A sea of Nintendo handhelds, a crowd of locked-in Pokemon players, and enthusiasm to rival the crowds watching the main events that folks generally come to a huge Pokemon tournament to watch – I've never seen a shiny hunting event like this before, and unexpectedly taking part in it has given me a newfound appreciation for a community I've always sat on the outskirts of.
When attending the Pokemon Europe International Championships this year, I had a mission – watch VGC caster Charlie Merriman's retro shiny hunting challenge in person. It's starting to become a bit of a tradition now after its first appearance at one of the previous North America International Championships, bringing fans together to look for rare, sparkly Pokemon with alternate color palettes as a group, for one glorious hour of challenging those 1/8,192 odds.
