Pokemon Scarlet & Violet trainer chases down sprinting Shiny in hilarious encounter

Philip Trahan
pokemon scarlet and violet iron valiant header

A Pokemon Scarlet and Violet trainer showed off a hilarious encounter they had with a Shiny Iron Valiant that sprinted away from them full tilt in Area Zero.

One of the biggest past times in the mainline series of Pokemon games, including Scarlet & Violet, is Shiny hunting.

Hunting for Shiny Pokemon is exciting for a variety of different reasons, from the inherent rarity of the encounter and the time and dedication it takes to actually encounter a Shiny.

However, sometimes Shiny hunting doesn’t go exactly as planned, as one player discovered after they encounter a Shiny Iron Valiant who desperately tried to elude capture by sprinting away into the depths of Area Zero.

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet shows off hilarious Shiny chase

A post on the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet subreddit showed off the amusing encounter, with a thread titled, “Why Are You Running? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?!”

The OP attached a video of the Shiny encounter, which showed them falling down a ledge only to land right in front of a Shiny Iron Valiant. The trainer immediately goes to save the game before actually battling the rare Pokemon.

However, while the trainer is saving, the Iron Valiant attempts to initiate a battle. Because the trainer was in a menu, the Iron Valiant walks right through them at full sprint, but instead of stopping the Paradox Pokemon continues on.

After finally saving, the trainer desperately attempts to catch up to the sprinting Shiny, finally battling it after hopping back on their Miraidon.

Other fans on the subreddit enjoyed seeing the funny encounter, with many making jokes about the Iron Valiant’s actions. “It played tag. You can tell by how it tackled the Miraidon and ran, and only stopped when you tackled it,” said one trainer.

Another player said “It knew once you saved the game it’s a** was yours lol,” while another fan joked the Iron Valiant knew it was “on the brink of despawning or something.”

Regardless, many trainers were happy to see the OP catch the speedy Paradox Pokemon in the end. It just goes to show that players should always be on their toes when traveling through the Paldea region.

About The Author

Philip is a Staff Writer at Dexerto based in Louisiana, with expertise in Pokemon, Apex Legends, and general gaming industry news. His first job in the games industry was as a reviewer with NintendoEverything.com while attending college. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication focusing on Multimedia Journalism, he worked with GameRant.com for nearly two years before joining Dexerto. When he's not writing he's usually tearing through some 80+ hour JRPG. You can contact him at philip.trahan@dexerto.com.