Pokemon Sword & Shield players heartbroken after devs forget to Shiny lock Urshifu

Zackerie Fairfax
pokemon sword shield urshifu

Pokemon Sword & Shield players were able to battle Urshifu in Max Raid Dens for a limited time, and some players were unlucky enough to find a Shiny uncatchable Legendary.

Game Freak introduced Urshifu – and his first form Kubfu – in the Pokemon Sword & Shield’s first expansion: Isle of Armor. Once Again, players could not Shiny hunt the Legendary because of the game’s code.

Some players were unhappy with Game Freak’s decision to Shiny lock yet another Legendary in Sword & Shield. This left no legitimate way for players to get a Shiny Urshifu.

Now, two years after the release of the Isle of Armor, Pokemon Sword & Shield players can encounter Urshifu in Max Raid Dens, but it can’t be caught. And thanks to a blunder on Game Freak’s part, some players found an uncatchable Shiny Urshifu.

Urshifu is a Legendary Pokemon introduced in the first Pokemon Sword & Shield DLC.

Players disappointed by Shiny uncatchable Urshifu

The event started on June 16, and Twitter user mattyoukhana_ was quick to point out that Game Freak “forgot to Shiny lock” the uncatchable Legendary. Urshifu would remain unlocked for several hours before a fix would be issued.

Despite the odds of finding a Shiny Urshifu being the base 1/4096, some players were unlucky enough to find one. Users Anubis, 8BitKingGamer, and asteroidera each shared screenshots of their Shiny Urshifu encounters.

The majority of players were not happy with this oversight, while a few users thought finding an uncatchable Shiny was still pretty neat. Even 8BitKingGamer stated finding it was “still pretty cool though.”

Others, like asteroidera, were left in pain knowing they had no choice but to knock out the Shiny Legendary. “I didn’t even notice at first but then I saw the claws were red… aargh this hurts.”

Game Freak would go on to lock Urshifu’s Shiny form in the early hours of June 17, but it was already too late for some players.

Trainers demanded that Game Freak compensate those affected by holding a Shiny Urshifu Raid weekend. While Shiny Zeraora was distributed via a Max Raid event, there aren’t currently any signs they’ll do the same for kung-fu Legendary.

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About The Author

Zackerie is a former Senior Writer for Dexerto who covered a wide variety of games and entertainment. He has a degree in Creative Writing and was previously the editor of The LaRue County News. Zackerie switched to games media in 2020 writing for outlets such as Screen Rant, Fortnite INTEL, and Charlie INTEL.