Trainers, Today I want to talk to you about a controversial subject: The Shiny Charm.
I want to touch upon some points raised in a previous article and discuss whether or not this item could make its way into the game.
For those of you who do not know what this is or anyone looking to brush up on their knowledge, strap in!
The Shiny Charm, What’s That Then?
Fans of the more recent main series of Pokémon games will have, no doubt, heard of The Shiny Charm. It’s a stone that basically increases the odds of finding shiny Pokémon in the game. This is a Key Item that can be obtained by completing either the whole national Pokédex in Generation 6 games or the Regional Pokédex in Generation 7 and 8 games.
As a comparison, the “odds” of stumbling across a Shiny Pokémon randomly in Generation 6, 7 or 8 games are 1 in 4095. This means you may play the game for 1000 hours and never see one – Whilst In Pokémon Go, the odds were determined to be Approx. 1 in 450 for Wild Encounters….which some players believe is already too low.
What Does it Do and How is it Linked to Shiny Pokémon?
Once you have obtained the Shiny Charm, your chances of encountering a Shiny Pokémon by various means is increased by 3x. Yes 3x! This means that, instead of a base rate (in the later games) of 1 in 4095, you can instead enjoy an improved rate of 1 in 1365. If you use what’s called “The Masuda Method” to breed Pokémon using a foreign Ditto or Pokémon, the odds are increased again to 1 in 512. You can read my article on Pokémon Breeding and how it could be implemented in Pokémon Go here.
There are also other ways in which you can improve the rates even further. Things such as “Chain Fishing” or the Friend Safari (Which I actually really miss) have much lower odds but limit you to which Pokemon you can find as a shiny.
There are various other means to encounter Shiny Pokémon, however – Such as “chaining” in the Let’s Go series. This can reduce the odds of finding a shiny to below 1 in 275!!
How Could it Work in Pokémon GO?
In my previous article, I talked about how I believe it could be rewarded for completing gold medals for each region of Pokémon. While I still think that this is a plausible idea, I was talking about the item as if it was always active and non-consumable. (meaning it would just exist in your bag like the Camera or Infinite Incubator)
I now think that if it were to be released, then it may be more likely to be a consumable item. One that may have a 30/60-minute timer on it just like Incense, Lucky Eggs, and Star Pieces.
When Would They be Used?
In Pokémon Go and Pokémon games in general, Shiny Hunting has a lot of grey areas. Odds have to be worked out by dedicated teams (such As The Silph Road Research Division – “Love you guys” – ShinyhunterLiam) as no actual indication of shiny odds have ever been hinted at or mentioned by Niantic or Nintendo itself. Results have been shared amongst communities but we all know that person who seems to get multiples of every single shiny Pokémon, at every event. (Sam Cook – You know who you are! ¬_¬) – However, random is random and so us shiny hunters hunt on.
I believe it would give Shiny Hunters and casual players alike, yet another way to obtain Shinies and would even go some way towards bringing those Scorned players who say “I never get any Shinies outside of Community Day…Hmmph” to reason with it being a good item to introduce.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the ways that a shiny charm could be awarded to players if it were to get implemented:
| Method Of Acquiring | Explanation | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Raid Battle Reward | Could be a reward from higher tier raids – Rarity could be along the same lines as TM’s or maybe rarer. | Could increase the shiny rate of raid bosses (that have a shiny version available such as Lugia or Absol.) |
| Research Task Reward | Could be a reward for completing a Research Task. It would need to be for a rare task similar to “catch a dragon type” or the Spinda tasks. | Could give increased odds to Pokémon that spawn from completed research tasks (Think Gastly or Sandshrew.) |
| 7-Day Streak/Breakthrough Reward | Could be among the rewards for a 7-Day streak. Along with Sinnoh Stones and Evolution Items. | Purely a method of obtaining The Shiny Charm. |
| PvP | Could be a reward for PvP Battles. | Purely a method of obtaining The Shiny Charm. |
| Pokestop Spinning | Could be a rare drop from a Pokestop much the same as Evolution Items are. | Purely a method of obtaining The Shiny Charm. |
| Gold Kanto Medal | Could be a reward for achieving the Gold Kanto Medal. | Increased odds of finding Shiny Pokémon from the Kanto Region. |
| Gold Johto Medal | Could be a reward for achieving the Gold Johto Medal. | Increased odds of finding Shiny Pokémon from the Johto Region. |
| Gold Hoenn Medal | Could be a reward for achieving the Gold Hoenn Medal. | Increased odds of finding Shiny Pokémon from the Hoenn Region. |
| Gold Sinnoh Medal | Could be a reward for achieving the Gold Sinnoh Medal. | Increased odds of finding Shiny Pokémon from the Sinnoh Region. |
Would It Be Game-Breaking?
Well, yes and no I guess. Which is why it is such a controversial subject already. There Pokemon out there with boosted spawn rates such as Onix, Sneasel etc. etc. Boosting the shiny rates of these Pokemon even further would likely render them worthless as trade objects.
That’s another issue that comes along with Shiny Pokemon: Keeping rare things rare. How do you introduce a new mechanic or item without making the subsequent Pokemon worthless? This is something that I think Niantic would need to spend a long time thinking about. Let us not forget that they have already had a Magikarp Community Day….
Parting Thoughts
Does the Shiny Charm have a place in the game in 2020/2021 without being OP, given the number of shinies already dropping? I believe so…I think that it’s one of those items that may require careful planning before using it in a similar vein to that of Star Pieces or Lucky Eggs to maximize the benefits from it.
Ultimately though, adding this item would be a gamble for Niantic. They could implement it as a consumable but there would be some mixed reviews and opinions so it would take some careful thought.
What’s your opinion Trainers?
