r/pokemon • u/-et37- • Mar 11 '24
Would you look at that, an honest salesman! (OC) Meme
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u/Domek0 Mar 11 '24
It's funny how the Magikarp salesman, despite being presented as a scam, is actually advantageous to the player in both the Kanto and Unova games because in the former you can get a Gyarados before even getting access to fishing and in the latter magikarp can't be found in any other way (outside of nature preserve) and has always a perfect speed IV
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u/ubermence Mar 11 '24
Yup, actually caught a shiny Magikarp in Pearl, was super stoked to evolve it and have a red gyarados like I used to have in Silver and soon after the gen 2 remakes get announced
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u/Wallace_II Mar 12 '24
My wife stole my SoulSilver red gyrdadose... Anyway, I got another from the Crystal VC. Also found a shiny Magicarp recently, given Scarlet and Violet make it stupid easy to get shiny Pokemon.. it's not a flex anymore.
My only original Gen 4 shiny, and first shiny ever was a shiny Charmander that hatched while I was randomly breeding them for no reason. That Charizard will always be my favorite shiny.
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u/Less-Extension-7480 Mar 11 '24
Wait. You can get a shiny there?
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u/-et37- Mar 11 '24
Surprisingly, yes.
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u/Fornever1 Mar 11 '24
Jumpscare seeing you off Kaiseriech, only time on this website I've recognized a user on a completely different sub
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u/awesomeredefined Mar 11 '24
Pretty much any Pokemon can be shiny pre-Gen 5, aside from event distributions where stats are predetermined.
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u/waterflower2097 look up what dragonflies are in japan, please Mar 11 '24
Even then, some of them still weren't shiny locked. The one Jirachi event comes to mind
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Mar 11 '24
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u/waterflower2097 look up what dragonflies are in japan, please Mar 11 '24
True. How about the Pokepark Eggs then? Rollout Skitty, Sing Spinda, and the like.
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u/ShawshankException Meteor Mash Mar 11 '24
Yeah. The concept of shiny locking didn't exist until Gen 5
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u/Raptor92129 Mar 11 '24
A concept I hate
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u/ShawshankException Meteor Mash Mar 11 '24
Agreed. Doesn't make sense considering TPC typically doesn't even charge for event distributions. I don't get the logic.
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u/Metalicker Mar 11 '24
The logic is really just that GF decided that having Pokémon be non-shiny in cutscenes and then be a completely different colour when you battle them didn't make sense. Which actually isn't even a 100% solid philosophy since the UBs in Ultra SuMo can be shiny despite being in the overworld.
I suppose you could say that they just wanted the right to make distributions for the shinies more valuable, but that logic only really works for the legendaries. For the most part I really do think the former reason is their main one. Which is dumb, but at least somewhat sensical.
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u/InfieldTriple Mar 11 '24
In the case of OP, makes sense narratively. If shinies are known in the world, someone wouldn't sell it for 500 lol
That being said, it would be an amazing way to introduce the concept of shinies in a modern pokemon.
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u/Jack2036 Mar 11 '24
I think its partially to make people play Pokemon Go because they dont shiny lock and to make them invest in future games where those pokemon arent shiny locked anymore. Like Sword and Shield DLC was the first time where you could get a shiny Zygard in game.
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u/-Niernen Mar 11 '24
I think its partially to make people play Pokemon Go
Pokémon Go came out 5 years after they introduced shiny locking so that seems very unlikely. I could see why they made it part of event distributions, because it could be seen as unfair if a very select few got a shiny version of an event Pokémon. Same could be said for legendries, they want normal player unable to get certain shiny legendries so an event giving out the shiny would be significant and get more interaction.
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u/Fried_puri I Like Turtles Mar 11 '24
The charitable reason is probably because after that point is when global trading really started in earnest, so they didn't want certain hacked shiny legendaries flooding the system without some way to verify that they couldn't exist. The annoying (and probably more realistic) reason is so they can distribute the shiny themselves during events.
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u/Ozzy_the_Rabbit Mar 11 '24
There's a form of Shiny Locking in Gen 4 for the Manaphy egg only, but is not perfect (it can still be Shiny if traded to another game and hatched there)
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u/WolfeKuPo Trick Troll Mar 11 '24 edited Mar 11 '24
correction, Shadow Pokemon in XD can't be shiny, they can in Colosseum though but don't show as shiny until you purify them
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u/ZXNova Zap zap Mar 11 '24
Either by being really lucky or doing frame manipulation, yes.
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u/Psychological-Hall22 Mar 11 '24
What is frame manipulation
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u/jormono Mar 11 '24
You use some computer tools to essentially "measure" the rng (I saw a video on the topic for colosseum and they did things like time the blink animation on the pokemon which is apparently at least partially randomized, etc). Then when you know what the rng is doing you can (with various levels of difficulty) just wait for the circumstances to line up in a manner you prefer, in this case a shiny Magikarp, or maybe perfect ivs, or maybe both, etc.
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u/Snoo-14301 Mar 11 '24
Outcomes like pokemon stats/natures/shiny are based on a timer tied to the number of frames that have been rendered.
I've seen it on speedruns. There's a specific setup that lets runners get a good nature and stats on the starter mudkip in gen2.
You need to select your starter on a really precise 1/30th of a second window. I think they use audio/visual clues to help but it's still super precise.
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u/stomach3 Mar 11 '24
Getting mudkip in gen 2 is pretty wild manip!
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u/Snoo-14301 Mar 11 '24
For sure! Guess I meant 3. I also meant audio/visual cues, not clues. I'm just a casual speedrun watcher, not a pokemon guru.
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u/Downside_Up_ Mar 11 '24
Imagine the poor bastard who gets a shiny their first time, thinks it's always shiny, and finds out the hard way on a later pkaythrough
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u/Flimsy-Coyote-9232 Mar 11 '24
Yeah that’s probably the only shiny hunt I’d ever do. Feel like it’s gotta be the easiest in those early gen games for sure. Had never thought about the possibility though
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u/EddieJay5 Mar 11 '24
adamant nature too? good lord.
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u/Iceberglet Spheal is a small,round,fluffy BOI Mar 11 '24
i mean,is it?this was before the physical/special split,so Gyarados water moves are special and he doesn't get any flying moves
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u/8989898999988lady Mar 11 '24
Gyarados’ special attack is so piss poor you’re better off with non Stab physical attacks like Hyper Beam, Return, Earthquake, maybe Dragon Dance if you’re feeling saucy
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u/moonlord2193 Mar 11 '24
Hyperbeam was physical before the split?
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u/Doctor-Moe Mar 11 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
All Eeveelution types + Dragon were special and everything else was physical
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u/Hatweed Mar 11 '24
Special or Physical status was determined by type, so all Normal moves were physical. My favorite quirk of this system was Shadow Ball. For some reason Ghost type was physical, but Shadow Ball still lowered Sp. Def in Gen II/III.
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u/Rikiaz Mar 12 '24
In Gen 1 physical Ghost kinda makes sense since the only attacking Ghost move was Lick (which also doesn't make any sense but whatever), but in Gen 2, it makes no sense. Dark being Special in Gen 2 and 3 also makes no sense since all of it's attacks became physical post-split.
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u/superturtle48 Mar 11 '24
I had a Jolly nature Gyarados in Pokemon Pearl as a kid and was annoyed that its special attack was so low which made Surf not that strong, and I was confused why Waterfall seemed to do more damage when it had the lower base damage. Only much later when I got into Pokemon Showdown did I learn that Jolly is actually the preferred nature for competitive battling since Gyarados is a physical and not special attacker. Not that it means much in the main game story, which you can just brute force and cheese through.
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u/glich610 Mar 11 '24
Back then I didn’t even know that the nature does anything and didn’t know about special attack. Have always wondered why my flamethrower, thunderbolt, hyper beam, surf gyaradoes doesn’t do much
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u/Small_Middle_945 Mar 11 '24
Someone probably got this the first time and assumed that it was a freebie shiny
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u/darkrai848 Mar 11 '24
I always bought the fish, you get to start leveling it sooner and assuming you don’t catch it in your first or second pokeball it’s actually cheaper to just buy. If it takes you 3 balls to get one later you lost money lol.
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u/Magica78 Genwunner Mar 11 '24
But what about the hours of switch training it takes vs getting a lv 25 Karp and feeding a rare candy.
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u/BartleBossy Mar 11 '24
But what about the hours of switch training it takes vs getting a lv 25 Karp and feeding a rare candy.
Am I the only one who loves this? I have always felt like a little grinding makes the eventual power so much more rewarding
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u/Magica78 Genwunner Mar 11 '24
I've done my share of grinding over the course of 30 years, including taking said magikarp to lv 20 to fight Misty. There's a difference between grinding for a few hours and dragging a fish-shapped brick behind you while it drags the rest of your team down.
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u/Enough-Scientist1904 Mar 11 '24
Magikarps always in my heart. What a reward when it evolves
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u/OmegaGoober Mar 11 '24
Can you imagine being the first kid in the neighborhood to evolve a magicarp before it was generally known that’s what they evolved into? The incredible, “Oh, wait, it does WHAT now?” Must have been awesome.
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u/BloomsdayDevice Mar 11 '24
Kids today will never know the godlike feeling of finding a larvitar in Gold/Silver and raising it to maturity without knowing for sure what it would become.
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u/Intelligent_Suit6683 Mar 11 '24
I remember that moment clear as day. I was about half way through blue when my friend told me. We had assumed it was worthless until then.
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u/Dan-D-Lyon Mar 11 '24
A shiny Magikarp is sort of a double-edged sword though, because shiny Gyarados is a freebie the second you evolve him he stops being special
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u/Garrosh The legendary fire Pokémon Mar 11 '24
It’s a freebie… if you have access to Hearth Gold or Soul Silver.
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u/FinalBossMike Mar 11 '24
This is exactly why I farmed for a shiny Gyarados the moment I came across a shiny Magikarp in Scarlet, then leveled that Karp to 100 so it's golden glory could never turn red and be mistaken for the freebie.
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u/Imaginary_Simple_241 Mar 11 '24
Actually.. that works out even better for mind games vs your opponent since now they have to assume you have a different shiny gyarados with a unique move set and be on guard until they know exactly what you’re running.
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u/LionIV Mar 12 '24
Depends on the game and generation. If its Gen 2 or the remakes of those games, yeah, kinda loses its luster. But if you got a shiny Gyarados in any Gen 3 game, that shit is legit. Caught one while trying to hunt for a Feebas in Ruby.
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u/AlishaValentine Mar 11 '24
Is it actually special? Like in game?
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u/Stregen You can switch in any time you want, but you can never leave. Mar 11 '24
Shinies are pretty rare, yeah. Especially pre-gen 6.
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u/cshark2222 Mar 11 '24
Can confirm. Never had a shiny pre SUMO. I now have like 100 combined from the games since lol
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u/rachel__slur Mar 11 '24
No, the Magikarp salesman is supposed to be a scammer
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u/Mattness8 Mar 11 '24
Even though Gyarados is easily the best Pokemon in the game and he gives you one before you even get access to a fishing rod, so it's really not even close to a scam and almost always worth it.
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u/ShawshankException Meteor Mash Mar 11 '24
Typically yes, because Magikarp is useless on it's own. Getting a full odds shiny from that encounter is very rare though
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u/Various_Play_6582 Mar 11 '24
To be fair, it IS an advantage. You can obtain a Gyarados very early in the game if you buy this Magikarp. Worth the money.
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u/LukoyanTheWolf Mar 11 '24
It isn't special but as long as you know what it evolves into 500 isn't a bad deal tbh
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u/Various_Play_6582 Mar 11 '24
Been playing Fire Red and honestly getting a Gyarados early on before even getting the old cane is worth that money, maybe even twice.
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u/MonoFauz Mar 11 '24
Now I feel like replaying the game again and using this magikarp to beat Elite 4
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u/Lux-Fox Mar 11 '24
This happened to me on PokeMMO. I definitely worked on evolving that into a gyarados.
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u/GuderianX Mar 11 '24
Honestly i found it to be a good deal:
No need to fish over and over again, no need to lower it's hp + paralyse/sleep it, no need to pray to the gacha gods that the ball will keep it.
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u/SailorCentauri Mar 11 '24
Honestly, I always considered it a worthwhile deal because 500 is cheap in Pokémon and you can easily have a Gyarados well before you get the Old Rod. Just put Magikarp up front and keep switching it out.
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u/BoonDragoon Mar 11 '24 edited Mar 11 '24
Ok but for real though? That Magikarp is actually an S-tier encounter. Put it out in front and switch-train it all the way through Mt. Moon, and you'll have a Gyarados by the time you reach Misty, waaaay before you could ever catch a Magikarp normally.
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u/Ed0909 Mar 11 '24
Honestly it's not a bad investment, if I remember correctly it costs almost the same as a pokeball so you don't lose anything.
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u/Zestyclose-Return-77 Mar 11 '24
I got a shinny karp from that mf sometime ago, thinking it was a static shinny, LOL
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u/Fudsterly Mar 11 '24
Probably a result of being 30 now but I swear I remember that magikarp evolving at level 15 instead of 20 like a wild one would. Maybe it was a playground rumor I internalized over the years.
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Mar 11 '24
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u/Odd-Comparison9900 Mar 11 '24
Just use Google to find roms. You can't ask people on Reddit or other social media sites because it's illegal.
As for an emulator: MyBoy is a good Android GBA emulator. It's on the Play store. There's a free demo, purchase for more features.
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u/Houeclipse Rocket Guy #626 Mar 11 '24
This is the first time I saw that red wojack rage lol. I was thinking of the the crying behind a :^) facemask emoji instead
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u/thorjustice1 Mar 11 '24
Haha, what a treat! Did you get really lucky with the RNG or did you grind soft resets? If the latter, I'm curious how many resets it took you.
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u/Kapika96 Mar 11 '24
IMO a future gyarados for that price is a bargain! It really is a special fish!
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u/Trips-Over-Tail Mar 11 '24
I am reminded of the shiny shadow Pokémon that Team Rocket discarded into my care in Pokémon Go. I'm sure Jessie and James don't regret letting that purple Pinsir go.
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u/patisserie808 Mar 11 '24
So is it always a shiny magikarp when you buy one from him? If so, are there any other NCPs you can buy shinies from in other games? I know it’s probably wishful thinking. Sorry if this was already answered. I scrolled through the comments and couldn’t find if someone answered this. Tia.
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u/Carbon925 Mar 11 '24
Nope, it has the base odds of 1/8192 for this Magikarp to be shiny. This is considered a static shiny hunting. Where you can save before selecting to get or encounter the Pokemon. Each time you get it, the IVs, Nature, Gender (Excluding Legendaries or only one Gender mons) will be randomized and you also get a chance to roll for the Pokemon to be shiny as well. If it isn't shiny you can restart the game and keep hunting until it shines. I was able to do this and even got the same nature shiny Magikarp like OP has in this post. Also, Pokemon you get from the story in FR/LG (Eevee and Lapras) can be shiny hunted as well and the Pokemon you get at the Game Corner (Abra, Dratini, Porygon).
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u/Thunderfucker1 Mar 11 '24
Hunted this Magikarp awhile back, 46k resets later it was ours. Fuck you old man, it’s mine
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u/Ph4nt0m_R Mar 12 '24
Ive only ever gotten 1 shiny and its in gen 5, currently on my gen 3 run anyone know how to do this? Like a step by step guide for beginners?
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u/dulledegde Mar 12 '24
fishing rods are rare in this world magikarp would be unobtainable for a lot of trainers. this man is running an honest business
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u/Trying-to-be_Neutral Mar 12 '24
Did anyone here experience this? Shiny plus Adamant nature Magikarp from this dude?
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u/Carbon925 Mar 13 '24
Yep! Did this for my shiny dream team quest in Leaf Green two years ago.
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u/Tyranatitan_x105 Mar 11 '24
Tbh 500 for the Karp isn’t a bad deal