Pokemon Legends Arceus: How to get MP by returning Lost Satchels
We’ve talked about the newest Pokemon game being more of an RPG, but how’s this for a nod: Pokemon Legends: Arceus has MP! Except, we’re just pulling your leg really. It has MP, but not in the typical JRPG sense. We’re actually talking about Merit Points, a new currency that can be used to buy very useful items.
While Legends: Arceus is undoubtedly a more single-player focused Pokemon game, it does nevertheless still have some multiplayer components built into it. One of these is the new Lost and Found system, which is where MP comes into play. It’s basically a little Dark Souls-ish - actions others take in their Legends: Arceus bleed through into your world via the online connection. That which is left behind can be gathered to earn MP, which can then be spent on rare and hard-to-get items.
On this page we explain How to get MP, how to track your MP earned, and where to spend your Merit Points on rare items.
How to get MP / Merit Points in Pokemon Legends Arceus
Pokemon Legends Arceus MP is best treated as a secondary currency, sitting alongside Pokedollars as a major way of getting your hands on new and important items. To get more MP, you simply need to head out and explore the open world.
Open your map. You’ll probably notice that there’s some strange rectangular icons in certain areas of the map with circles around them. If you’re really paying attention, you’ll notice these icons move around from time to time. These icons represent the Satchels of other players who have fainted out in the dangerous wilds of Hisui, and by picking them up, you’ll be returning the lost items to those players over the internet.
This earns you Merit Points, or MP, which can be picked up from the Lost & Found section in the menu. The game will supply you with a constant flow of new satchels to find when you load into new areas.
Out in the world, the Satchels are small dark yellow objects that lie relatively flat on the floor. They aren’t the most noticeable of things, but thankfully their colour stands out against the ground of most of the biomes in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. They always spawn on land, and are always flagged up in the map - so you can go directly hunting for them if you wish.
Exactly how much MP each Satchel gives you varies; it appears to depend on the quality of the items in the satchel and how difficult it is for you to reach. Those two things will of course depend on the user that dropped it - the satchel contents depend on what they were carrying and how much extra inventory space they have, and of course their location upon failure determines where the satchel will be located. The highest value for returning a Satchel we’ve seen is 100.
Tracking your MP gains and Satchels
To track your MP gained and any Satchels you’ve picked up, simply press up on the D-Pad to open your own Satchel menu, and then tab on over to the third tab along, the one with the WiFi symbol. Just above the option to redeem Mystery Gifts you’ll find Lost & Found, which it the official name for the Satchel and Merit Points system.
In that menu you’ll find two tabs - one which lists the satchels of others that you have picked up and how much MP you gained for each, and a second tab which shows the Satchels you’ve lost, representing each time you were KOed in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
If you’re lucky, someone will pick up your lost satchels, which in turn will return the items you lost to you. There’s only a chance this might actually happen, though - so the best advice is to make sure that valuable items such as evolution stones and candy get stored in your box before you go adventuring.
How to Spend MP / Merit Points in Pokemon Legends Arceus
Once you’ve earned a bunch of MP, you can then head to Jubilife Village to spend it. At the very end of the main street, right before the Training Grounds where you learn new Pokemon moves, there’s a wooden shop stand with a yellow banner featuring a cute drawing of the Pokemon Togepi. Speak to the shopkeeper here, Simona - she’s the key to trading your MP.
To spend Merit Points, say, “I want to get items”, which brings up a shop interface. Here you’ll find a range of items that you can trade MP to obtain. It’s worth noting that Simona is the internet ‘gal - you can also use her to trade Pokemon online.
The Merit Points Item Exchange store is expensive - you’ll need to find more than ten satchels in order to get a single item that isn’t just a Poke Ball - but it also carries some of the rarest items in the game, and so is hugely important for the late game and for seeing all Pokemon forms.
You'll need lots of Satchels to afford any item, so we suggest you constantly pick up any satchels you pass while doing things like trekking the world to mop up the side quest requests and filling out your Pokedex. Remembering to turn in your MP for items is a useful thing to do back in the village alongside mass releasing Pokemon you don't need.
Most notably the Merit Points Item Exchange has endless copies of all of the Evolution Items you’ll find in Pokemon Legends Arceus, which allows you to change the form of a variety of Pokemon. We detail which Pokemon this can effect on our Pokemon Legends Arceus Evolution Items guide, but here’s the items you can trade for:
- Pokeball - 10 MP
- Rare Candy - 1000 MP
- Fire Stone - 1000 MP
- Water Stone - 1000 MP
- Thunder Stone - 1000 MP
- Leaf Stone - 1000 MP
- Ice Stone - 1000 MP
- Moon Stone - 1000 MP
- Sun Stone - 1000 MP
- Shiny Stone - 1200 MP
- Dusk Stone - 1200 MP
- Dawn Stone - 1200 MP
- Oval Stone - 400 MP
- Razor Claw - 1400 MP
- Razor Fang - 1400 MP
- Reaper Cloth - 1400 MP
- Metal Coat - 1000 MP
- Protector - 1400 MP
- Electirizer - 1400 MP
- Magmarizer - 1400 MP
- Upgrade - 1000 MP
- Dubious Disc - 1400 MP
- Linking Cord - 1000 MP