It goes without saying that the Pokemon games are perfect for anyone who considers themselves a collector. With hundreds upon hundreds of monsters now available to players, catching them all is still a motto to live by, even in the modern day with Pokemon Sword and Shield. However, the motto rings even more true for those looking to catch coveted Shiny Pokemon.
After being introduced in 1999's Pokemon Gold and Silver, these ultra rare alternately-colored Shiny Pokemon instantly captured the hearts of fans. Over the years, the games have gradually made these rare Pokemon more accessible, even offering players the ability to increase their chances of finding Shiny Pokemon with the Shiny Charm, awarding players for "catching them all" and completing their Pokedex. However, while Shiny Pokemon aren't as rare as they used to be, that isn't to say that some players don't experience incredible strokes of Shiny luck from time to time.
Pokemon Sword and Shield's Crown Tundra expansion introduced Dynamax Adventures, a mode sending players through a gauntlet of Max Raid Battles with the chance to catch a legendary Pokemon at the end. However, one unexpected feature Dynamax Adventures brought along with it was greatly increased Shiny rates, giving players a 1/100 chance to encounter a Shiny Pokemon. And now, one player has encountered an incredibly rare Shiny Oranguru with perfect stats in their Dynamax Adventures.
I found a Shiny AND Perfect Oranguru during a Dynamax Adventure! (1 in 96100 odds!) from PokemonSwordAndShield
While encountering a Shiny Pokemon in Dynamax Adventures is not unheard of, it's the Pokemon's stats that make this case almost unbelievable. In the mainline Pokemon games, each monster comes with IV's, or Individual Values, which determine the potential of each of any given Pokemon's stats, ranging from 0 to 31. And it just so happens that Reddit user Mr_502 encountered a Shiny Oranguru with perfect stats all across the board. While the player initially thought that this occurrence was a 1/96100 chance, they later realized that since each stat's IV can range from 0 to 31 instead of 1 to 31, there is a 1/32 chance of each stat rolling as perfect, and combined with the 1/100 shiny rate, this puts the odds of finding this perfect Shiny Oranguru at 1/102400, or a .00098% chance.
It seems that many Sword and Shield players have gotten incredibly lucky as of late, like one who recently hatched two Shiny Koffing back-to-back, a 1/252,1444 chance. And of course, Shiny Pokemon have become one of the main draws of the mobile game Pokemon GO, sending players to search for the alternately-colored creatures in the real world.
With all of this luck going around in the Pokemon games, it seems that now is the time to start hunting for Shiny Pokemon. And as 2021 kicks off, hopefully the 25th anniversary of Pokemon will bring even more luck to fans of the series this year.
Pokemon Sword and Shield is currently exclusively available for the Nintendo Switch.