It's a Shiny!

So here's me, saying I'm going to blog regularly and 2 months later... 🤦‍♀️ Time! It just seems to pass by so quickly that before you know it weeks have passed and you're wondering where its gone and what you've done. Well, I know some of what I've done and that's a mixture of reading, decorating and gaming with a heavy focus on Pokemon games and shiny hunting. Yes, that's right, I've got the shiny hunting bug. What's a better way to blog regularly than to share my shiny finds 😁

For those who might not know what a shiny Pokemon it is quite simply a Pokemon that is different in colour to its normal appearance. This colour change may be subtle, or in the case of Jigglypuff just has an eye colour change. But is often a completely different colour to normal. Shiny Pokemon are a rare spawn and there has become quite the fascination with hunting them in games. To shiny hunt, you do need the time and dedication to do so and luckily for me I have the time and an addictive personality 🙈

Join me as I hunt these different coloured game characters and if you play any Pokemon games then let me know what you've been able to catch lately.

Pokemon Go

Since Monday (2nd Sept) till today, Wednesday 4th 11am, I have managed to nab 6 shiny Pokemon already which is a very good start to the week. I have been going weeks without one so 5 is excellent and makes me very happy.

Started my week with my third shiny Nidoran which I evolved into a Nidorino but don't have enough candies to evolve into a Nidoking just yet. When I get the candies I will do the evolve and have a happy shiny family of three.

Next, I found a shiny Lickitung while I was out with my mum walking my dogs. This shiny was a first for me and I did the typical shouting out loud when I found it. Lickitung isn't my favourite polemon by far but a shiny is a shiny.

Tuesday 3rd marked the start of a new Pokemon Go season and with it a new legendary raid. I have a large friends list and within 10 minutes of getting out of bed, I got a remote invite from someone in Japan. So of course I hopped straight in, it saved me queuing in PokeGenie. To my joy, the Niantic gods went and gave me a shiny Kyogre... on my first raid! It wasn't the first time I ended up with a shiny on the first legendary raid, but it's always exhilarating when it is. Especially after it took me about 50 raids to get the last raid legendary, Xerneas, in shiny form. And, to my surprise, the first remote raid I was invited to this morning (Wednesday) produced another shiny purple whale! And both are decent three stars in stats so double yay for me! Then, to top off the morning, I hatched a shiny Slowpoke. But, that wasn't it for my day as I picked up another shiny Jigglypuff - my fourth to date! It seems much in the same way Jigglypuff followed Ash and his friends around in the original cartoon series, the shiny version is following me.

If that wasn't enough shiny luck for the start of the week then I should go ahead and buy a lottery ticket as I've also caught my first Pokemon (plus an additional two) in Let's Go Pikachu on the Nintendo Switch.

Let's Go Pikachu!

I play a few Pokemon games on the Switch but am currently focusing on Let's Go and Shield. In Let's Go I figured it was time to have a go at hunting a shiny. I know the odds aren't great, especially without the shiny charm but I thought why not try?

I picked Zubat to focus on for no particular reason other than I was feeling Halloweenie, I did 31 catch combo after reading up that decreased the odd slightly and was the max combo needed for the increased spawns and waited. Four hours later, after running around in a cave in circles and right as I was thinking of giving up it emerged. There it was, the green bat surrounded by sparkles. And yes I screamed partly scaring my dogs in the process and rushed to carefully catch it for fear of letting it run away and having to start the process all over again. But at least that is the bonus for shiny hunting in the Switch games, they show as a shiny when they appear rather than in Pokemon Go where you need to click on the Pokemon before you know if it is a shiny. And yes, I caught it, no need to fear.

You would think four hours would be enough to say goodnight... but no, not for me. My adrenaline was pumping and I wanted to start the hunt for my next one. It is a bit addictive, shiny hunting. But I suppose if I'm going to be addicted to something Pokemon is better than the likes of alcohol or drugs. So, I crawled into bed with my Switch, and my dogs and moved to a different in-game location as I fancied a change of scenery from the cave. I set to catching Caterpie's to get my catch combo, which I did and then started on the wait as Caterpie after Caterpie spawned in quick succession. I was getting ready to shut down and continue the next day when a golden bird with sparkles flew by... a shiny Pidgey had spawned 🤦‍♀️ It wasn't what I was after but as I say, a shiny is a shiny. I caught it with the realisation I would have to completely reset my catch combo and do it all over again... but that would do for another day.

The following day I jump back in. I get the Caterpie catch combo back up to the required 31 and wait. They spawn, these little green caterpillars that are often hard to spot in the grass, over and over again. I don't set a lure as they seem to spawn pretty quickly in groups. Two hours later a golden Pokemon with sparkles around it appears in the grass... but was it a Caterpie? Nope! It was a Weedle. So, that's twice now a completely different shiny has appeared while hunting a shiny Caterpie. Typical isn't it! But as I said... a shiny is a shiny so it's all good. I will get the golden Caterpie one day, but maybe not this week.

So all in all not a bad start to the week. 6 shinies in Pokemon Go and 3 in Let's Go Pikachu. Let's if the rest of the week brings any more. I have moved on to hunting the golden nugget (Geodude) in Let's Go with my eyes on the screen watching for it now as I type this. Keep your fingers crossed and send all shiny thoughts my way.