This page covers the elusive Shining Pom enemy that can spawn in the Mainz Mountain Path area, providing details on Shining Poms in general and how to get this one to spawn, specifically.

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The Shining Pom found on the Mainz Mountain Path

What Are Shining Poms in Trails From Zero?¶

Shining Poms are the Trails equivalent of the Metal Slime from Dragon Quest, an elusive, rare monster that’s both durable and prone to flight, but if you manage to kill one, you’ll gain great rewards… albeit the Shining Pom isn’t quite as iconic, durable or lucrative as their more distinguished counterparts. Still, if you want to earn [The Usual Suspects] achievement, you’ll need to encounter all the Shining Poms in the game, including this surprisingly hard-to-find specimen.

Unlike rare monsters - which have a chance to spawn with other enemies - Shining Poms will actually appear as independent entities as you explore dungeons. The trouble is, their spawn rate is distressingly low, and simply zoning in and out of the map where they can spawn isn’t sufficient to reroll their spawn chance. Instead, you typically have to make your way to a “safe” area - like Crossbell city - to reset their spawn chance. The more screens you have to pass through between where the Shining Pom can spawn and the area that resets the Shining Pom’s spawn rate, the more time and bother you’ll have to expend to get a specific Shining Pom to finally spawn.

When you do find a Shining Pom, be sure to save your game! Shining Poms, like most enemies in the game, can spawn with variable formations. In this case, you may end up in a fight with several Shining Poms when you engage with one on the map. Shining Poms are also very difficult (if not impossible) to ambush and are prone to flight. It’d be an awful shame if you were to spend time trying to spawn a Shining Pom only to have it flee immediately when you engage it in battle.

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(1 of 2) The Pom is there whenever you see three enemies by the bus stop

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The Pom is there whenever you see three enemies by the bus stop (left), It will be right below the bus stop itself (right)

How to Find the Shining Pom in Mainz Mountain Path¶

The Shining Pom in Mainz Mountain Path can be one of the more annoying ones to spawn, especially if you decide to try for it as soon as you can access the area. The reason it’s annoying is that both Crossbell City and Mainz Mining Village are a decent ways away from the location of the Shining Pom. If you don’t know where the Shining Pom spawns, it will be at the bus stop right before the Doll Maker’s house, which is right before the Tunnel. So, if you intend on getting the Shining Pom upon first visiting Mainz Mountain Path, then you need to go to either Crossbell or Mainz Mining Village, then back to the bus stop to see if the Shining Pom has spawned.

If you decide to wait until Chapter 2, though, which isn’t that much longer, you will have the use of buses. First, go to the Residential District in Crossbell, then exit to the Mainz Mountain Path. Use the bus stop there to go to the Doll Studio one, to see if the Shining Pom spawned. If not, then alternate between the Mainz Mining Village and the Doll Studio one until the Shining Pom finally spawns. If it automatically aggros you upon appearing, run away and try to get an advantage on it.

Below are some tricks you can employ to make farming this Shining Pom less painful:

• Equip the Eagle Eye Quartz on a character.

• If doing the first method, save your game in either Crossbell or Mainz Mining Village.

• Head to the Doll Studio bus stop to see if the Shining Pom spawned. Open up your map (press / ) and check by the bus stop to see if there are three icons, which means it spawned. If not, reload that save and try again.

• If a Shining Pom appears, head over towards the bus stop, save your game, then fight the Shining Pom.

• If the Shining Pom escapes, reload your save.

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S-Crafts are definitely the best way to take out the Shining Poms

The Shining Pom in this area is Level 14, so it can definitely help in leveling up some, if you fight it right away. Remember that Shining Poms are quite resilient, so you will likely need to use S-Crafts from Lloyd and Randy, should you want to kill one before it runs away. You will gain 32 Sepith (all types) for killing a Shining Pom, and they’re also very likely to drop U-Material, although there are easier enemies you can grind for this.