So recently, and by recently I mean yesterday, I finally found shiny Pokémon number 200 for the Shiny Dex. That means I am halfway done with this project. Woot! Hopefully, I will have the latest ones up by the end of the weekend. That’s not relevant right now, instead, I thought it would be fun to rank my top ten favorite moments while doing this shiny quest. That and I wasn’t able to play a lot of games this week so I needed something to write about for today. When in doubt, Pokémon is a free ticket to a decent post. Plus I get to reuse pictures for once. Nice. If I’m being honest it was a little difficult to narrow down which ones I wanted to highlight save for the top three. However, I managed to come up with a list eventually. Don’t worry there are no spoilers for the next shiny hunting post. While there were some good ones there, I didn’t think I could have any others on this list. So let’s get started.
10. Gastly (#111)
I usually try not to hunt the same outbreak repeatedly for shiny Pokémon. I do make exceptions for the rarer ones if necessary, but I would rather space out hunts in the same outbreaks. For that reason, I never linger too long once I have found my target and usually move on to something else or take a break. So what makes my encounter with Gastly memorable is how two of them managed to spawn at once. I have had my share of luck with outbreaks in this game, but I think that is the lucky encounter I’ve had so far. Shame it was a dupe, but it was at least a cool moment. Enjoy the recognition Gastly.
9. Rockruff (#153)
I felt this one also deserved a special mention for being one of the most unexpected shiny Pokémon on the list. Most of the Pokémon on the list are ones I have specifically hunted for but there are a couple that happen at random. This one is a favorite because it was the second fastest back-to-back shiny encounter I’ve ever had, as well as the fastest for not being a duplicate. The best part is I wasn’t even hunting for it. So, with all that I put it in the ninth spot on the list.
8. Lechonk (#1)
Now I can’t create a list like this without bringing special mention to the Pokémon that started me on this path in the first place. I had always hoped to find a random full odds shiny encounter during my playthrough of the game. My hope was answered by a pink pig while I was on my way to open one of the sealed ruins. My first shiny Lechonk will always be special. It probably would have made it higher on this list had I not found three more during this hunting challenge.
7. Tatsugiri (#15)
The main reason this one is on the list is that I still find it astounding how I managed to find all three forms without a repeat. Especially since the first form I found is the one that is the hardest to spot. I have found repeats since then, but it was still one of the most fun hunts I’ve had. This next hunt wasn’t as fun, but it was definitely memorable.
6. Basculin (#85)
This wouldn’t have been as memorable a moment if the shiny Basculin I found was from the outbreak I was at. I spent so much time at the outbreak only to get the other form. What’s even funnier is if the game was coded properly, the Basculin at the outbreak would have been the form of the one I got. If that happened, I would have never known how lucky I was. So I guess I should thank Pokémon Violet for being broken enough to give me a fun memory.
5. Sprigatito (#145)
When going for the starters I decided to do it through roulette. I gathered all three starters with a Ditto and waited to see which one I would get lucky with finding. I found the starters Fuecoco and Quaxly very close together since I got them in the same egg batch. However, Sprigatito was nowhere in sight. I don’t know why it took so long to get it, but I think that is why I was the most excited about it when I finally found it. Also, it does help that it is my favorite shiny color palette of the three.
4. Gothorita (#105)
Now if you do start hunting in these games, the most important thing to remember is to be paying attention. Since the only way to find a shiny Pokémon is by looking at them, you need to have some knowledge of what the shiny Pokémon looks like. I think I was pretty good at having a grasp on the appearance of shiny Pokémon but this was an exception. To this day I am amazed that I managed to find a shiny Gothorita just by looking at its face. One of the few shiny Pokémon in the game that I didn’t know what it looked like and I still snagged it. What a lucky break.
3. Larvesta (#23)
This Pokémon is the sole reason that I don’t give up on a hunt until the final hour. I spent days on the hunt, got lucky enough for an outbreak to spawn, and didn’t find the shiny one until one minute before every outbreak reset. I still consider this to be the luckiest outcome of any hunt I have had in this game. That is why it deserves top 3 status. I will never forget that the hunt only ends when you give up on it.
2. Bounsweet (#179)
This is definitely the longest going hunt that I have had success in at the time of writing. Honestly, I had started this thinking it wouldn’t take so long. I was so wrong. The thing that made it worse though was that I was just not finding much of anything. I was halfway into gaslighting myself into thinking that I didn’t need it. When this thing finally did show up under the tree, I could’ve sworn it was Christmas. There is only one other Pokémon I was that excited to find. That’s right it’s time for our number one pick.
1. Hoppip (#8)
Now you are probably wondering how the heck this made it to the number one most memorable Pokémon out of them all. Well, honestly if we were just talking about memories, this one would take the cake because I currently have seven of them. I can’t believe how many of these I currently have and frankly looking at them makes me feel sick at this point. I have more than a full party of them and figured that’s impressive enough for a shoutout before we get to the real number one.
1. Ditto (#61)
This was one of the first hunts in the game that I really wanted to do. The main reason was it is a Pokémon I have always wanted blue. I have tried looking for it in so many games to no avail. However, this time I stuck to it until I got the ble guy. It took seven phases to find it, but I was never more excited to see my Pokémon refuse to attack another. I actually saved and reopened the game to remove its disguise and take pictures with it. It was definitely one of the hardest hunts I have done in this game, but also one of the most rewarding. I cannot think of a more deserving Pokémon for my number favorite shiny Pokémon I have found so far in this journey.
Who knows if this will change in the future? Only future me I guess. Hopefully, I’ll get to meet him soon. In the meantime, it is back to hunting for more shiny Pokémon and more fun memories.
That Casual Gamer Guy 