A player has managed to find a way to outmatch the infamous Magikarp salesman in Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee. The Magikarp salesman has remained an infamous NPC ever since the series debut in Pokémon Red & Blue. Now, 25 years after the series release, he has finally been beaten.
The Magikarp salesman appears in the Pokémon Center right before climbing Mt. Moon. When the player speaks to him, he will sell them a low-level Magikarp for 500 Pokédollars. While the price is cheap, the deal in question is of course a scam due to Magikarp being a fairly common Pokémon in the wild. The Magikarp salesman was also a reoccurring character in the Pokémon anime, and a similar salesman appears in Pokémon Black & White also selling a Magikarp. His appearances have made him a memorable NPC throughout the series, and he has most recently appeared again in Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee.
Having the game state the player paid an “outrageous” 500 Pokédollars, Reddit user GimmeDatGrimoire went on a quest to prove the game wrong. After 375 hours of soft resetting over the course of three years since the game came out, they, at last, received a shiny Magikarp from the salesman. They state that it was worth it because the game can finally be finished with their new prized Magikarp named Outrage.
Back in Pokémon Red & Blue, this method was impossible to pull off due to shiny Pokémon not being implemented until generation two. Ironically, the first shiny Pokémon that many players were introduced to was the red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage. Nowadays, many players soft reset for shiny Pokémon, such as for starter Pokémon or legendary Pokémon. This includes gift Pokémon from NPCs, as seen with this method. Shiny Pokémon have always remained very rare and difficult to farm. As the series went on, shinies have become easier to obtain due to certain mechanics and items such as the shiny charm, making them not quite as rare as they once were.
However, no such assistance was used to obtain this shiny Magikarp. It was obtained with three years of time and patience, and now GimmeDatGrimoire can now close the book on this journey. Though it was a long time coming, the reception has made it worth the wait. The Magikarp salesman that has been appearing in the series since 1996 has been outsmarted in Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee.
Source: GimmeDatGrimoire/Reddit
