Shiny Pokemon has never been more popular, for better or worse

Welcome to Exp. Involved, KotakuWeekly Pokemon The column we dive into to explore iconic personalities, urban legends, communities, and just plain weird quirks from around the corner Pokemon franchise. This week, we’re taking a look at the history of Shiny Pokémon and how catching them has become a huge mainstay for the series’ fan base.

Catching shiny Pokemon is a complete hobby in itself Pokemon Community. People are obsessed with catching differently colored versions of their favorite monsters, so much so that they become A.J Subculture around these games. Some people compete competitively, others want to learn more about the world of Game Freak, and others spend hours of their day just hoping to find a bright and colorful variant of rare creatures. But if you’re relatively new to the franchise, you might not know that Shiny Pokémon was a little different.They first appeared more than 20 years ago.

The first example of a Shiny Pokémon story was a red Gyarados that appeared in 1999 Pokemon gold And silver for Game Boy Color. The player encounters a monster in Lake of Rage north of the town of Mahogany, which they can either defeat or capture to add to their team. While exotic Gyarados was the first Shiny person most players encounter, Shiny Pokémon can appear in the wild all the time gold And silver. But what determines whether or not you have Pokemon of a different color? Well, it has changed over the years.

Initially, the Shiny Pokémon’s status was determined by each creature’s individual values. Without getting too involved with weeds (although if you’re curious, I have Complete write up on tweaking IVs), individual values ​​are basically the Pokémon’s genes that correspond to their battle stats that determine whether your little one is better or worse at certain things than others of its kind. This is attack, defense, speed, etc. in order for the Pokemon to be brilliant in it gold And silverhis Speed, Defense, and Letter must be exactly 10, while the fourth Attack must be either 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 14, or 15.

If that sounds arbitrary, it was, but this is how the designers ensured that Shiny Pokémon remain rare. Interestingly, this is the system gold And silver With it, it was possible to import a Pokémon from the first generation games and discover that it was shiny even though the original games didn’t have a Shiny concept yet. Since IVs are still located in the backend of Pokemon RedAnd blueAnd yellowPokémon trading gold And silver It can reveal that their IV numbers were the correct numbers, and thus they will appear in a different color in those games. But that system changed in the next generation of games, which also didn’t allow players to trade forward again, anyway.

since then Ruby And sapphirePokémon’s Shiny status is determined by a formula that takes into account your Trainer ID (a number assigned to the player with each saved file), and their Secret ID Number (a second, invisible ID number used as a precaution in case players somehow end up with the same Trainer ID) , and a Pokémon character value (a number assigned when the player first encounters a specific Pokémon in the game). Again, this is very complicated but it’s done in this way to ensure that Shiny Pokémon, when they appear, look like an extremely rare anomaly. This is why they are so coveted Pokemon And why some gamers are willing to spend hours of their day resetting the game to find rare shiny monsters in every subsequent game.

While this formula is still in effect today, flash catches are growing in popularity Pokemon The community has led the games to introduce new ways to increase the odds of encountering the illustrious. These include key items such as the Shiny Charm, which, once obtained, produces additional character values, essentially resetting your chance of encountering a Pokémon that looks a little different from the rest. With each subsequent game, brilliant magic increased the chances of finding Shiniz by an even greater amount. But this is not the only trick that brilliant hunters use.

Starting with the 2006 4th generation DS games Pokemon Diamond And PearlGame Freak introduced a new face to the Pokémon breeding system that was intended to entice players to trade between other regions around the world with Diamond And PearlOnline trading jobs. If two Pokemon originated from different language versions of their game and were made to breed an egg, the Pokemon born from those parents will generate additional character value, which will increase your shining chances again. This is in addition to the improvements you get from the Shiny Charm, so taking advantage of spawning between regions is one of the most effective ways to try and get Shiny. Recently, Switch games carmine And VioletThe new Picnic feature lets you Make sandwiches that increase your shining chances for a specified time.

Since its introduction in gold And silver Over two decades ago, Shiny Pokémon morphed from a neat, almost subtle phenomenon into a full-blown metagame and subculture. Speaking personally, I’ve played all the major lines Pokemon The game and the first time I encountered Shiny was in the year 2022 Pokemon Legends: Arceus on the switch. It was two, in fact: Graveler and Tangrowth. They were so ugly, my team was already ready, they just didn’t join. However, the fact that I finally caught two of these in Arceusin which Pokémon appear in the outside world With a distinctive sound effect and sparkle, it made me realize how many shiny Pokémon have probably gone unnoticed in the tall grass over the years (Arceus‘Lost’ tells carmine And Violet).

But despite the shiny Pokemon feeling being such a mainstay of the series, I was still surprised When I asked how people feel about Shiny Pokémon After all these years, how many players haven’t seen one in the wild.

For some, glitter hunting is a way of life. green tea extract, They might as well be urban legendsso when they appear by complete chance It feels special and unforgettable. But now that there are so many ways to game the system, some might feel like it Shine has worn away from the shiny Pokemon. For those who found the whole process tedious and annoying, however, these changes make something that previously felt cumbersome and exclusive. Accessible to everyoneeven ordinary players.

This is not to say that finding a shiny Pokemon has miraculously become as easy as finding any rare Pokemon. But at least it’s becoming more plausible for the average coach to find a glossy version of his favorites, or maybe Find new favorites in a new color scheme. While society is divided over the “value” of Shinees as they have become so easy to find, all the arithmetic background that goes into their unexpected appearances The memories we make cannot be counted And the personal stories we write as we find, fight, and capture these funky little friends. Perhaps the real shiny Pokemon are the memories we’ve made along the way.