The Pokemon community was stunned after YouTuber CandyEvie revealed it had taken over seven years to find a Shiny Pokemon. The dedicated player finally caught the rare variant nearly a decade later.
Ever since its introduction as a mechanic in 1998’s Gold & Silver, Shiny Pokemon have become the crown jewel for any hardcore Trainer. Each generation, players will grind hundreds of hours to find the alternate color variants of their favorite ‘mon.
YouTuber CandyEvie took this dedication to a whole new level when she revealed it took her seven years to finally catch a Shiny Sentret in Fire Red. The content creator was overjoyed after finally stumbling upon the rare encounter a decade in the making.
Pokemon player spends years hunting Shiny Pokemon
In 2014, the creator embarked on the hunt in 2004’s Fire Red & Leaf Green. “I went mad. I would Shiny hunt non-stop while listening to music, while watching anime. Sometimes when even revising for school tests. Nothing was going to stop me. But the encounters kept piling up, until 10, 000 [encounters], 20,000,” she said. Despite going over triple the Shiny odds, the Pokemon fan eventually found a Shiny — except it was a Meowth.
Despite Sentret having a 30% spawn rate, the YouTuber managed to get a Shiny of every other Pokemon in the area instead. She even got multiples of the same ones. After getting 10 ‘mon that weren’t Sentret she gave up. “It was too much for my 15-year-old brain. I’m finished.” CandyEvie then took a year off from searching before resuming her hunt. Unfortunately, she found herself empty handed again. “At this point I think I just resigned myself to my fate which was that I was never going to find a Shiny Sentret.”
After multiple more attempts, the content creator finally gave up for five years. World events in 2021 had her reflect back on her quest from her childhood. “I realized I still had a chapter of my life I needed to resolve. So earlier this year I would just do that,” she said. Seven years after first starting, the Pokemon Trainer finally caught a Sentret on March 9 while streaming live on Twitch. “Seven years you guys! Seven years! I’m about to lose it!” she told her viewers during the broadcast.
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According to the Poketuber, her hunt for the rare Gen II ‘mon all started with a dream she had when she was 15 years old which she tweeted out in 2013. “Just woke up from possibly the most bizarre dream ever. I lost a shiny Sentret, and then it started raining chocolate,” the social media post from years ago read.
Just woke up from possibly the most bizarre dream ever.I lost a shiny Sentret, and then it started raining chocolate
— Luvie/CandyEvie (@CandyEevee) December 13, 2013
What originally started out as a simple quest turned into a nearly decade-long journey. “It was weird enough to stick in my mind [at the time]. I came to a conclusion, I’m gonna find this Sentret. I have to,” she explained to viewers.
If nothing else, the triumphant story is one many Trainers can relate to. After all, we’ve all been guilty of spending an insane amount of hours trying to catch Shiny characters. However, CandyEvie’s story may go down as one of the most dedicated examples in Pokemon history.