Pokémon Legends: Z-A makes a big, welcome change for shiny hunters
Pokemon Legends: Z-A hadn't been out even a few hours before the tweets started rolling in: Shiny pokemon don't despawn. You can walk away from a shiny, and it'll still be there when you come back.
To shiny collectors, this is big news. In other Pokemon games, like Scarlet and Violet, pokemon despawn after you get a certain distance away from them or trigger a loading screen. I've missed out on my fair share of shiny pokemon this way, my heart sinking as I spotted them right before they disappeared forever.
You can still miss out on shiny pokemon in Z-A, but we'll get to that in a bit.
I first discovered the new spawning mechanics mysel ...