A player encounters a shiny Pokemon in Pokemon HeartGold, only to be met with heartbreak. Shiny Pokemon were first introduced in Pokemon Gold and Silver for the Game Boy Color back in 1999 and have been a mainstay in the Pokemon series ever since.

For the Nintendo DS remakes, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Red Gyarados is the only guaranteed catch as part of the player’s journey through the Johto region, with other monsters having a 1/8192 chance of being a shiny alternative. In the more recent generations, players can utilize items such as Shiny Charm in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet to increase spawn rates, but back in the DS era, players had to simply grind away.

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To that end, one Redditor going by the handle of MyMediocreName was overjoyed when they encountered a golden Caterpie right at the beginning of their adventure in Pokemon HeartGold. This was their first wild shiny encounter in twenty years of playing the franchise, but the joy was short-lived. The meeting was too early in the game and the player had not yet unlocked the means to capture the glittering bug, meaning they had to defeat the level 3 pocket monster before continuing with the game.

Many replies to the original poster were in support of the bittersweet moment, either by paying their respects or by sharing similar stories as the Pokemon community is generally supportive of fans looking to add to their shiny collections. One fan of the series has even shared their best tips for catching a shiny Floette in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet which utilizes the use of the game’s first-person mode.

As the various generations of Pokemon have evolved, Game Freak has tried to find a more balanced approach to shiny hunting. These tweaks do open the door for more players to find the rarest of monsters, but it isn’t always foolproof. One player had a tragic encounter with a shiny Voltorb in Pokemon Legends: Arceus as they tried to capture the monster without triggering a battle which resulted in Voltorb using self-destruct.

With the most recent generations seeing the encounter rate cut to a standard 1/4096 and introducing various items to cut this number further, it’s never been easier for trainers to build their shiny collections. However, trainers are still expected to grind for the reward, with one player snagging all 400 shiny monsters in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet after nearly three hundred hours of playtime.

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