A Pokemon Legends: Arceus fan finds a field full of Voltorbs, and it's their lucky day when they come across a shiny, or so they think. The lovable Electric-type Pokemon are like living landmines that can generate a lot of power, which is why the world of Pokemon often uses them as generators to power electric grids. Similar to other Pokemon games, the chances of encountering a shiny in Pokemon Legends: Arceus are 1 in 4096, which is why watching the opportunity slip away is a real gut punch.
Voltorb is a first-generation Pokemon that feeds on electricity and was first discovered in the plant where the first Poke Balls were invented. According to Voltorb's Pokedex entries, Voltorb has a volatile temperament and will explode if agitated or bumped by the slightest contact. However, that temperament applies mostly to Voltorb found in the Kanto region. The Hisuian Voltorb that can be found in Pokemon Legends: Arceus more resembles older Poke Balls made from Apricorns and are supposed to be friendly and excitable, leading them to cluster around people.
Redditor Zezin96 found out just how excitable they could be. When this player encountered a shiny Voltorb among a group in the field, they tried to make it easier to catch without starting a battle, fearing the self-destruct would one-hit KO it. Unfortunately, as soon as they threw a Sticky Glob at it, the Voltorb aggros and rolls towards the trainer before it immediately uses self-destruct. If that isn't harsh enough luck, the other excitable Voltorb notice what's going on and decide to chain-lock the fallen trainer with self-destructs. The kamikaze attacks hurt, but presumably not as much as Zezin96 missing the opportunity to catch the Voltorb.
The tragedy is that it's possible they could have triggered a battle with the Voltorb and prevented it from disappearing after using self-destruct. Unlike Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, in the overworld of Arceus: Legends, self-destruct removes the Pokemon from play. If it had self-destructed in battle, it would have been reduced to just half HP.
It is possible to increase the chances of finding a shiny by capturing the base form of the Pokemon and leveling it up to 10, which doubles one's chances to 1 in 2048. If a player fully complete a Pokemon's Pokedex perfectly, the odds get even better for finding a particular shiny, becoming 1 in 1024. That chance is still less than one percent, but it's four times as likely as the base rate. It's uncertain if Zezin96 still likes Voltorbs enough anymore to try shiny hunting for them.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now on Nintendo Switch.
