Pokemon Sword & Shield community mindblown after learning Shiny fact

November 2022 · 2 minute read

An interesting fact has blown the Pokemon Sword & Shield community away as it reveals exactly how shiny Pokemon are programmed to spawn into the game.

For a lot of trainers, catching a Shiny is the ultimate goal on Pokemon Sword & Shield and they’re willing to spend countless hours searching for one. Of course, with a spawn rate of around 1 in 4096, it’s fair to say you have to be extremely lucky to stumble upon an encounter.

As with any rare Pokemon encounter, the community is naturally curious about how the game decides who receives the opportunity to catch a Shiny. Well, an interesting snippet of information has revealed exactly how Shiny Pokemon are programmed into Sword & Shield and it’s certainly surprised the community.

Pokemon Sword & Shield was released all the way back in November of 2019.

How Shinies work in Pokemon Sword & Shield

A fascinating fact courtesy of Joe Merrick of Serebii left the Sword & Shield community completely mindblown. It revolves around how Game Freak has programmed Shinies to spawn into the game’s world.

Merrick revealed that in Sword & Shield, a Pokemon’s chance of being a Shiny is rolled when the creature spawns into the overworld, not when a player encounters a Pokemon: “Remember, all of the stats for a Pokemon including IVs, Gender, if it’s Shiny or not etc, is determined when they spawn on the overworld.”

Although this is without a doubt an interesting fact, it’s certainly disheartening for players. This means whenever they’re cycling through the world, they’re passing countless Shinies every day without even noticing. Of course, this led to a lot of criticism towards the current system, with players arguing the chance for a Pokemon to be a Shiny should be rolled upon the encounter.

Remember, all the stats for a Pokémon including IVs, Gender, if it's Shiny or not etc. is determined when they spawn on the overworld.

Think of all the Shiny Pokémon you're cycling by without encountering and realising when you go through the areas of Galar. pic.twitter.com/KakFDVQwAW

— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) January 22, 2021

Either way, this is a significant fact that every Pokemon Sword & Shield player should know, even if it does put you down a little while you’re cycling through the world.

At the end of the day, if you’re enjoying the game and you’re playing it a lot, it shouldn’t be too long before you run into Shiny. Just make sure you’re ready when the opportunity finally arises.

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