Proving the universe has favorites, Pokemon Blue player accidentally catches a shiny legendary they couldn't even see: "Actually in disbelief"

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Shinies have just a 1/8192 chance of appearing, but this catch is even rarer

Moltres flies onto the screen in the Pokemon anime
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

A YouTuber has posted a clip of himself accidentally catching a shiny Moltres in Pokemon Blue. We say "accidentally," as the game being completely monochrome made him unaware. That is, until he transferred the legendary bird to Pokemon Crystal, the first game in the series in full color, where he could discover his rare catch. Needless to say, he was delighted.

Posting a clip to Twitter, the Pokemon player, who goes by the handle RaidAway on YouTube, can be seen catching a Moltres in a copy of Pokemon Blue. In the thread, he claims that he is playing the game on his computer via an Epilogue GB Operator, which allows people to plug in their Game Boy cartridges to play them on PC.

He then says he transferred the Moltres to Pokemon Crystal where he is collecting a living dex. This is when you try to catch one of every Pokemon in a certain game, as you can't catch all 251 Pokemon in Crystal alone, you have to play other games in the series if you want to catch 'em all

Checking the Moltres for the first time in Pokemon Crystal, RaidAway could see that it was, in fact, shiny. In these games, there is a 1/8192 chance that a Pokemon is a different color. How Crystal determines if a monochromatic Pokemon from Red or Blue should be shiny is a bit complicated, so strap in.

When a Pokemon spawns in generations 1 and 2, the game randomly generates a number between 0 and 15 for each of its stats. This value is hidden within that 'mons data, and cannot be seen by the player. If it rolls a 10 for its Speed, Defense, and Special stat, and a 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, or 15 for its Attack stat, then it will show up in a generation 2 game as a shiny.

So while you can't tell that a Pokemon caught in Red, Blue, or Yellow is shiny by looking at it, you will be able to tell that it's special as soon as you trade it forward to Gold, Silver, or Crystal. As not everyone moves their Pokemon around, it's likely that there are thousands of shiny Pokemon locked away in green-scale cartridges all over the world.

By trading it forward, RaidAway has not only become part of a small elite club who has caught a shiny Pokemon in generation 1, but also part of an even smaller, more elite club who has a generation 1 shiny legendary. There is only one of each legendary Pokemon in the first generation of games, and you have to save before trading, meaning you only have one shot per save file.

If you want to give another try at catching Moltres, you have to delete your save, start all over, and make it to the last area of the game, Victory Road, in order to earn yourself just one more shot. RaidAway sums it up best in a comment that simply says, "actually in disbelief."

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George Young
George Young
Freelance News Writer

Freelance writer, full-time PlayStation Vita enthusiast, and speaker of some languages. I break up my days by watching people I don't know play Pokemon pretty fast.

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