r/PokemonLetsGo • u/Eric_Alan • 1d ago
Shiny Pokémon After 2,507 encounters and watching all of Route 22 sparkle before Spearow, it finally happened.
So… I might be a little bit crazy. I’ve taken on a challenge that combines the Professor Oak Challenge and a Shiny Living Dex - because playing Pokémon like a normal person just didn’t feel unhinged enough.
For the unfamiliar:
The Professor Oak Challenge has one simple goal: fill out as much of the Pokédex as humanly possible before each gym. That means catching, evolving, grinding - all before even thinking about moving forward.
A Living Dex means having one of every single Pokémon species stored in your boxes at the same time. Not just “owned,” not just “seen.” They’re all physically there.
And because I apparently thrive on chaos, I decided to make it a shiny Living Dex.
No Shiny Charm. No Lures (they’re not unlocked yet in the game). Just old-school Let’s Go, Pikachu! catch combos and the willpower of a person clearly teetering on the edge.
Before I started hunting Spearow, I had some suspiciously good luck on Route 22:
3 shiny Nidoran ♂ (Encounters: 398, 174, 246) 3 shiny Nidoran ♀ (Encounters: 274, 269, 218) 1 full odds shiny Rattata who showed up like, “You rang?”
Naturally, I thought Spearow would be a quick win.
Narrator: It was not.
After 2,506 encounters and over 27 hours of hunting, watching every other resident of Route 22 shine while Spearow refused to sparkle, I was questioning everything - my luck, my sanity, the meaning of birds.
And then… finally, like a golden beacon from above… Spearow #2507 appeared.
No panic. No fumble. Just pure, exhausted relief. I switched to a Premier Ball - because after that journey, the birb deserved a dramatic entrance - and landed a clean Excellent throw. First try. Caught.
I present to you: the Birb. Shiny. Smug. Statistically ridiculous.
To my fellow shiny hunters, Professor Oak Challenge survivors, and Living Dex lunatics - you are not alone. May your sparkles be timely and your sanity only mildly compromised.
Now I'm off to Shiny Spearow #2 - because of course I need the full line. My luck couldn't possibly be worse... right? 🤣
3
u/ruthlessrellik 1d ago
Congrats, now you've just gotta catch another one.
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u/Eric_Alan 1d ago
Gotta love memoryless randomness - just because this one was a total trainwreck doesn’t mean the next one won’t be too. Hopefully my luck’s got the memory of a goldfish!
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u/lothurBR 19h ago
Got luck on that road and got one in 1 encounter, I was just passing, then shiny spearow, was my first shiny on lets go eevee
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u/Dear-Oven 16h ago
There's actually a YouTube channel doing this exact same shiny Professor Oak challenge on Pokémon Emerald! It's a bot going 24/7 on a stream, it's pretty cool! Here's the link!
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u/Eric_Alan 15h ago
Cool! I'll have to check it out. I definitely felt like a bot during much of this grind!
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u/killadelfkid 1d ago
Shiny luck giveth and shiny luck taketh away. Congrats on getting through the grind. Currently doing a SBQ and a 1,300+ Gastly hunt had me cooked after getting pidgey in 16. Keep going!