Shiny Pokémon used to be a prized possession of Pokémon fans around the world. These rare Pokémon with an alternate color scheme have a 1 in 4,096 chance of appearing in the wild in recent games. Because of this, the particular Pokémon has long served as the emblem of a dedicated trainer who would prioritize hunting rare monsters above all else. Catching a single Shiny Pokémon can take several hour-long grinding sessions. But that’s starting to change as recent mainline games have made it easier to find Shinies, and now it seems like everyone and their mother have Shiny Pokémon.
Technically anyone who has played Pokemon Gold and Silver, or their remakes, probably caught at least one shiny. In these games, you capture a red Gyarados as part of the main story. But outside of these special Gyarados, catching a Shiny proved difficult in previous generations. From second generation to gen 5 (Pokemon Black 2 and white 2), the rate of seeing a shiny was even lower than it is now – 1 in 8,192.
Of course, each game resulted in players coming up with their own tricks and strategies to get Shiny Pokemon. In gold and Silver, some brilliant hunters It has been estimated that a player could achieve a 1 in 64 chance of hatching a Shiny if one of the parent Pokémon is Shiny. That requires starting with a Shiny, though, so those who want something other than Gyarados will need to grind and get one in the wild. So getting started with catching one in the wild still required a tremendous amount of looping as players had to endure the low odds. In the early days, there weren’t any items that increased the spawn rate of Shiny Pokémon. So when you didn’t have to breed, you had to cycle through the grass from encounter to encounter while running around bumping into each Pokemon one at a time.
Over time, Shiny hunting has evolved to become easier. In diamond and pearl, we learned about the Masuda breeding method, which increases the chances of hatching a Shiny Pokémon from an egg if you breed Pokémon from two different languages. (For this reason, Dittos from other countries are a mainstay of Pokemon breeding. Sorry, Ditto!) black 2 and white 2 introduced the Shiny Charm, which effectively triples the odds of encountering a Shiny Pokémon. After that, Game Freak roughly doubled the overall chances of encountering a Shiny Pokemon X and Y.
This trend of shinies becoming more common continued with Nintendo Switch games and remakes. In Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Pokémon: Let’s Go Eevee, Game Freak made the jump from wild monster spawns in the grass to overworld spawns. Instead of seeing a single spawn in battle, we could see dozens of Pokemon running around at once, including shiny ones. Combine that with in-game events like Mass Outbreaks in Legends: Arceus and scarlet and violetand you have ample opportunity to hunt down shinies.
Based on the odds and anecdotal evidence, there’s no doubt that this once-hardcore way of catching monsters just got easier. When I tested a shiny hunt exploit in scarlet and violet, I caught a shiny larvesta within 30 minutes. (It was a shine I had longed for and hoped for ever since Black and White.) Of course, luck played a part in my own success, but I’m not alone. TikTok is filled with people’s accounts come across shiny Pokemon random without looking for them; A viral video shows a person catching heaps of them, according to the user who posted it shines in a single day. I spoke to two die-hard shiny hunters who often stream their hunts for hours at a time, and they both confirmed that hunting in general has gotten easier.
For Wafer who streams his hunts on twitchChasing shinies in new games has become easier, although games like scarlet and violet it lacks audiovisual cues pointing to the Pokémon in the wild. (In Legends: Arceusa chime alerts players to the presence of a Shiny; scarlet and violet does not have this feature and unfortunately may exclude color-blind players or those who just don’t know what a specific Shiny Pokémon looks like.)
“I have to say I’m personally excited about the changes in shiny hunting as I don’t have as much time for shiny hunting as I used to when I was younger and I love hearing people’s stories who have been playing the game for years are finally getting their first shine,” Wafer said.
Wafer recognizes the joy that comes with acquiring this special Pokémon. But gatekeepers have responded by emphasizing the relative rarity of Shinies in various Pokémon games. Steve Sarumi, a streamer and podcaster who runs the Pokémon Podcast It’s very effectiveNoticed an increase in gatekeeping of Shiny Pokémon now that catching them has become easier.
“The argument is about how ‘lighter’ Shiny Pokémon would devalue other Shinies, which is nonsense to me. When I stumble upon a shiny koffing on my journey Pokemon CrystalI personally wouldn’t consider it more valuable than stumbling upon the same Pokemon in Sign. Both are brilliant koffing at the end of the day,” Sarumi said.
As catching Shiny Pokémon has gotten easier over time, those looking for the extra challenge have found ways to increase the difficulty of collecting Pokémon. Wafer told me that he’s seen an increasing number of players opting for the “shiny living Dex” and trying to get the shiny version of every single Pokemon in the game. So instead of focusing on a specific Pokemon, hunters will try to catch all 400 in games like scarlet and violet.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t super rare Pokemon to hunt down now. Pokémon sword and Sign marked Pokemon introduced. A Marked Pokémon has a special “mark” on the ribbon submenu of a Pokémon panel. Each mark acts as a badge of honor, testifying to the unique circumstances under which a trainer caught it. When you send out a Marked Pokémon, it will have a special title, like “Mimikyu the Sleepy.” scarlet and violet has dozens of tokens, with Serebii estimating that the rarest tokens have an appearance rate of 1 in 1000.
Sarumi said these marked Pokemon have become a new target for intense hunters.
“Not only do I think collecting a marked Shiny is incredibly fun, but it also gives a sense of finding a ‘harder’ target without making the Shiny hunting barrier intimidating to a wider audience. “
