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Pokemon Legends: Z-A Keeps 10 Ultra-Rare Shinies On The Map—Lose Them Only If You Knock Them Out Or Spook Them

written by Leo Hartwell

October 19, 2025 1:49 pm

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Keeps 10 Ultra-Rare Shinies On The Map—Lose Them Only If You Knock Them Out Or Spook Them — Image credit: Legion-Media

High drama, low risk: miss the shot, lose the mission — even then, you can reload a save.

Shiny hunting in Pokemon Legends: Z-A might finally be less of a patience test. A small, very welcome tweak quietly changes how shinies behave once they show up, and it should cut down on the panic and the grind.

The new shiny behavior, in plain English

Data miner Anubis flagged a change on Twitter on October 16, 2025: when a shiny spawns in Z-A, the game effectively 'locks' that specific shiny in place until you actually go after it. In other words, if you spot one and realize you are out of Pokeballs, you can walk away, restock, and come back. It will still be there waiting for you.

Everything else about finding shinies is basically what you expect from recent games. This is less about the hunt itself and more about what happens once a shiny appears.

This does not stop you from scaring away a shiny Pokemon. I recommend manually saving the moment you see one. If you fail to catch it, try the backup save on the title screen (Up + X + B).

Caveats and tips

You can still spook a shiny if you barge in. Stealth still matters.
Do a manual save as soon as you spot the shiny. If you blow the catch, you can reload. You can also try the backup save combo on the title screen (Up + X + B) to see if it is still there.
There appears to be a cap: the game only keeps up to 10 shinies active on the map at once. If you let more shinies spawn while you ignore the ones already out there, one you were eyeing can get pushed out and disappear.

Bottom line: less fear of losing a shiny to a random despawn while you sprint for supplies, more control over your hunt. It is not a guaranteed catch, but it is a smart quality-of-life move that should make the process a lot less tedious.

Separate but related to the community chatter: fans are currently united on one thing about Pokemon Legends: Z-A — laughing at Mega Starmie. I mean, what is that.