Herba Mystica

Herba Mystica (Japanese: 秘伝スパイス Secret Spice) are a group of five special ingredients in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, found rarely in Paldea.

Herba Mystica in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

History

According to the Scarlet BookS/Violet BookV, they were originally found in the Great Crater of Paldea, specifically Area Zero 200 years ago. When researchers tried to cultivate them elsewhere in Paldea, they were taken by wild Pokémon, which became Titan Pokémon as a result of the herbs' effects.

Each Herba Mystica supposedly has a different health effect depending on the herb that is used.

  • Sweet Herba Mystica is good for gut health such as aiding in digestion, curing stomachaches, and stimulating one's appetite.
  • Bitter Herba Mystica is good for one's blood circulation and helps warm up the body, even boosting the immune system.
  • Salty Herba Mystica is good for alleviating aching hands and feet. It also aids in healing neuropathy injuries such as numbness and muscle weakness.
  • Sour Herba Mystica is full of nutrients to help heal people who are tired, specifically those who are physically or mentally exhausted.
  • Spicy Herba Mystica helps boost metabolism and circulation in order to help flush out both toxins and sweat.

In the Path of Legends story, Arven requests the player's assistance in finding some Herba Mystica of each flavor. These are obtained by defeating Titan Pokémon and are immediately used by Arven, so they are not added to the player's Bag.

The player can obtain Herba Mystica for themselves as possible rewards from 5-star, 6-star, and 7-star Tera Raid Battles, as well as participating in the Hard difficulty of Ogre Oustin' as part of The Teal Mask. They can also be obtained by defeating certain special coaches invited to the Blueberry Academy League Club Room after completing the main story of The Indigo Disk. Three each of the Sweet, Bitter, Salty, Sour, and Spicy Herba Mysticas can be obtained by defeating Katy, Tyme, Larry, Saguaro, and Kofu, respectively. These can be used in sandwich making.

In The Teal Mask, the Kitakami Mochi are heavily implied to be made of Herba Mystica or herbs to similar to them, as they're referred to as "special herbs" and caused the Loyal Three to grow into Titanic Forms, just like the Titan Pokémon. In The Indigo Disk, it is implied that Herba Mystica, just like Area Zero, grow in the Terarium as well since Amarys gives KoraidonS/MiraidonV a supplement she calls flying supplements made with plants from the Terarium, possessing similar effects to the Herba Mystica on KoraidonS/MiraidonV, enhancing their flying capabilities even further.

It's heavily implied the Herba Mystica grow due to Terapagos's Terastal energy, as they were only found in Paldea, Kitakami and Unova's Blueberry Academy's Terarium, all locations filled Terastal energy.

Variants

The five flavors of Herba Mystica are Sweet, Bitter, Salty, Sour, and Spicy. Five Titan Pokémon each guard a cavern where one of these variants can be found during the Path of Legends story line.


                   
Sweet Herba Mystica Bitter Herba Mystica Salty Herba Mystica Sour Herba Mystica Spicy Herba Mystica

Uses

The Herba Mystica obtained by the player can be used in making sandwiches during picnics. Preset recipes can be learned by the player if they show each Herba Mystica to an NPC present near the counter of any branch of Every Wich Way. Each flavor is associated with one variant of Jambon-Beurre, one Legendary sandwich, and some Master-rank sandwiches.

Saguaro requests a Sweet Herba Mystica for his final event at Naranja AcademyS/Uva AcademyV. The player can give him one serving of the requested herb to get a Slowpoke Cup in exchange.

In the anime

 
Herba Mystica in the anime

In Fly! Wattrel!!, Murdock bought different kinds of Herba Mystica in Levincia, though he was missing the Spicy variant. Liko later received a supposed advertisement for Spicy Herba Mystica being sold in Levincia and left to get some for Murdock, but it turned out to be a lie created by Spinel to lure her into a trap.

Trivia

  • Herba Mystica can be abbreviated as "HM", alluding to Koraidon and Miraidon's capabilities replacing HMs in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. The names for Herba Mystica in other languages except German likewise reflect this, being named similarly to HMs in the respective languages.
  • The Salty Herba Mystica is the only one to not share the same naming convention as the flavors used in Contests, where it would be referred to as "Dry"; instead the flavors are the ones associated with the Chinese Five Phases.

In other languages

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 秘傳調味料 Beichyùhn Tìuhmeihlíu
Mandarin 秘傳調味料 / 秘传调味料 Mìchuán Tiáowèiliào
  French Épice Secrète
  German Geheimgewürz
  Italian Spezia nascosta
  Korean 비전스파이스 Bijeon Spice
  Spanish Especia oculta