Shiny Legendary fail has Pokemon players checking their held items
The Pokemon CompanyThere are many reasons that a player might fail a Shiny encounter, but it’s pretty rare for the cause of a fail to be the player’s very own held items.
Sadly, however, that is exactly what happened to one Shiny-hunting Trainer as shared in a Reddit post. The post contains a video where they reveal an encounter with a Shiny Terrakion in Pokemon Sword and Shield, but after sending out a Hatterene, things go awry.
The author of the post shared a video of them Shiny hunting Terrakion with the caption, “I didn’t know you were holding that noo.” This was in reaction to them whittling down the mighty Pokemon’s health to a tiny fraction, and then sending out Hatterene and throwing a Dusk Ball, which didn’t catch the Legendary.
Then, when Terrakion launched its counter-offensive with a Close Combat, they watched the Pokemon take damage as it turned out Hatterene had been holding a Rocky Helmet. If you didn’t already know, the Rocky Helmet item means the opposing Pokemon takes damage when hitting your Pokemon with physical attacks.
The video then shows the Shiny Terrakion dying as the recoil damage was enough to defeat it, thanks to the tiny amount of health it had left in the first place. The unfortunate incident garnered a lot of sympathy from other players, with plenty also rushing to then go and check their held items before they take part in a Shiny hunt.
A comment underneath the posts replied, saying, “Trying not to be mean but this is kinda funny.” Meanwhile, another person explained that if this had happened to them, “Yall woulda seen me on the news.”
It isn’t all people laughing at the author’s misfortune, as some people also offered sage advice for anyone else about to go Shiny hunting.
One helpful comment called out the “goat” of Shiny catching, Breloom. They explained that a version of the Pokemon with “Technician boosted False Swipe and access to Spore and Stun Spore” is a great way to ensure Shiny Pokemon cannot hurt themselves or run away.
Otherwise, another possible option is Amoongus, as the reply explained that the Pokemon has access to False Swipe (which can take an opponent down to a very small amount of health but never KO them) as well as Spore, Sing, and Hypnosis.
If you’re heading out to bag yourself some Shiny Pokemon, be sure to check out our full guide to Shiny Hunting in Pokemon Go, as well as in Scarlet & Violet, and be sure to check your Held Items before you get battling as well.