Pokemon Go player stuns with 1/4000 shiny capture

Scott Baird
Vespiquen from the Pokemon Trading Card Game

A Pokemon Go player has shared their incredible luck, as they caught one of the rarest Shiny Pokemon in the entire franchise.

There was a time when the Pokemon franchise made it incredibly difficult for players to encounter Shiny Pokemon. You could play each mainline entry in order from Gen 2 on and never encounter a single one, save for mandatory ones, like the red Gyarados in Pokemon Gold & Silver.

It’s a lot easier to encounter Shiny Pokemon in the modern games, thanks to different methods that make them more likely to spawn, such as unlocking the Shiny Charm or using the Masuda Method when breeding Pokemon.

Pokemon Go players have the easiest time meeting Shiny Pokemon due to a naturally higher encounter rate and regular events that boost the chance even further. Still, some Pokemon are ridiculously hard to find in Shiny form.

Combee
Combee loves to hide in Honey Trees in Diamond and Pearl.

Lucky Pokemon Go player catches rare female Shiny Combee

A user on the Pokemon Go Reddit has shared their incredible good fortune, as they captured a female Shiny Combee, which is one of the most difficult Shiny Pokemon to encounter in the entire series, including the mainline games.

“The main reason it’s a big deal,” the OP explained, “Is bc female combees are 1/8 odds. Combine that with the shiny odds, 1/500, it’s a 1/4000 chance of getting a shiny female combee in go.”

The reason female Combee are so prized is that they are the only ones that can evolve. Female Combee can evolve into Vespiquen, while male Combee cannot evolve.

This means that if you want a Shiny Vespiquen, you must catch a female Shiny Combee, which has a much smaller chance of spawning than its male counterparts.

Luckily, Pokemon Go players have an easier time catching Shiny Combee than the mainline Pokemon players. For one thing, you can spot female Combee on the map, as they have a red square on their head. Pokemon Go also has a naturally higher Shiny encounter rate than the mainline games.

A female Shiny Combee is one of the most valuable Pokemon in the series, even if Vespiquen isn’t some competitive beast. The sheer rarity of encountering these Pokemon makes them desirable in the minds of many players, even if it’s just for an alternate color scheme and some flashy stars.