Pokemon Scarlet & Violet player accidentally saves themselves from horrific Shiny fail
The Pokemon CompanyA lucky Scarlet & Violet trainer accidentally prevented a major Shiny Pokemon fail thanks to an overlooked ability.
The Pokemon series has plenty of unique abilities for different monsters, with Scarlet & Violet introducing even more to the mainline games.
Some abilities are incredibly useful in battle, like Intimidate, while others are invaluable outside of battle. For example, Flame Body is a must-have for those who love hatching Eggs.
There are even abilities that can prevent disaster, as one trainer discovered after they nearly lost a rare Shiny Pokemon thanks to the move Explosion.
A Reddit user named ‘RedAlaska21’ shared a heart-pounding Shiny Forretress encounter. After failing to catch the Shiny in a Ball, the Forretress used the move Explosion.
Thankfully, the trainer decided to lead with Swampert, which had its Hidden Ability Damp. The OP didn’t even realize they had the ability and said, “When I tell you, I screamed… The worst part was that I also forgot my Swampert’s ability.”
While the clip cut off before the end of the battle, the trainer confirmed they caught the Shiny Forretress through a screenshot in the comments.
The OP confirmed it was “pure luck” that they had brought their Swampert along, which ended up saving them a lot of heartache.
Damp is a very niche ability in the series, as its sole purpose is to prevent Pokemon from using Self-Destruct, Explosion, Mind Blown, and Misty Explosion. In total, eight Pokemon have Damp as a standard ability, while 12 have it as a Hidden Ability.
Shiny hunters that know Explosion is the bane of their existence, the move is rare enough to take many by surprise.
Of course, Shiny Pokemon that know self-damaging moves are also nerve-wracking to fight. “Earlier I caught a Shiny Rellor and I had a mini heart attack when it knew take down… luckily my False Swipe only brought it to like half health but if it had killed itself I would be kicking myself over it forever,” said one trainer.
Instances like these just go to show how some underappreciated Pokemon abilities can unexpectedly save the day.