Pokemon Legends Arceus could make Shiny Pokemon harder to catch than ever

A new Pokemon Legends Arceus leak has revealed major details about how the game will handle Shiny Pokemon. According to the leaker, catching them could be the most difficult that it’s ever been in the entire series.

With just under two months out from release, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding Pokemon Legends Arceus. Outside a handful of trailers, we don’t actually know much about the single-player RPG’s features.

A prominent insider claims to have leaked new details about Game Freak’s upcoming project. According to the leaker, hunting Shiny Pokemon will be the trickiest that it’s ever been in the series due to a new mechanic.

Game Freak / The Pokemon Company

Players may need to take extra steps to catch Shiny Pokemon in Legends Arceus.

Pokemon Legends Arceus makes Shiny Pokemon harder to get?

Ever since the feature’s introduction in Gen II, Shiny Pokemon have always been difficult to catch. With a spawn rate as low as 1 out of 4096 encounters, dedicated Trainers have needed to sink hours into each title to catch the incredibly rare variants.

• Read More: Pokemon Legends Arceus’ Pokedex may have leaked

According to popular insider Riddler Khu, they may get even more difficult in Pokemon Legends Arceus. In a December 5 tweet, the leaker responded to fans questions and claimed that Pokemon will show up Shiny in the overworld like in Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee.

Where things get interesting is the leaker’s follow up response, which added, “[By the way], some species are alert, will run away if disturbed.” The account claimed that certain ‘mon will flee immediately if players engage them.

If true, this means that if player manages to find a Shiny (which is already insanely low odds), they might not even get a chance to catch it as it will instantly flee.

The insider didn’t elaborate further what this could mean. However, press materials for Pokemon Legends Arceus has mentioned that certain Pokemon can only be caught by sneaking up on them or using items like Smoke Bombs or Heavy Balls.

Of course, take all this with a major grain of salt. Even though the leaker has a long history of being correct, it’s still speculation until Game Freak confirms it.