Pokemon fans are in shambles as The Pokemon Company publishes the first-ever official Shiny hunting guide for Scarlet and Violet

Pokemon
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players can't believe their luck, as The Pokemon Company publishes the first-ever official Shiny hunting guide.

On April 3, the official Pokemon Twitter account shared the post below, along with a link to this helpful blog post. "Learn how to increase your chances of encountering elusive Shiny Pokémon across the Paldea region, the land of Kitakami, and the Terarium at Blueberry Academy!" the tweet reads. Although this is useful for trainers, Pokemon fans can't believe what they're seeing, as this isn't typically something the developer would do. 

The guide, which gives a tutorial on what Shinies are and how to catch them, features tonnes of tips and tricks including how to get the Shiny Charm, what mass outbreaks are in Scarlet and Violet, and the different ways in which Sparkling Power can be used to increase your chances of encountering Shinies. Perhaps most useful, the guide also gives several recipes for creating sandwiches using Sparkling Power. 

For The Pokemon Company to share this info just over a year after releasing Pokemon Scarlet and Violet has surprised fans. "EXCUSE ME WHAT DID THE OFFICIAL POKEMON TWITTER JUST POST?" one Twitter user said in response to the tweet. "I COULD'VE BEEN MAKING SOME OF THESE SANDWICHES WITH ONLY 1 HERBA MYSTICA?!!?!" another fan said, now regretting every sandwich they've ever made.

Others have said it feels like Mr. Krabs has just revealed the Krabby Patty secret formula from SpongeBob SquarePants. "The way they just GAVE us the Shiny Krabby Pattie secret formula," another fan said, "Why’d this take so long to post to the website?" A few users have criticized the guide, suggesting that it could stop Scarlet and Violet players from replaying the game.

Interestingly, this guide comes not too long after the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC seemed to have ramped up the Shiny rate. There's not much to go off here, but several players reported encountering a lot more Shiny Pokemon than before the first part of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero expansion was released last year. 

Sick of Shiny hunting? Find out what else you should be on the lookout for with our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Legendaries guide. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at 12DOVE before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.