I’m a completionist by nature, and genuinely can’t help it. Even ifI can’t stand the game I’m playingI often run after the coveted Platinum trophy, and it’s hard for me to turn down earning rare achievements on PC or Xbox.
With all this time spent on glittering digital medals, you’d be right in thinking I would have drawn the line atsomething.For every dozen hours attempting to learn button combos or sniffing out hidden collectibles, I often comforted myself with the thought that ‘at least I don’t hunt shinyPokemon!’
But thenLegends: Arceuscame out and decided I didn’t have enough obsessive hobbies.
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Baby, You’re One In 8,192
I have to explain a couple of things for the readers who clicked on this article not already knowing what Shiny Pokemon are (do you just like reading random articles?). A Shiny Pokemon is a Pokemon that’s a different color than it normally is, and it’s a feature first introduced way back in Pokemon Gold & Silver. Fans who grew up with those games may remember a red Gyarados; that wasn’t just meant to be a cool boss, said Gyarados was supposed to be Gamefreak loudly showing off the new feature. But Shinies were so rare (1/8192, or 0.00012) that many players didn’t realize the mechanic until several games later. Players such as myself, who caught his first non-Gyarados Shiny in Pokemon Ruby: a blue Electrike who didn’t survive a save wipe.
But ever since Pokemon X & Y, those odds have been slashed (to 1/4096, or 0.00024). On top of that, you may gain an item called the Shiny Charm that slashes the number yet again.
I still didn’t care though, as that was potentially hundreds of hours just for a green Muk. As much as I could level-grind or waste my life in online lobbies, I couldn’t see myself entering wild encounters to hope for a different-colored Pokemon, not even one of my favorites like Muk!
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However, Gamefreak didn’t stop at softening the numbers with X & Y. Come the Switch, and we saw Pokemon Let’s Go: Pikachu and Eevee, an adorable little adventure where Pokemon finally spawned walking around the world. And, they would appear shinybefore you had to battle them to find out!For some reason, this gimmick did not return in Sword & Shield, but I was happy to see with my own eyes that this helpful gimmick did return in Legends: Arceus.
I knew it, this was me now. I was a Shiny Hunter.
Heck, Iheardthe gimmick.A delightful little tunewould play when a shiny Pokemon spawned in the wild, and this sound was so loud I once heard it when the shiny had spawnedunderground! I didn’t find any shinies in Let’s Go Pikachu, and only came across one in Shield despite all the claims hunting was made easier, but with Legends: Arceus I founddozens.While many were by accident, once I completed the Pokedex and got the Shiny Charm, I found myself finally going out into the world to look for specific shiny Pokemon.
The Raw Power Of Sandwich
Hunting in Legends: Arceus would just be one thing, you know? A little exception to the rule, not the rule itself. But here we are in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, a game I don’t even like despitereally loving its framerate-killing DLC. Scarlet continued Shinies being overworld spawns, and I know they didn’t improved the odds of finding them again, but it sure felt like that! I found a shiny Hawlucha and a shiny Flamigo within an hour and wasn’t even looking for Pokemon to catch at the time, let alone shinies. I was attempting to finish an unrelated crappy side quest.
But the shinies kept coming, enough that I caved, and completed the Pokedex. Because I knew it, this was me now.
I was a Shiny Hunter.
All you have to do to shiny hunt in Scarlet & Violet is set up a picnic for you and your Pokemon, then make a sandwich with specific ingredients catered to your planned target. There are recipes you can unlock that will tell you which type of Pokemon will suddenly spawn more often, which, with the Shiny Charm alone, can sometimes guarantee a shiny.
However, do some sniffing online, and you may find player-discovered sandwich recipes that increase Pokemon spawnsandthe shiny encounter percentage! Heck,we have one. Make a couple of these, and just like I did, you can find a spider that looks like its natural habitat is a box of Booberry cereal.
The odds to find Shinies used to be too low, and the load times too much to bear. But now, through the power of the shiny charm and way too many sandwiches in my avatar’s belly, I’m proud to state that I hunt for shiny Pokemon. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to load a podcast and go see just how easy shiny-hunting Fluttermane really is.
