Pokemon Sword & Shield players stunned by viral tree shaking trick

An eagle-eyed Pokemon fan discovered a crazy Sword & Shield tree shaking trick that has since gone viral, leaving Nintendo Switch players across the internet stunned.

Pokemon’s Generation VIII title Sword & Shield dropped on November 15, and has been Nintendo’s most successful game launch on the Switch to date with over six million units sold within its release weekend.

While many trainers have defeated Leon to become the undisputed champion of the Galar region, players from around the world are still discovering what the game has to offer.

• Read More: Is a Pokemon Sword and Shield DLC just around the corner?

One fan stunned players when they shared a trick they discovered with berry collecting in trees that had even veteran trainers shocked to only now learn of its existence.

Pokemon Sword & Shield berry gathering trick

In the latest Pokemon title, players can travel in the Wild Area, which is an open section of the map where trainers can encounter wild monsters as well as participating in raids. The landscape also features trees, which you can shake to drop berries.

You can rustle a tree a certain amount of times before a wild Pokemon will jump down and fight you, which loses some of your reward, or you can walk away before that and take what you’ve received.

However, Twitter user ‘toniKENSAjr‘ posted their discovery that it’s not as random as once thought: “For anyone who doesn’t know, slow leaves = safe to shake. Fast leaves = fat squirrel.”

The social media post went viral, with over 70,000 people watching the video, and 9,900 people liking the tweet, as many fans of the beloved RPG were shocked and did not know about the helpful tip.

Toni clarified that the trick is not 100% guaranteed, but more so it’s a warning sign of when to stop, and said, “I know it’s not 100% accurate ’cause apparently when it shakes fast, there’s a 50/50 chance for the fat squirrel.”

• Read More: Where to find the 5 rarest Pokemon in Sword and Shield

Essentially, leaves will initially start out falling slow, but when they speed up it’s the games way of telling you that each shake you do after that is an increased chance a wild Pokemon will drop down, so it’s time to walk away if you don’t want to risk it.

Despite having almost been out for close to a month at this time of writing, dedicated players are still discovering new tricks and tips that demonstrate how deeply rich the game actually is.

While there is no way to 100% know when a wild Pokemon will drop from the tree, there is now an indicator of when you are at risk for it, making it much easier to collect berries conservatively.