Just days after a bewildering visit to the Pentagon, controversial YouTuber Logan Paul embarked on a brand-new Pokémon ploy. His new venture would be tougher than anything he’d attempted before, he claimed — a list that includes selling a Pokémon card for a lot of money. This time, Paul wanted to try his hand at shiny hunting in front of a live audience. It didn’t go as planned.
Shiny hunting refers to the practice of forcing a Pokémon game to generate a special monster. These monsters, called shinies, come in alternate colorways: A shiny Charizard, for example, has an edgy black and red coat. Shiny appearance rates vary from game to game, but they’re normally extremely rare. Players have ways to improve their chances at catching one, but that could still mean spending weeks doing the same thing over and over again. Shiny hunting is not for the faint at heart, but Paul thought he was up for it.
His target, he announced on Sept. 18, would be an Onix that he wanted to evolve into a golden Shiny Steelix. Despite the eye-catching choice, the odds of finding a shiny Onix are merely 1 in 8,192. Still, Paul vowed that he would not stop his livestream until he found shiny Onix. “I could be hunting for days,” Paul said.
The livestream commenced on Sept. 19, and it was high-energy at first. As expected, Paul used the opportunity to shill a brand: in this case, a digital Pokémon card platform called RipIt. Midway through the livestream, when a viewer asked if Paul was actually playing, the YouTuber scoffed. “I’m not watching someone else fuckin’ do it,” he said. “If I’m sitting in this room, I’m pressing the buttons.”
About eight hours into the stream, and despite his promise, Paul pleaded with his wife, Nina Agdal, to play the game for him. Paul took back control a couple of hours later, but by that point, his weariness was evident.
“This is the dumbest shit I’ve ever done in my life … this is nuts, bro,” Paul said midway through the stream. “My fingers hurt.”
17 hours into the stream, Paul started arguing with his co-hosts about going to sleep. “You’re changing the rules a lot,” one of his co-hosts complained, after Paul revealed that the stream would continue even if he wasn’t there. His pals, who also seemed sick of shiny hunting, tried to talk him out of it. They warned him that they might find the shiny Onix while he slept, which could make the livestream’s premise moot. Paul went to sleep anyway, and the stream continued with the help of a solitary friend.
“Did this just turn into a sleep stream?” one confused viewer wrote in the Twitch chat.
Paul stepped away for around four hours before he reappeared. Then, 29 hours into the stream, Paul threw in the towel once again.
“I might need the next hour to hang out with family,” Paul said while eating a salad. At that point, he wasn’t even playing the game anymore. His friends assured Paul that it was OK to leave. If they found a shiny, they promised, they’d tell him right away.
Paul left for a while and then went back with his wife. Agdal proceeded to control the game for the bulk of the time until Paul came back. Then, about 34 hours into the livestream, Paul closed down the stream for good.
The shiny was never caught. Paul hasn’t resumed the stream since then, though he claims he’ll come back eventually. Disappointed viewers may not stick around next time, judging from the comments on the YouTube video.
“wtf.. they gave up,” one viewer wrote. “Larp,” another mocked.