Pokemon Sword and Shield Player Gets Hunted by Shiny Pokemon

Shiny hunting in Pokemon Sword and Shield on Nintendo Switch can be a time-consuming process; some players will literally hatch thousands of eggs just to find one! However, some players are more fortunate than others, as the Shiny Pokemon will actually hunt them, instead! That's exactly what happened to Reddit user GreyRose, who shared a video of their encounter with a Shiny Zoroark. In the video, the player is biking through the Wild Area, grabbing items located under a tree, when a Zoroark lunges at them, kicking off an encounter. Much to GreyRose's surprise, it was actually a Shiny Pokemon!

The original Reddit post can be found embedded below.

The video is a testament to how random Shiny encounters can be in the game. It's not unusual for Pokemon in the Wild Area to initiate encounters if a player gets too close, but sometimes they really can catch a player by surprise. While Pokemon in the Wild Area can be seen roaming around, a player won't know if it's a Shiny until an encounter begins. The Zoroark looks completely normal right until the battle begins, making it a very pleasant surprise!

Next year, Pokemon Legends: Arceus will make some big changes to the way Pokemon encounters happen, seemingly ditching encounter screens altogether in favor of a seamless experience. That could make surprise encounters such as this one less likely. On one hand, that would mean players won't accidentally avoid catching an extremely rare Pokemon, but on the other hand, it might also take a bit of the fun out of the hunt. That game won't release until 2022, however, and there are still a lot of details yet to be revealed.

Shiny Pokemon technically don't offer any advantages over those with normal colorations, but their rarity makes them an exciting part of any player's collection. Over the years, fans have shared a lot of great stories about the Shiny Pokemon that they've come across, and it seems unlikely GreyRose will forget the Shiny Zoroark that actually pursued them!

Pokemon Sword and Shield is available now, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the game right here.

Are you a fan of Pokemon Sword and Shield? Have you ever encountered a Shiny Pokemon in a similar manner? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!