Scarlet and Violet players demand changes to ‘misleading’ Shiny Pokémon stat that keeps confusing everyone

Shiny hunting has become a lot easier in recent Pokémon games, but Scarlet and Violet players would like to see a change to a simple stat that shouldn’t be so misleading.

With an open-world setting in Scarlet and Violet, it feels as though a Shiny Pokémon could pop up at any moment, and those odds can be boosted with Mass Outbreaks, a Shiny Charm, a Shiny sandwich, or all of the above. This might encourage you to keep an eye out for any rare Shinies that appear throughout your adventure. I know I’ve accidentally stumbled upon a few Shinies while traveling or EV training, and I’d hate to know how many I might’ve missed on screen or in battle if I wasn’t paying attention.

Well, if you check your player profile, there’s actually a counter for “Shiny Pokémon Battled.” From the label, you might assume this keeps track of every single wild Shiny Pokémon you’ve encountered in battle. And, generally speaking, most players would attempt to catch every Shiny Pokémon they encounter. So when the “Shiny Pokémon Battled” counter says you’ve “battled” a few Shinies you don’t recall battling, you might freak out and think you’ve missed multiple Shiny encounters. That’s exactly what happened to one player in an April 18 Reddit thread.

Thankfully, other players were quick to clarify the counter has a misleading name. Rather than counting all of your battles, it serves as a way to keep track of how many Shiny species you’ve seen—even if it’s not in battle. This includes any Shiny Pokémon you’ve obtained through other methods like transferring, trading, evolution, or Mystery Gift. The counter will not, however, include the same species. So it’s very possible the number of “Shiny Pokémon Battled” will not match the exact number of Shiny Pokémon in your possession.

I went ahead and checked this for myself. According to my Pokémon profile, my Shiny counter is at 10, but I have 11 in my box. Of those 11, I caught seven in battle, one was traded to me, and three were via Mystery Gift. I happen to have two Shiny Finizen, which means one is excluded from the misleading counter. But if I evolved one into Palafin, the counter should go up to 11 because that would be a new Shiny species for me.

So yeah, the whole “Shiny Pokémon Battled” label is confusing and not worded well, and players would like it to be renamed in the future because it’s still a nice feature to have. Players have suggested clearer wording like “Shiny forms seen,” “Shinies registered,” or “Shiny Pokémon encountered.”

Honestly, any of these ideas would be better than what it is now.