Ryan FitzGerald
Contemporary Literature Period 5
3/21/06
Definition Essay
Shiny Hunter
"Shiny hunter" is not a term that you are going to find in a dictionary. This is an obscure term used to describe obscure people who belong to an obscure group. The only place that this term exists is in the 19,247th thread of a message board called, "PokéCommunity." This thread is called, "The Shiny Hunters Club" and it is where over 200 of the worlds most dedicated "shiny hunters" gather to communicate online. The first thing that you might be wondering is, "What is PokéCommunity?" PokéCommunity (commonly referred to as "PC") is one of the largest Pokémon message boards on the internet. There are nearly 2 million members. The Shiny Hunters Club is only part of this empire; it (like most of the threads at PC) is about Pokémon, more specifically, the collecting of shiny pokémon. If that makes absolutely no sense to you, worry not, because you are about to be treated to the most thorough description of shiny hunters the world has ever seen.
In order to get a firm grasp on what a Shiny Hunter is, it is important that the Pokémon game series is understood. Basically, Pokémon is a video game that was initially released in February of 1996 in Japan by Nintendo. In the games, the hero is on a mission to travel throughout his country collecting and battling pokémon. Pokémon are animated monsters that bear some semblance to real animals. In the games, the player must capture them, raise them, and fight other pokémon with them until they have become the best "Pokémon Trainer" in the nation and have collected all 150 species.
The first games were released on Nintendo's oldest handheld console, GameBoy. GameBoy did not display color, so the first few Pokémon games were colorless. Once Nintendo developed the GameBoy Color, the sequels to the original games could contain colorful pokémon. In these games, the developers decided to incorporate a little extra color; they made it so that there was a one in 8,192 chance that each pokémon the player encountered would have an alternate color scheme. For example, a Pokémon Trainer could be searching for wild pokémon around the Ruins of Alph and encounter a wild Wooper (a blue fish pokémon that can walk on land), but there would be a one in 8,192 chance that this Wooper would not be blue, rather it would be purple (and it would sparkle). The pokémon with the alternate color schemes are called, "shiny pokémon." Shiny pokémon are coveted and obsessed over by "shiny hunters."
As the name, "shiny hunter" suggests, shiny hunters look for shiny pokémon. They are motivated by different reasons. Many people have encountered shiny pokémon accidentally and become fascinated with them either because of frustration over letting them escape or because when they captured one, a strong, unexplainable feeling of want for more swept over them. Others hunt for shinies because they dislike the way the regular pokémon look. There are also some who hunt just because they live such sad lives that they cannot think of anything better to do. But most of the shiny hunters look for shiny pokémon because they are incredibly rare, and are "good for bragging." This is how the Shiny Hunters Club began; as a competition among fans of shiny pokémon to see who could capture them first. It has since developed into a more cooperative group that encourages its members in their hunting efforts.
Shiny Hunters are, primarily, friendly nerds. They are nerdy because they spend time playing Pokémon and posting on Pokémon message boards. Society would tend to file both of these activities under, "
DEFINATLY NERDY." These people also have no reason to put each other down because they realize that they are part of an unarguably nerdy group and that any putdown they apply could be thrown right back at them, ergo friendliness through fear of humliation. Because of this, The Shiny Hunters Club tends to be a very positive environment where people can discuss their frustrations over how the odds are piled up against them, offer each other encouragement, discuss methods of hunting, and celebrate captures.
You are most likely thinking, "Shiny hunting sounds like absolutely zero fun." You are, for the most part, correct. Shiny hunting is not fun. Many people get discouraged and quit or at least go on extended hiatuses. However, most successful shiny hunters find that once they finally secure some shiny pokémon, they are so excited that their investment of time seems well spent. Shiny hunters must be very patient, and possess long periods of time with nothing demanding their full attention. The lessons of patience that shiny hunting requires its followers to learn are beneficial life skills.
One of the most patient people in the world is Ryan. He is the owner of The Shiny Hunters Club. If you would like to see for yourself what Ryan and the other shiny hunters are really like, the best way to do that would be to study them in their natural environment. You can do so at this address: http:/pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=19247
