS game was downloaded and not updated before the servers shut down on March 31, 2023, stages 641 onwards and UX stages would not be available.

Expert stages

Main article: Expert Stages

Expert stages restrict the amount of time the player has to win, rather than the number of moves, thereby imposing a greater challenge compared to the main stages. The player progressively unlocks these stages by earning an S-Rank in progressively more main stages.

The Expert Stages section is first unlocked by completing 12 main stages with an S-Rank, thereby unlocking the first three stages in the area.

Special stages

Main article: Special stage

Special stages consist of a changing set of stages available for limited periods of time. These stages have a wide variety of formats, but various themes often recur, such as Pokémon Safari stages, and they often contain rare Pokémon.

Special stages are unlocked after the player has completed main stage 11 and thereby Amelia's tutorial.

Special stages are downloaded during the check in process, and can only be played during the limited event period. Most special stages require Hearts to play like other stages, but some require Coins instead.

In other languages

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.

References

This article is part of Project Sidegames, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Sidegames.