A glitch has been discovered in Pokemon Legends Z-A that allows players to duplicate Shiny Pokemon.

While duplication glitches have been present in Pokemon games since the very beginning, this new one works specifically with Shiny Pokemon due to the new mechanic that prevents Shiny Pokemon from despawning in Pokemon Legends Z-A.

This mechanic “saves” the Shiny Pokemon at the position that it spawns so that players can come back later to claim it if they miss it somehow. However, this also means that it can be exploited through the following steps:

1. After encountering the Shiny, open the map and drop a pin at the position where the Shiny Pokemon appeared
2. Use a weak Pokemon to goad the Shiny to start attacking you, this will make the Shiny follow your player character
3. While the Shiny is following you, lure it away from its spawn point, once you get far enough away it will stop attacking you and try to go back to its spawn point
4. Ensure that there are no other Pokemon trying to attack you, and then save your game
5. Reload the save, and the Shiny will be at the position it was when you saved the game, away from its spawn point
6. Attack it and lure it even further away, about 80 points away from the pin that you dropped. You should be able to see the pin and the distance you are away from it on the overworld.
7. Once you are far enough away, get the Shiny to stop attacking you, then save the game and reload
8. A copy of the Shiny Pokemon you lured away will appear at its spawn point, meaning there will now be two of the exact same Shiny Pokemon on the map for you to catch

You catch watch a video from AustinJohnPlays demonstrating the glitch in action below:

This method to duplicate Shiny Pokemon is quite involved, and also requires a certain amount of free space to roam, making it challenging to pull off for all Pokemon. That said, it seems likely that the developers might introduce a patch or other countermeasures to stop players from abusing this glitch. Stay tuned for more as it comes.

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