My First and Last Time Shiny Hunting

[Leafsfan]

I rediscovered my love for Pokemon about a year ago and ever since have been playing the games, most recently Pokemon Sun. I noticed watching videos that "shiny hunting" is something that has gotten very popular in Sun/Moon so I decided to try it.

My experience with shinies is not limited to the SOS chaining method however, I did run into a wild shiny Alolan Exegutor and a wild shiny Gumshoos during my playthrough.

I decided that my first shiny hunt would be for Beldum. I ended up finding one quickly and eventually encountered a shiny Beldum at 129 encounters (a number I know is small in terms of shiny hunting). Not only did the Beldum not shake once in any of the 7 timer balls I threw (which by that point was maxed out at 4x), but once I lowered it's HP into red, it only gave me a single other chance to catch it. It called 11 straight allies, by which point I had run out of PP on my only attacking move. I used a leppa berry to replenish the move and it called 2 more allies, following that with using struggle and killing itself.

I understand that most people would simply see this as bad luck on my part, but I view it differently. The final part the shiny hunt essentially took a horrible experience and made it even more horrible. Having to sit and battle 128 Beldums to find a discoloured one was, in my mind, a wretched experience. It's not like I'm going to use it, I've already played through the game and no matter how special the Pokemon, I don't see how its fun to use a ton of wild encounters to level up a low level Pokemon post-game.

I think the main point I'm trying to make here is that I have no idea how so many people find shiny hunting enjoyable. I do understand the excitement of seeing a shiny, as I ran into 2 randomly during my playthrough, but I see no enjoyment whatsoever in sitting for what could be hours and hours of work to get a chance at a shiny Pokemon. In my mind it takes the fun and excilieration out of seeing a random shiny Pokemon. It takes those feelings and turns it into relief, something that for me is no fun at all.

If you are one of the people that enjoy shiny hunting, I commend you for your patience in performing such a monotonous task, I could never sit and do it, in my mind it ruins the fun of the game.

 

[ShyRayq]

I rediscovered my love for Pokemon about a year ago and ever since have been playing the games, most recently Pokemon Sun. I noticed watching videos that "shiny hunting" is something that has gotten very popular in Sun/Moon so I decided to try it.

My experience with shinies is not limited to the SOS chaining method however, I did run into a wild shiny Alolan Exegutor and a wild shiny Gumshoos during my playthrough.

I decided that my first shiny hunt would be for Beldum. I ended up finding one quickly and eventually encountered a shiny Beldum at 129 encounters (a number I know is small in terms of shiny hunting). Not only did the Beldum not shake once in any of the 7 timer balls I threw (which by that point was maxed out at 4x), but once I lowered it's HP into red, it only gave me a single other chance to catch it. It called 11 straight allies, by which point I had run out of PP on my only attacking move. I used a leppa berry to replenish the move and it called 2 more allies, following that with using struggle and killing itself.

I understand that most people would simply see this as bad luck on my part, but I view it differently. The final part the shiny hunt essentially took a horrible experience and made it even more horrible. Having to sit and battle 128 Beldums to find a discoloured one was, in my mind, a wretched experience. It's not like I'm going to use it, I've already played through the game and no matter how special the Pokemon, I don't see how its fun to use a ton of wild encounters to level up a low level Pokemon post-game.

I think the main point I'm trying to make here is that I have no idea how so many people find shiny hunting enjoyable. I do understand the excitement of seeing a shiny, as I ran into 2 randomly during my playthrough, but I see no enjoyment whatsoever in sitting for what could be hours and hours of work to get a chance at a shiny Pokemon. In my mind it takes the fun and excilieration out of seeing a random shiny Pokemon. It takes those feelings and turns it into relief, something that for me is no fun at all.

If you are one of the people that enjoy shiny hunting, I commend you for your patience in performing such a monotonous task, I could never sit and do it, in my mind it ruins the fun of the game.

In my opinion, SOS hunting is a kind of bad way to get into shiny hunting. It's pretty complex and requires a great deal of attention. Something more passive like horde encounters, or something much easier like chain fishing are more recommended. Unfortunately those are Gen 6 only, so if you ever get X/Y, ORAS and want to give shiny hunting a try again; those are the methods to try.

But yeah, shiny hunting requires a great deal of patience, especially if you're doing a full-odds hunt in a pre Gen 5 game. But if you're really hankering for that shiny, perseverance pushes you over that hill.

 

[Spyro]

I've done a few SOS Shiny hunts, out of 5 different Pokémon I SOS Shiny Hunted, I got 3 Shinies, and 2 I abandonned after 255 encounters. It is long and tedious and hardly gives you time for a break. It's easier considering the few Harvest Exeggutor I have, with bestow and Skill Swap to prevent wild Pokémon struggling to death. I also use a False Swipe/Spore Smeargle, so those situations where the Shiny would call too many allies never happen.

Masuda breeding takes much less preparation, and with the Shiny Charm the odds are about the same. You can also control what you get a lot more than SOS Hunting, which is why it's my prefered method of Shiny Hunting.

What I do find enjoyable is seeing my collection grow. Being able to look at my Shinies and being proud I caught/bred them all myself. However, it's still is 10 times more exciting to find a random wild Shiny Pokémon while not actively hunting for it. Those never happen to me tho :')

 

[TimothyAster]

I don't know, I find sos hunting really relaxing. It's a task you can do in the background. While sr, chain fishing and hord are less rapid and require less pp, I think sos is quicker, easier and in my opinion more preferable.

 

[Eruption]

This was a good time for me to see this thread. Need somewhere to vent after I let a Meowth kill itself with struggle on a chain of about 110. I should have paid more attention. I previously screwed one up with Carbink by running away as well.

Personally though as tedious as SOS chaining is, it's a lot more accessible for me than other methods. The Poké radar seemed to always screw up for me even when I followed all of its rules closely. Chain fishing severely limits the amount of pokémon you can try for. Soft resetting (in the case of legendaries) is easily the worst I've tried though. Although, I suppose horde battles were probably reasonably easy to be honest.

Anyway, my first successful shiny hunt was for a Yungoos using SOS chaining, so I think me & my false swipe Scizor will be going on a few more hunts. I might try some Masuda method as well, perhaps starting with the Alolan Meowth I failed to get today.

 

[Leafsfan]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with the views that I have on shiny hunting. The thing about the shiny Beldum though is that I've seen the damn thing. It infuriates me that I've seen it but not captured it - to the point where I'm probably gonna have to hunt for it again and catch it. I have no issue never shiny hunting for any other Pokemon ever again, but when I've already seen he Beldum it takes on the "one that got away" moniker.

I just saw a video about how to make sure the Pokemon never struggles, using a harvest Phantump/Trevenant and teaching it skill swap and trick. I do have Omega Ruby so I can do this, and it gives me a good reason to play around with the Battle Maison, something I've never done before. There is no chance I spend time shiny hunting again for Beldum until I have that Phantump/Trevenant and can completely prevent it from struggling itself. I believe from what I've seen that this can all be done with Phantump. If not, I would be greatly appreciative if someone would be willing to trade me for my Phantump to evolve it and then trade it back. That would be greatly appreciated if need be.

Quick question about shiny hunting. With Beldum, what it the best Poke Ball to use to try and capture it (other than the Master Ball)? Does the timer ball stay maxed out at 4x capture rate even after I kill the original Beldum or does the capture rate reset every time I switch to a new Beldum?

I will be back when I have my elusive Shiny Beldum. I hope I can post a picture when I finally do get it.

 

[Leafsfan]

I just thought of a question I'd love to have answered before I spend the time trying to find another shiny Beldum.

Assume I have a Phantump with harvest ability that knows skill swap and trick. I would do this on the first Beldum I see to keep it there as long as it takes for the shiny to get there, so I don't have to keep count of its moves.

If I use skill swap/trick to give the first Beldum the leppa berry and harvest, will I get the leppa berry back once I kill it? ie. when I encounter the shiny Beldum will I be able to use skill swap/trick to give it harvest and a leppa berry, or will I not be able to because I already did? If I can't, then I'll save skill swap/trick for the shiny Beldum. I'd love to know either way.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Spyro]

I If not, I would be greatly appreciative if someone would be willing to trade me for my Phantump to evolve it and then trade it back. That would be greatly appreciated if need be.

Quick question about shiny hunting. With Beldum, what it the best Poke Ball to use to try and capture it (other than the Master Ball)? Does the timer ball stay maxed out at 4x capture rate even after I kill the original Beldum or does the capture rate reset every time I switch to a new Beldum?

I will be back when I have my elusive Shiny Beldum. I hope I can post a picture when I finally do get it.

To arrange trades, you'll have to use our Trade Corner when the time comes, people will happily help you!
For the Poké Ball you can use a Timer ball, and be sure to have a Move that puts the Pokémon to Sleep too, it helps a lot with the odds of catching a Pokémon :)

Assume I have a Phantump with harvest ability that knows skill swap and trick. I would do this on the first Beldum I see to keep it there as long as it takes for the shiny to get there, so I don't have to keep count of its moves.

If I use skill swap/trick to give the first Beldum the leppa berry and harvest, will I get the leppa berry back once I kill it? ie. when I encounter the shiny Beldum will I be able to use skill swap/trick to give it harvest and a leppa berry, or will I not be able to because I already did? If I can't, then I'll save skill swap/trick for the shiny Beldum. I'd love to know either way.

Thanks in advance for the help.

About Skill Swap: You can use it on both tge 1st and the Shiny Beldum, because Trevenant will regain Harvest if its switched out.
As for the Leppa Berry, sadly you cannot recover it and pass it to the Shiny. I suggest you keep a second Pokémon with Bestow in your party, also equipped with a Leppa Berry. So Shiny Beldum comes, Bestow it the second Leppa Berry, switch back to your Harvest Pokémon and Skill Swap, then False Swipe and put it to Sleep.

Lastly, Exeggutor also can have both Harvest, Skill Swap, and Bestow.