Pokémon Scarlet And purple's second wave of DLC, The Indigo Diskreleased today (December 14), and while it's causing a lot of excitement online, players are also warning others that the new 'Synchro Machine' feature could cause you to miss out on ultra-rare shiny Pokémon.
For those unfamiliar, a Shiny Pokémon is an extremely unusual, sparkly variant of a Pokémon with an alternate color palette. They are not stronger than regular monsters, but their rarity (in Scarlet And purple(the basic chance of finding one is 1 in 4096) makes them incredibly exciting finds. And hey, who doesn't want a silver Eevee or gold Magikarp?
In Scarlet And purple, shiny Pokémon appear in the world just like any other creature – players just have to keep their eyes open if they want to catch them – but one feature that's always highlighted when one of the sparkly guys is on screen is the automatic combat function . When players send their own Pokémon out to battle everything on the field, they refuse to take out any shinies so you can catch them safely.
However, that same idea has apparently not been applied to the Synchro Machine feature The Indigo Disc. In the latest expansion, players can use the Synchro Machine to roam the world as their own Pokémon, battling others and exploring as they please. It's a brilliant idea, but hapless players have already noted on social media that it's possible to encounter shinies in this mode, and if you do, you can defeat them if you're not paying attention or get too close. Moreover, even if you Doing If you notice in time, others have reported that ending sync often places the player too far away from the shiny in question, causing it to despawn.
“WARNING FOR SHINY HUNTERS. (In) Synchro Mode – your Pokémon WILL DEFEAT SHINING. I just learned this the hard way. I only noticed it was sparkling when I saw the gray eyes, and when you get close to a Pokémon you battle it,” said Twitter user @shinyycatherine posted.
SHINY FIGHTER Synchro Mode WARNING: Your Pokémon WILL DEFEAT SHINY. I just learned this the hard way. I didn't notice it was shiny until I saw the gray eyes and when you get close to a Pokémon you battle it 🥲 pic.twitter.com/9mqgYn5OVsDecember 14, 2023
Another user reported finding a shiny Scyther, which came out when they exited the mode: “Unfortunately I couldn't get Scyther to stay close enough and he disappeared,” @HiksBR wrote.
Well, here's the result. Unfortunately, I couldn't get Scyther close enough and he disappeared;/What happened at the same time, however, was breathtaking. pic.twitter.com/IZXIaEyCAEDecember 14, 2023
This same despawn problem was flagged by @XenoModswho shared a video of them encountering a shiny Tyrogue, which they were unable to catch.
Are you kidding me #PokemonScarletViolet #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/A9xRUJf4xYDecember 14, 2023
Needless to say, anyone concerned about missing these particularly rare encounters should exercise caution when using the Synchro Machine, as it is currently unknown if this shiny issue could be fixed in a future update.
If you love Pokémon, be sure to check out our rankings of each generation in our best Pokémon games list. You can also find more fantastic games to play on Nintendo switch with our recommendations for the best Nintendo Switch games.