A Pokemon Scarlet & Violet trainer shared a hilarious yet brutal Shiny mishap they experienced while hunting for Lapras.
One of the most popular pastimes for many Pokemon trainers who finish the main storyline isShiny hunting for their favorite monsters.
Shiny huntingcan be an arduous task thanks to the rarity of Shinies and the attention required not to miss them—especially in Gen 9.
That’s why one trainer was devastated after they missed out on a Shiny Lapras before they even had a chance to react thanks to some poor game design.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet player shares heartbreaking Shiny miss
The Shiny hunting snafu came from a trainer on the Pokemon Scarlet & Violetsubredditwho made aposttitled, “IT FINALLY HAPPENED TO ME, NOOOOOOO.”
They included a brief clip that showed the trainer riding on Koraidon in the waters of the Blueberry Academies’ Polar Biome. As they circle the waters looking backward at a group of Lapras, they noticed a bright Pink one pop into the frame.
Sadly, before the trainer even had a chance to turn around on Koraidon, the Shiny Lapras fully disappeared.
After some trainers wondered if this quick despawn was the result of a bug, the OP explained, “No, it’s not a bug, it’s just the outer edge of the spawn radius is way too close to the despawn radius, so it’s possible for a Pokémon to spawn in only to despawn if you move a couple inches away. It’s just poor design.”
Others in the comments empathized with the loss, as many had experienced the same situation when Shiny hunting.
“The shiny rowlet that I missed like this still haunts me,” said one player, while another trainer explained, “And this is why I don’t look at my outbreaks as I despawn them. If I don’t see it, it doesn’t count. I either move the camera or close my actual eyes.”
Philip Trahan was a Games Writer on Dexerto’s US team, specializing in Pokemon, Apex Legends, Call of Duty, RPGs, JRPGs, and Nintendo franchises. He also has bylines at NintendoEverything and GameRant.
