Pokemon Sword & Shield player has instant regret after epic Shiny fail

A Pokemon Sword & Shield player faced their worst nightmare when a  single wrong move led to them failing to catch a rare Shiny ‘mon.

Ever since its introduction into the series in 1999, Shiny Pokemon have been every player’s greatest obsession. The alternative form transforms characters into a new color scheme, and features boosted stats.

One Trainer’s surprise encounter in Sword & Shield ended in disaster after the fan’s attempt to catch the rare variant backfired and exploded in their face – literally.

Pokemon Sword & Shield player loses chance at Shiny

For as long as Shiny ‘mon have existed, one of the most popular strategies for catching them is using False Swipe. If your level is high enough, the move guarantees to lower your opponent’s life to one health point without knocking it out.

However, the strategy doesn’t always work, depending on the creature. This is what happened to Sword & Shield player ‘KingOfTheHlll’ who uploaded a video of their tragic encounter with Gen IV Poison-type Stunky to the r/PokemonSwordAndShield subreddit.

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“Join me on my pain,” the fan wrote. The clip showed his Trainer using False Swipe on the Shiny ‘mon, only for the pesky skunk to immediately use Explosion to end the battle. To add salt to the wound, the Sinnoh Pokemon was a square Shiny – the best you can get.

The Pokemon community felt the player’s pain as the False Swipe strategy is a pretty understandable mistake. “It hurts, we’ve all been there. There will be another Stanky Cat in your future, and you shall catch it!” a user replied. Another fan wrote, “don’t be so hard on yourself man, it happens to the best of us. Keep hunting, good look.”

One Trainer pointed out where the player went wrong: “Shoulda quick balled it.” The topic creator responded, “I have been thinking that aaall day long.”

While False Swipe and moves like Sleep and Paralyze are pretty solid strategies, some Pokemon are equipped with Explosion – which requires you to act quick. In cases like these, throwing a Quick Ball or Repeat Ball is the better course of action (and a Master Ball if it’s a Legendary).

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Although the situation was a painful moment for the player, if nothing else it at least serves as a good lesson for the rest of the community. It’s important to always know which moves the ‘mon has when going to hunting for its rare variant.