A vehement Pokemon Go player recently learned a valuable lesson after encountering and failing to catch a golden yellow Shiny Sableye with laughable CP.
Pokemon Go is a unique entry in the franchise as almost every Pokemon you encounter has a % chance to feel. The only exceptions are event encounters and Shiny Raid Pokemon.
This exemption, sadly, does not apply to Shiny Pokemon that trainers encounter in the wild. While it’s not incredibly common for Pokemon to flee, it still happens from time to time.
Unfortunately for Reddit user Minimimik, tragedy struck when a Shiny Sableye dipped out of the encounter after only one ball throw. However, other trainers believe this could have been avoided if Minimimik hadn’t made one fatal error.
Failed Shiny Sableye teaches valuable lesson
On August 18, Minimimik would post this devastating news to the r/pokemongo subreddit. They stated, “I used an ultra ball and golden razz berry with a normal throw but a 93 CP Sableye manages to escape and run after the first attempt”
They then provided screenshots showing the encounter and proof that it ran away. This was followed by another screenshot of a stats calculator that claimed they should have had a 98% chance of catching the Sabeleye and only a 7% of it fleeing had the catch failed.
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While this seems like incredibly bad luck for OP, other users had different theories. A large number of comments pointed out that Pokemon Go has a speed lock. If a user is going over 50mph there is a far more likely chance that Pokemon you encounter (via incense) will break out and flee.
This is to dissuade trainers from playing while driving and to dampen the experience for spoofers. One user claimed they were on a road trip during Starly Community Day and they weren’t able to catch anything while driving despite also using an Ultra Ball and Golden Razz.
There is sound reasoning for this speed lock, but various users also took to the comments to complain about playing while riding as a passenger. The app is rendered useless for passengers, and there’s no way to prove you aren’t driving while traveling at high speeds.
Niantic likely won’t make changes to Pokemon Go’s speed lock as it serves as a layer of prevention for distracted driving. And Minimimik’s story should teach players about the dangers of encountering Pokemon while on the road.