How's it going. What I've got here for you today is a true story of me playing Pokemon X/Y, with a little dramatization, of course. The idea for this came from reading "A Shiny Experience" by Sheeplion, but that story made me think back to something that happened to me on October 18th, 2014. Basically, Sheeplion's story depicts finding a shiny Geodude, only for it to... you know. In my case, it was a shiny Graveler. What will happen? We shall see.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Never have, never will.

The cave was freezing, but I paid no heed, the intensity of my training session blotting out all other distractions. For all I cared, the only things that mattered were myself, my Mawile, and what was beginning to feel like a never ending stream of opponents.

I was training my Mawile, in order to teach it Play Rough, one of the most important moves it could learn. It was slow going; we were only fighting in Victory Road, and the Pokemon there didn't reward you with many experience points. Still, the end was in sight; just a couple more levels until we could learn the move we so desperately needed.

After frantically pedaling in furious circles on my bike, the familiar transition to a wild Pokemon battle began. I was so used to it, I didn't even bother to look at my opponent, as I could tell by the silhouette it was a Graveler. Just as I was about to issue a command, however, my eyes nearly bulged out of my skull.

This particular Graveler wasn't the normal dull gray the species was known for. This one had more of a gold color to it.

It was a shiny.

All thoughts of battle and conflict immediately ceased in my mind. The only thing I was capable of thinking of for the first few minutes was... amazement.

I had never encountered a shiny before. Sure, I caught the red Gyarados, but that barely counts. This was completely different. It wasn't scripted to happen.

And yet, there we were.

When I finally was able to think rationally, I surveyed the situation. There's a shiny Graveler in front of me. My Mawile is the same level. However, because it was an Adamant natured 252 Atk EV 31 Atk IV Mawile, I couldn't risk attacking, even without mega evolving. None of that mattered in any event, because a shiny Graveler meant one thing:

Explosion.

I had a nearly impossible choice to make. I did not have any Pokemon with the ability Damp (which would prevent the use of Explosion or Self-Destruct), nor did I have anything that could disable the move somehow. I needed to capture it on the first turn; I couldn't risk giving it even a single opportunity to use Explosion.

As I rummaged through my bag, I looked at my supply of Pokeballs; I did not have any Quick Balls on me, which would give me an excellent chance to capture it. The only thing I had were a few Ultra Balls and the Master Ball.

"Oh boy."

I had to make a final decision. Theoretically, there was a chance I could capture it in the Ultra Ball without damaging it on the first turn, but it was exceedingly unlikely; after all, the Graveler was level 58. The only other option was the Master Ball.

I went over the pros and cons in my head. Obviously, using the Master Ball would mean that I wouldn't have it available for an emergency, but... isn't this exactly the kind of thing you save the Master Ball for? I had already captured all of the available legendaries, and even if I were to encounter another shiny, chances are it wouldn't have a 25% chance of destroying itself.

I made my decision.

I threw the Master Ball.

...

...

...

*Click*

I looked at the spot where I threw the ball. Inside was my first shiny. It probably had garbage IV's. It probably had a bad nature, and I knew I would never use it. And yet I decided to use my only Master Ball on it.

Worth it.

And there we go. So yes, I had a slightly happier ending.

I had never encountered a wild shiny, nor had I ever hatched one up until that point, so it was basically do or die for me. Unfortunately, it just HAD to be a Graveler, which is notorious for using Explosion on the first turn in the wild. Still, I didn't have any way to guarantee it wouldn't use Explosion, and the Master Ball was the only thing I had that would capture it with 100% certainty (or 99.999999999999999999999999%).

So I used it. Nice.

Well, that's about it, really. Have a nice day.