“Pokemon Blue Player Stumbles Upon Invisible Shiny Legendary, Left in Shock”

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A YouTuber recently shared a clip of himself unexpectedly catching a shiny Moltres in Pokémon Blue. The term “accidentally” fits since the game’s monochrome graphics kept him unaware of his rare find—until he transferred the legendary bird to Pokémon Crystal, the first game in the series to feature full color, where he could finally appreciate his catch. His excitement was palpable.

In a clip posted on Twitter, the player, known as RaidAway on YouTube, showcases the moment he catches a Moltres in Pokémon Blue. He mentions that he’s playing on his computer using an Epilogue GB Operator, which allows Game Boy cartridges to be played on PC.

“I ACCIDENTALLY FOUND A SHINY MOLTRES IN POKEMON BLUE TRANSFERRING TO CRYSTAL. THIS IS THE MOST INSANE SHINY EVER..” pic.twitter.com/cSqFR4wRN5

After transferring the Moltres to Pokémon Crystal, where he’s working on completing a living dex, he realized he had a shiny. In these games, the odds of encountering a shiny Pokémon are 1 in 8192. The process for determining if a monochrome Pokémon from Red or Blue is shiny is a bit intricate.

When a Pokémon spawns in generations 1 and 2, the game randomly generates a number between 0 and 15 for each of its stats, which is hidden from the player. If it rolls a 10 for Speed, Defense, and Special stats, and a 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, or 15 for its Attack stat, it will appear as shiny in a generation 2 game.

While you can’t visually identify a shiny Pokémon caught in Red, Blue, or Yellow, you’ll know it’s special once you trade it to Gold, Silver, or Crystal. Since not everyone transfers their Pokémon, there are likely thousands of shiny Pokémon trapped in green-scale cartridges worldwide.

By trading it forward, RaidAway has not only joined a small group of players who have caught a shiny Pokémon in generation 1 but also an even more exclusive club of those who possess a shiny legendary from that era. Each legendary Pokémon in the first generation is unique, and you must save before trading, giving you only one chance per save file.

If you want to try catching Moltres again, you’ll need to delete your save, restart, and make your way to Victory Road for another shot. RaidAway perfectly sums it up in a comment: “actually in disbelief.”

Pokémon Pokopia takes a page from Minecraft by offering persistent private servers with unlimited member caps, but you’ll need to “swap in and out” since it only supports four players at a time.