pokemon y friend safari shiny odds

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Data on the friend safari shiny rate

• Thread starter The Scientist
• Start date Mar 15, 2014

The Scientist

Heheh, not a silph worker....

Akhara_Vect

Did anyone of you have a Shiny charm?Did you switch Safaris in between? Or were all encounters done in the same Safari? On one system? Or on multiple? That's what I am interested in. Does the rate vary between different safaris? And if yes, does it also vary between different systems? Meaning, if the shiny rate varies between safaris and five different people visit my Safari on 5 different systems, do they all have the same rate or does it also vary between systems? I would have done some research on that topic but there is no possible way for me to do it. What are your thougths? And great work btw, you're doing us all a great favor!  

I'm so glad someone replied to the thread! Lol, I was getting worried no one read it. 1. I have the shiny charm, and I'm not sure if dekuNukem did. My guess would be that he does not have the shiny charm since he recently contributed to the "Masuda Method without shiny charm" thread here on Smogon. I was using the same game on the same 3DS the whole time, and I'm not sure if dekuNukem had different games and 3DS's. In any case, I compared both my data set and his data set, and found there was no significant difference between them. Our average number of encounters per shiny was similar. 2. I switched safaris throughout the study. Sometimes a safari would take over 2500 encounters to find a shiny, and then the same safari would find another in 21 encounters. So, from my interpretation of the data, there is nothing to suggest that different safaris have different shiny rates. However, that still needs to be rigorously tested. I attached a PDF of the raw data if you'd like to look through it. The numbers are the number of encounters before a shiny was found. The changing colors represent when I switched to a different safari, and I was never in the same safari twice. The large pink group at the end is dekuNukem's data.  

Attachments

• rawshinydata.pdf 27.7 KB Views: 3,400

It's funny how I actually found 2 shinies within a time span of a half an hour lol. Nice job with all these statistics since they seem about right with my odds haha.  

It might be a good idea to indicate that you used the Shiny Charm either at the top of the OP or the thread title, since that is likely to drastically change the odds.  

Zowayix said: It might be a good idea to indicate that you used the Shiny Charm either at the top of the OP or the thread title, since that is likely to drastically change the odds. Click to expand...

I hope you make a million dollars

I've been looking around furiously online for some SOLID information regarding shiny rate in FS and if the Shiny Charm affects it. I just saw this thread today and was very pleased at how comprehensive this is. This is such good work. Keep it up, The Scientist ! btw this is more for the story than for actual research help but I went shiny hunting last night and found a shiny Spritzee in less than 100 encounters. And I got to watch a full episode of Supernatural! Life is good.  

Awesome collection of data. I've been wondering about where, exactly, the shiny charm affects encounter rates, and this is great to know for the safaris. I have also been curious if there are any variables that affect encounter rates in the safaris. I was frequenting one safari because it had three 'mon I wanted to shinyhunt (Shuppet, Pumpkaboo, Dusclops), and absolutely nothing over the course of months. I have no idea what the actual encounter number was, but this was someone I visited off and on since I reached Kiloude in October. Eventually I got so frustrated by my lack of shiny ghosts that I went hunting Route 16 and got my shiny Pumpkaboo there, with shiny charm, about a month ago. After that I went to a different ghost safari and encountered a shiny Dusclops in 10 encounters. It made me wonder if there is some sort of calculation done in certain safaris wrt your TSV and their TSV that may change the base encounter rate, or if I was just on the bad luck end of the encounter rate.  

Big thanks, NixHex and Fletchling . It's more than enough thanks to know that someone has found the data useful. Fletchling, so if what you saying is true, would you predict that different safaris have different shiny rates? I'm certainly open to hearing ideas about what could affect the shiny rate, but keep in mind that I regularly go 1000 or 2000+ encounters and then I might find a few shinies in less than 500 encounters. This good and bad luck happens in the same safari without anything having changed, as predicted can happen by a binomial distribution. By the way, I've been tipping $5000 to the guy in Kiloude between the last 25 shinies to test the shiny theory. I hope to post results on whether tipping affects the shiny rate in the next week or two.  

If there is a variable that calculates encounter rates based on some interaction of the player TSV and the owner TSV, then yes, I would predict that different safaris would have different rates. But it really was just a far-flung theory, rather than anything firmly tested: having no shiny encounter in a certain safari over many different visits could just be simple bad luck that falls well within what you found with your tested rates--like you said, 2000+ encounters without a shiny happens regularly for you when you're testing. I came up with it when people were talking about rate increase possibility theories, like if the safari owner was online. It was the midst of InstaCheck days so I was wondering if TSVs had any other function other than the obvious. It's frustrating that Nintendo/GameFreak aren't as open about these pieces of data and that there's no way to confirm it for certain, just test results that are believed accurate.  

Hello guys, I'm new to this forum and to be honest this post was the reason i registered ^^. So first i have to say that i'm very thankful for your testings, though i already have searched all over the web to find some really useful/profound data concerning the shiny rate in the friend safari. Because you mentioned to be open on ideas about effects on the shiny rate i thought i could share my ideas/experience for the friend safari as well. Experience: All in all I've catched 5 shiny in the safari, i don't know if it was luck or any higher rater, but 2 of them came very close after i've encountered and catched the first ones. In some other forums i also read that people had similar experiences (as well as Hootie seemed to have that kind of look too). So maybe I'm seeing ghosts but when i look into your data i see that except for 3 of your 20 days of testing all second encouters on a day were faster than the the first ones. For the shiny charm, i really hoped that it would have an affect (though already the pokeradar does not work) but maybe it would have made catching shinies too easy. :( Ideas: Some other ideas that came up to my mind which might affect the shiny rate: - on/off status -like Fletchling also mentioned the on/offline statuses of either yourself or your friend might affect the rate (maybe also the on/off status of the street pass function) ? - catching/ defeating/ escape - in other shiny methods (i.e. shiny chaining or shiny fishing) the way you handle all encounters before the shiny appears has an affect on the shiny rate, so maybe in the friend safari there is one too? - total amount of friends - maybe the chance for shinies is increased the more friends you have (i.e. someon with 100 friends has a higher chance for shinies than someone with 10 friends) ? - Encouter Power - though this does not seem very likely it just came to my mind that maybe encouter power might also have an effect on the shiny rate? Hmm i think thats all by now and again i'm really happy that someone finally got some solid data for the friend safari shinies! =D PS.: sorry for my bad english and for writing this much text (came out longer that i expected >.<)  

Hi Kyria, Thanks for the thoughts. I'm glad you found the data useful. Let me address some of your questions. 1) I agree that often shinies are caught soon after another. It's happened several times that I went 1000+ encounters without seeing a shiny, then after finally finding a shiny, I get another shiny within 100 encounters. However, I'd like you to keep this in mind. If the shiny rate in the friend safari truly is 1/512, then by the type of distribution the data should possess (binomial), you always have nearly a 20% chance of finding a shiny within the next 100 encounters. That's a pretty decent chance. So if two of your five shinies came very close to each other, that was a statistically like event. Currently, 18.4% of my shinies occurred in less than 100 encounters. 2) You noticed that many of the day's first shinies had more encounters than the second. The trials for all of those first of the day shinies started before midnight, and then ended when a shiny was found. So I recorded the day when the shiny was encountered, and not when the encounters were started. This would make it more likely for midnight to occur during a long run of encounters. For example, if I start the bot at 9pm and it takes 1000 encounters to find a shiny, it would end at 2am (it does 200 encounters per hour), making that 1000+ encounter shiny be the first shiny of the day. In addition, sometimes I wasn't really awake when I reset the bot, so in the morning when I entered the data, I usually guessed that midnight occurred during the longer runs. 3) I like your ideas about what could affect the shiny rate. I had thought of the online/offline presence of your friend, but I hadn't thought of the other two. The online/offline presence would be easy to test, and I'm working with someone to hopefully test this. I think your idea of catching/defeating/escaping has some potential. We know that catching the Pokemon resets the fishing chain, and we know that defeating Pokemon via Pokeradar increases the shiny rate until 40. I'm not sure how this would apply to the friend safari since there is no apparent chain other than running into Pokemon. What are your further thoughts on this? How do you envision this applying to friend safari? More coming soon on an update of the data and the results of my tipping trials, so stay tuned.  

I'm extremely excited to hear any scraps of data you could give to us on your tipping trials! Even if your data isn't "polished" enough to formally present right now, I'd be deeply grateful to hear your preliminary feelings and thoughts on if tipping does have an effect!  

OK, I won't keep you waiting. I transcribed my data to a Google Spreadsheet, and I'll update it now and then. I had to organize it a little oddly due to the way Google Spreadsheet makes the charts. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...htaGsxRlI1S1BDVHNySUJMMlE&usp=drive_web#gid=0 The data currently contains over 100,000 encounters and 207 shinies. 128 of those come from no tipping, 79 of them are with tipping. A major caveat to the data right now is the much smaller sample size for the tipped shinies. This is going to make the tipping data appear more erratic. However, as of right now, I don't see any reason to suspect that tipping affects the shiny rate. Without tipping, the average is ~1/501, and with tipping the average is ~1/542. Both of those have standard deviations over 500. If tipping does affect the shiny rate, it would be a minor effect, like going from 8/4094 to 1/455 or 1/410. At this point I can't be very confident given the small data set. Overall, the data continues to settle toward a shiny rate of 1/512. Look at the Chi-square test statistics on the far right of the document. Again, it looks like IF tipping affects the shiny rate, it would be a minor effect. I just can't rule out that possibility right now. Does anyone think Gamefreak would put such a minor effect into the game? I suppose it's possible.  

Thank you so much! This means quite a lot to me and my brother! So we will refrain from purposefully tipping (unless in Le Wow) from now on, as it seems to make no difference. Thank you once again, and I will continue to follow you, your posts, and this thread especially!  

I was looking around for some numbers for FS shiny rate and this was definitely the best I found. I also signed up so I could post my FS Shiny experience from this afternoon. I MM shinies and radar chain shinies alot, so I wanted to try FS RE's or the Horde route. I decided to give the FS a shot. I started by farming Kirlia (I was just looking for a female with HA to later MM a shiny) I did not think about keeping track of encounters at first since I thought it would be a quick find with Cute Charm. I would have to say after about 20-30 encounters, before I could find my Female HA, I ran into a shiny Kirlia. I decided to do some more shiny hunting for awhile after that quick luck and this is what I found. I also have the Shiny Charm, and I tipped for the hell of it before going into a new FS for the next 3. Shiny Dwebbie: After 66 RE's tipped ~ 8k Hariyama: After 6 RE's tipped ~ 11k Evee: After 517 REs tipped ~ 10k I don't think tipping really has any affects on shiny rate. I think it would be silly, but I also think that having a random money sink in a game where money doesn't play any role is silly too lol but i guess its not really that big of a "sink" compared to other useless money sinks in games. The four shinies where found in FS where all 3 pokemon where unlocked for me to find, IDK if that might play a role in it too. I know four shinies wont help your numbers out but I will try to remember to post my numbers whenever I do some more FS hunting.  

Hey all. First of all - Scientist, this is an excellent thread. I have been running around in safaris for much of the past 4 months and really appreciated your input. I do not have a clear number, but estimate at least 100 different shiny pokemon I have caught this way. Now, I wanted to share a few observations with you lot: 1. Based on my experience so far I find a shiny for every 3-4h of safari time (400-600 encounters). This does rougly correlate with what is presented above. 2. I have seen no difference from being in a safari with friends online vs. offline. As mentioned, if the difference is there it may be subtle enough not to be observed just by going in and out of battles 3. I have also had no significant difference between 3 pokemon safari and 2 pokemon safari. In fact, I had a number of suprisingly fast shiny finds (within 20-30 encounters) in safaris where I only knew two of the three pokemon. 4. I am uncertain about the different shiny rates in different safaris. I am aware of the high likelihood of recall bias, but on few occassions I would find multiple shiny in a single safari relatively easy, only to waste days in a different one. Again, if the rate was indeed 1/512 -- this should explain such a distribution...  

Hey, I'm not a shiny hunter in the FS yet, but I just wanted to say thank you for all the information that you gave us! Keep going!  

Thank you for doing this! I was looking for some solid proof of the increased shiny odds in FS, and after reading your analysis I was encouraged to go shiny hunting myself. I've found 2 shinies now, both taking approx 350-400 encounters. I should mention that my unlucky friend has now gone over 2000 encounters in FS without finding a shiny. If the odds are indeed 1/512, this has around a 2% chance of happening so it's far from impossible, but still. I really doubt there would be different odds for different safaris but for what it's worth he's been trying to find a shiny Heracross in a bug safari, specifically Heracross/Volbeat/Butterfree.  

I just got my shiny charm yesterday so I tried the friend safari and got a Gabite after 71 encounters, so without the shiny charm would be about 213 encounters so I was above average which is a nice change of pace.  

Hey The Scientist, I was wondering if you had any new data to share with us? Thank you very much, once again!  

Sorry, I've been busy lately. However, the bot is still going and I've updated the sheet. It's at ~167,000 encounters and 311 shinies. The average #encounters per shiny is currently at 536 with a standard deviation of 554. I only went to 100 shinies during the tipping trials. More would have been better, but to me it doesn't look like tipping had any effect. The data from both tipping and non-tipping trials had distributions that matched a 1/512 distribution far better than a 1/455 or 1/585 distribution. If anyone wants to do a power analysis or other types of statistics on the data (see Google Doc in signature), be my guest. In addition, I'm leaving the country later this week, so data collection will be halted for the next four or so months. It's been fun, and I learned a lot about probability. I'll still be able to check on the thread here and answer questions. Thanks for the conversation!  

Thank you very much!  

Dr. Eyepatch

I have always considered myself The Scientist, but the name suits you much more nicely. Firstly, thank you very much for doing this project. It must have been a huge undertaking to venture into unknown territory such as this, and finally having some data behind the likeliness of shiny encounters in the Friend Safari is highly appreciated. In terms of personal experience with the Friend Safari, I have captured three or four shinies while visiting, in a relatively fast amount of time. While I do believe all but one encounter occurred while the owner of each respective safari was online, even though it lead me to believe the shiny rate increases in such conditions, I do realize my experiences are much too sparse to contribute with any degree of usefulness. During one safari venture, I had spent 2-3 hours searching for a Supersize Pumpkaboo; I had decided to give up when I ended up finding a shiny Pumpkaboo before ever even seeing a Supersize one. I also wanted to mention that, while tipping does not seem to increase shiny encounter rates in the Friend Safari much at all (if at all), it should be important to note that such data only applies to Friend Safaris and should not be considered evidence for its potential increase (or lack thereof) in shiny encounter rates elsewhere. As I am sure it will be always, keep up the great work~! ^ ^  

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Pokémon XY Shiny Hunting Guide

Discussion in ' Pokémon General ' started by Deltheor , Jun 22, 2014 .

• shiny pokemon

Deltheor Level 59 The Demon of Shikoku var popupWindow = null; function centeredPopup(url,winName,w,h,scroll){ LeftPosition = (screen.width) ? (screen.width-w)/2 : 0; TopPosition = (screen.height) ? (screen.height-h)/2 : 0; settings = 'height='+h+',width='+w+',top='+TopPosition+',left='+LeftPosition+',scrollbars='+scroll+',resizable' popupWindow = window.open(url,winName,settings) }

Pokémon XY Shiny Hunting Guide ​ ​ ​ Have you ever found or seen a Pokémon with a different color scheme that sparkled when it appeared in battle? Then you've found yourself a shiny! Shiny Pokémon are differently colored Pokémon, and are highly coveted by many Pokémon fans, and for good reason. Their extreme rarity and different coloration make them an awesome addition to any team or collection. In previous generations, the chance you would encounter a shiny was 1 in 8192, or 0.0001%. Now in Pokémon X and Y, the shiny rate has been raised to 1 in 4,096, or 0.0002%. Even though the chance you'll find a shiny is higher, they are still extremely rare, and you can play for hundreds of hours and not find a single one. In this guide, I'll be outlining each of the different ways to find shinies in X and Y, to hopefully inspire you to go out and find one (or several) of your own! There are quite a few methods of hunting shinies in the 6th generation; some have been around for generations, and some have just been introduced. I'll be covering them all in detail in this guide. The current methods of finding shinies are- Wild Encounters Horde Battles Masuda Method Breeding Consecutive Fishing PokéRadar Chaining ​ To add to the methods above, there is also the return of the Shiny Charm in X and Y. This charm is a key item that was first introduced in Black 2 and White 2 that raises your chances of finding a shiny even more. However, you can only get it by completing your National PokéDex (minus the event-only Legendaries), so it is very hard to get. It is worth mentioning, though, as it helps with many of these methods.  

Wild Encounters ​ ​ ​ This is a common method used by many shiny hunters, although it is very time-consuming. It's essentially just walking around in the wild until you find a shiny Pokémon. Just choose the route or cave that you would like to hunt in, and start biking! I recommend using the bike, since it is much faster than walking or using the roller skates. To start with, the Friend Safari is a fantastic place to hunt, as it has a wide variety of Pokémon to choose from, and many rare ones. All of the Pokémon in the Friend Safari also have at least 2 perfect stats (31 IVs), so if you're looking for some potentially competitive-viable shinies, this is a great place to start. There are also rumors of a potential raised shiny rate in the safari as well, although it hasn't been confirmed as of yet. While it is straight-forward, this method does get boring very fast, so I highly recommend you do something else while you hunt. I personally enjoy watching movies or videos while I look for shinies, and it's worked very well for me so far. To help with your hunt, there are a few abilities that some Pokémon have that will make your hunt easier. If a Pokémon with the No Guard ability is in the front of your party, the wild encounter rate is raised to 150%. Likewise, a Pokémon with the Illuminate or Arena Trap abilities raise the encounter rate to 200%, doubling the rate of wild encounters. This makes encounters faster, and could make your hunt shorter as you don't have to run around in the grass as much. If you're looking for specific types of Pokémon, the Magnet Pull and Static abilities will raise the encounter rate of Steel and Electric types, respectively. If a certain nature is what you're after, if you have a Pokémon with the Synchronize ability that has the nature you want, it has a 50% chance of passing that nature on to the wild Pokémon. And finally, if you're looking for a Pokémon with a certain gender, the Cute Charm ability will raise the chance of finding a Pokémon of the opposite gender to 66.7%, regardless of species. So if you have a male Cute Charm Sylveon, for example, the chances you will find female wild Pokémon are much higher. For these abilities to work in the field, the Pokémon with the ability must be at the front of your party. These abilities also do not stack, so you can't have a Synchronize Pokémon out front and a Cute Charm Pokémon right behind it. It also doesn't matter if the Pokémon is fainted or not- as long as it's at the front, the field effect will activate. These abilities work for all of the shiny methods I've listed in this guide, except for breeding. So you can use these tricks whether you're hunting in Hordes, or even Chaining!  

Horde Battles ​ ​ ​ A new addition to the 6th Generation, Horde Battles are where 5 Pokémon attack you at once, and you have to fend them off with a single Pokémon. This isn't as hard as it seems, as Hordes are at a lower level than the other Pokémon found in that route. It is a great way to EV train your Pokémon, though- and an excellent shiny hunting method. Hordes don't actually increase the shiny rate, but since you're encountering 5 Pokémon at once, the chance you will find a shiny is 5 times higher than a normal battle. So instead of the chance being 1 4096, it's about 1 in 803, which is significantly higher. To initiate a Horde Battle, all you need is a Pokémon with Sweet Scent , or a large amount of the item Honey . They both trigger Horde Battles 100% of the time, but Sweet Scent is more reliable since it's not a consumable item. Basically, just go into the grass or cave you want to hunt in, and use Sweet Scent over and over again. Eventually, if you're patient, you'll run into a shiny! A couple warnings about Horde Battles, though- not all routes have hordes in them, so you'll have to look up which routes have them, and which horde Pokémon are on those routes. You also cannot use Sweet Scent if it's raining on a route, which is a bit of a pain. If it does start raining in the middle of a hunt, you could simply switch to another route. If you do find a shiny, make sure to not KO it while trying to get rid of the other Pokémon in a horde! Make sure to take a note of the shiny's position in the horde, and faint the Pokémon around it. This can get confusing at times, but if you encounter enough hordes, you should get used to it. You can also use the same ability tricks I told you about in the wild encounters method (Synchronize, Magnet Pull, etc.) to try and get the perfect shiny.  

Masuda Method Breeding ​ ​ ​ This method of breeding was originally introduced in the 4th Generation, named after Game Freak director Junichi Masuda, who originally introduced the method. The method itself is quite simple- all you have to do is leave 2 breedable Pokémon of different nationalities in the daycare together, and the chance that you will hatch a shiny increases. (ex: Japanese Ditto + English Charizard) Thankfully, it is fairly easy to tell if a Pokémon has a different nationality than the Pokémon in your game. If a Pokémon has a black box with white lettering near its species name on the status screen, then that means it's a foreign Pokémon. All there is to this method is let those two Pokémon breed, and hatch out any eggs you get. In the 5th Generation games, the Masuda Method shiny rate was about 6 times the regular rate; so if the 6th Generation games follow that same pattern, then the shiny rate in XY is about 1 in 682. There are a few tricks to breeding the perfect shiny Pokémon, though. First is to look up any egg moves the Pokémon you want to breed can learn, and try to breed those moves onto that Pokémon before attempting to Masuda Method. That way you can get a shiny Pokémon with some unique moves! You can also attach an Everstone to one parent to pass down the nature of that parent to the child. This is very useful, since otherwise the hatched Pokémon would have a random nature, and it might not be a very good one. You can also give the other parent a Destiny Knot to transfer the IVs of 5 stats from either parent down to the child, but that's mostly for competitive Pokémon. If you don't understand IVs, don't worry, they're not neccesary to obtain a shiny Pokémon. Another useful tip is to have a Pokémon with the ability Flame Body or Magma Armor at the front of your party when hatching eggs. This makes the eggs in your party hatch twice as fast, which is very useful when hatching large amounts of eggs. Pokémon such as Volcarona and Talonflame are fan favorites for this, since they can also use the move Fly to travel to other locations. This is a very time-consuming method, but it is definitely the most reliable in terms of stats. If you're looking for a good-natured shiny Pokémon with rare moves and possibly perfect IVs, then this is the method for you.  

Consecutive Fishing "Fish Chaining" ​ ​ ​ This is another new method introduced in X and Y, and it is possibly the easiest shiny hunting method on this list. There aren't a huge amount of Pokémon you can obtain using this method, but for beginners, it's an excellent start, and a fun pasttime as well. The object in fish chaining is to land consecutive bites using the fishing rod without moving from your spot. Note that you do not need to faint every Pokémon you reel in in order for this to work. Simply running away will be fine. This is normally very hard to do, but a couple tricks can make it easier. If you have a Pokémon with the ability Suction Cups or Sticky Hold at the front of your party, then the chance you will land a bite is raised quite a bit. Also, if you fish in a spot that is surrounded on 3 sides by land, then you are also more likely to get a bite. If you combine these two tricks, then you will be able to catch a Pokémon with the rod almost 100% of the time. Using this method, the shiny rate goes up with each Pokémon you reel in, eventually capping at the 40th Pokémon, with the maximum rate being 1 in 200. After you hit the 40th 'chain', all you need is patience. You can get a shiny on the 3rd bite, or you could not get one in 300 bites. It's all luck in the end, but you will most likely get your shiny between 30 and 70 bites. There are a few things that will break your chain, though. Moving from your spot while using this method will end the chain. Failing to reel in a Pokémon (either pressing A too fast or too slow), or the message "Not even a nibble" appearing will also break your chain. Once you find a shiny Pokémon, that means your chain is over, and the shiny rate resets back to normal. Overall, this is the quickest shiny method out of all of the methods in this guide, and it is very similar in theory to an older shiny hunting method, which I will be covering next.  

PokéRadar Chaining ​ ​ This method was introduced in Diamond and Pearl, with the inclusion of the PokéRadar key item in the games. It was since removed from the 5th Generation games, but it's making a comeback in X and Y. It is rather complicated, but if you can get it right, it is a very useful and fun shiny hunting method. To use this method, you need the PokéRadar , which you can obtain after beating the Champion for the first time in X and Y. After doing so, visit Professor Sycamore's lab in Lumiose City, and go to the second floor. A scientist on the right will give you the PokéRadar item, and you can start chaining! Before you start, though, you will need a few things. First is a lot of Repels , since they are needed for this method to work. Second is a high-level Pokémon with attacking moves that have at least 40 PP total. Since you need to faint every Pokémon you find in a chain, it is essential you have a lot of moves available (or Ethers/Elixers if you happen to run out). You can also use the same ability tricks I told you about in the wild encounters method (Synchronize, Cute Charm, etc.) to try and get the perfect shiny. Now, you have to choose a spot to chain. It's recommended that you chain in a large patch of grass or flowers, since that makes chaining a lot easier. For practice, you could use the large flower field in Pokémon Village, or one of the large patches in Route 5. Also keep in mind that you must use the D-pad while chaining, as using the circle pad activates the rollerskates and breaks the chain. Using your bike also breaks the chain, so make sure to use the D-pad at all times. Once you have found your perfect spot, first use a Repel, then activate the PokéRadar. To use the PokéRadar, you first have to charge it up by walking 50 steps. You also have to be standing in grass or flowers where wild Pokémon can appear. When you use the radar, a few patches of grass around you will shake. Those shaking patches have wild Pokémon, and you step into that patch to trigger an encounter. After you defeat or capture a Pokémon that you found in a shaking patch, the grass around you will shake again. Ignore any slowly shaking patches of grass or patches close to you/at the edge of the grass patch, as those do not have any Pokémon in them, or will likely have a different Pokémon that will break your chain. Try to aim for a fast-shaking patch that is at least 2 to 3 steps away from you, and if you don't see any good patches, walk 50 steps to reset the Radar and try again. If you find the same type of Pokémon in the next spot, the grass will shake again after you defeat or capture it, and the chain will continue. The longer you chain, the more likely you are to encounter a shiny. The shiny probability caps out at 40, so after that, you just need to reset the rader until you see a Shiny Patch. You will notice a Shiny Patch by the sparkling effect it makes, and it also sounds different than the regular shaking patches. If you see a patch like this, then congrats, you have successfully chained a shiny Pokémon! Also, if the background music speeds up while chaining, that means there is a higher chance of you finding a shiny patch during that time. Try resetting the Radar when this happens, and you may get lucky with a Shiny Patch! PokéRadar Chaining is a very tedious method, but with enough practice, you can become very good at it. Since this part of the guide was rather lengthy, here is a quick recap of the chaining method- Bring lots of Repels and a high-level Pokémon with lots of attacking moves Choose a large patch of flowers or grass Use a repel and activate the PokéRadar Encounter a Pokémon in a shaking patch, and KO it (or catch it) During your chain, only enter fast-shaking patches of grass at least 2-3 spaces away, and not at the edge of the patch you are chaining in When in doubt, reset the Radar Do not use the rollerskates or bike Make sure to keep using Repels, as encountering a Pokémon not in a shaking patch will break your chain Do not leave the area or save and restart from where you left off Your chain maxes at 40, and a shiny patch is very likely to happen after that As with all the other shiny methods, make sure you have enough PokéBalls on you, as running out/fainting a shiny you worked so hard to find is a terribile thing to happen. Always be prepared! That concludes this shiny guide for X and Y! I hope you learned something in this guide, and I wish you luck in your future shiny hunts. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to visit the forums here at Lake Valor and ask around for advice.  

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Tips for Shiny Hunting: Friend Safari

As most of my followers know, I'm a pretty avid shiny hunter. But one downside to hunting is that it can take hours, days, or even weeks to get your sparkly Pokemon. So, I decided to give some tips and tricks to you people who want a shiny of your very own!

Let's begin with the hunting method I use the most, the Friend Safari in X and Y.

Tip #1 : Often times, the first encounter in the safari will be the shiny. This isn't a fact, but it's something I noticed when I hunt. For example, on my last shiny hunt, Clefairy was the first encounter, and I found a shiny Clefairy. So if you want a specific shiny in the Friend Safari, make sure it's the first thing you encounter when you begin.

Tip #2 : Have a long movie or TV show on. This helps you pass the time and keep track of how long your hunt was. Going back to my Clefairy, I watched a Patton Oswalt stand-up (1 hour and 5 min), a Soul Eater episode (around 30 min), and then about 5 minutes the next morning before finding my shiny Clefairy. Which means I was hunting for about 1 hour and 40 minutes, give or take. I prefer turning on movies that are over 2 hours long. So, next time you shiny hunt, turn on "Lawrence of Arabia", the Director's Cut!

Tip #3 : Come prepared for any shiny you might find. Nothing is worse than loosing a shiny. So come prepared with Pokemon who can prevent the shiny from running away. If it can Teleport, bring a Pokemon with Arena Trap or Shadow Tag. Can it use Explosion or Self-Destruct? Bring a Pokemon with the Damp ability. Even if your not looking for a Pokemon who can escape or faint itself, bring a counter just in case. For example, the safari I was hunting my Clefairy in also had Kirlia, who can Teleport. So, just in case I found a shiny Kirlia, I brought a Dugtrio with Arena Trap so it couldn't escape.

Tip #4 : Save before you stop. Just in case you want a take a break, save before you take a break. Because if something happens, like your game card pops out, or your battery dies, you can pick up where you left off without worrying about loosing your chain. I normally do this when I go to bed, then I pick up where I left off in the morning before school starts. Which is how I caught my shiny Clefairy, and my shiny Ivysaur, who I both caught before school.

Tip #5 : Don't leave the Friend Safari. While breaking a chain isn't proven to restart your chances to find a shiny in the Friend Safari, I prefer to stay in the Safari until the shiny is found. So if I want to play another game, I'll save without leaving the safari.

So those are my tips for finding shinies in the Friend Safari. I hope these help you to find your own shiny in the future. Let me know what shinies you find in the Friend Safari! Catch you later!

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Comments (43).

Just a though and/or tip. If you need space for any shiny Pokémon especially from breeding and you have lvl 1 Pokémon in the party and need new eggs. just release the lvl 1 Pokémon in your party and replace them with new eggs.

I like to use the safaris to level grind as well as shiny hunt. I just knock out non-shinys.

I'm going for a Bergmite right now. Then I'll switch safaris.

One time, I got 2 shinys in a row on a safari. I saved immediately after.

I just caught 2 shiny Delibirds today in a Friend Safari. One was a couple of hours ago and I took a break after. The second was just now.

Into Pokémon? Join the community.

Caught a Shiny Clefairy!

Nomination forum.

Trainer OC + Milotic :milky_way:

Commission #27

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• Shiny Pokémon

A Shiny Pokémon (Japanese: 色違 ( いろちが ) い color variation ; 光 ( ひか ) る shining ) is a specific Pokémon with a different coloration to what is usual for its species. It is one of the many differences that a Pokémon can have within its species.

Form differences, such as that of Shellos and Gastrodon , are not normal or Shiny variations of one another, but their individual forms can be Shiny.

• 1 Terminology
• 2.2.1.1 Transferring from Generation I Virtual Console games
• 2.2.2 Generation III onwards
• 2.3 Shiny Pokémon rates
• 2.4 Shiny first partner Pokémon
• 2.5 Transformed Pokémon
• 2.6.1 In-game Shiny Pokémon
• 2.6.2 Quirks
• 2.6.3 Shiny Ditto glitch
• 2.7.1 In-game Shiny Pokémon
• 2.7.2 Quirks
• 2.8.1 In-game Shiny Pokémon
• 2.8.2 Methods of increasing Shiny rates
• 2.8.3 Quirks
• 2.9.1 In-game Shiny Pokémon
• 2.9.2 Methods of increasing Shiny rates
• 2.9.3 Quirks
• 2.10.1 In-game Shiny Pokémon
• 2.10.2 Methods of increasing Shiny rates
• 2.11.1 In-game Shiny Pokémon
• 2.11.2.1 Pokémon Sun and Moon
• 2.11.2.2 Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
• 2.11.2.3 Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!
• 2.12.1 Variants
• 2.12.2.1.1 Wild Area News events
• 2.12.2.2 Traded Eggs
• 2.12.3.1 Pokémon Sword and Shield
• 2.12.3.2 Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
• 2.12.3.3 Pokémon Legends: Arceus
• 2.13.1 In-game Shiny Pokémon
• 2.13.2.1 Poké Portal News events
• 2.14 Appearance
• 2.15 Unobtainable Shiny Pokémon
• 2.16 Non-playable character's Shiny Pokémon
• 3.1 Pokémon Stadium series
• 3.2 Pokémon Colosseum
• 3.3 Pokémon XD
• 3.4 My Pokémon Ranch
• 3.5 Pokémon Battle Revolution
• 4.1.1 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky
• 4.1.2 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon WiiWare
• 4.1.3 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
• 4.1.4 Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon
• 4.1.5 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
• 4.2 Super Smash Bros. series
• 4.3.1 Pokémon Rumble
• 4.3.2 Pokémon Rumble U
• 4.4 Pokémon Conquest
• 4.5 Pokémon Shuffle
• 4.6 Pokémon GO
• 4.7 Pokémon Duel
• 4.8 Pokémon: Magikarp Jump
• 4.9 Pokémon Quest
• 4.10 Pokémon Masters EX
• 4.11 Pokémon Café ReMix
• 4.12 Pokémon UNITE
• 5 In the TCG
• 6.1 Main series
• 6.2 Pokémon Generations
• 6.3 Pokémon: Hisuian Snow
• 7.1 Movie adaptations
• 7.2 Pocket Monsters HGSS Jō's Big Adventure
• 7.3.1 Gold, Silver & Crystal arc
• 7.3.2 Black & White arc
• 7.3.3 Black 2 & White 2 arc
• 7.4 Pokémon Journeys: The Series
• 7.5 Pokémon Pocket Monsters
• 9 In other languages
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• Terminology

They were originally called rare (Japanese: レア rare ) in the debug menu from Pokémon Gold and Silver , Color Pokémon in Pokémon Stadium 2 , and also referred to as Alt. Color in the Generation III easy chat system . The Shining Pokémon from the Trading Card Game were also introduced before the word "Shiny" was officially used in Pokémon games. Some early guidebooks also refer to them as " colored Pokémon " or " specially colored Pokémon ".

The term " Shiny Pokémon " was first created by fans based on the sparkling sound effect and animation at the start of an encounter with one in the games . Eventually, this term fell into official usage in Generation IV, used on promotional material promoting Shiny event Pokémon .

In the core series games

Shiny Pokémon were introduced in the Generation II games. When a Shiny Pokémon appears in the wild or from its Poké Ball , it is surrounded by a flash of stars or light, which is accompanied by a pinging sound effect.

Individual Pokémon cannot change their Shininess. A Shiny Pokémon will always be Shiny, and a regular Pokémon will never become Shiny. Upon evolution, a Pokémon retains its Shiny status; for example, a Shiny Charmander , if leveled up, will eventually become a Shiny Charmeleon and then a Shiny Charizard , while a regular Charmander will become a regular Charmeleon and then a regular Charizard.

An icon (seen in the table above) appears on the status screen of Shiny Pokémon in most games. In Generation II, this icon appears in the top-right corner of the screen, by the gender symbol, while in most other games, it appears in or near one of the corners of the Pokémon's image; however, Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire , and Emerald do not have any icon. In Generation III, the Pokémon's Pokédex number will be colored gold instead of white and the background of the Pokémon's image has a lighter shade; likewise, in Generation IV and V, the color of some elements of the status screen differ for Shiny Pokémon.

Shiny Pokémon can differ in color from their normal counterparts very little or very much. Some Pokémon, such as Glaceon or Pichu , have a Shiny coloration only a few shades darker or lighter in color. Conversely, some Pokémon, such as Caterpie or Smeargle , have dramatic differences in color.

An evolutionary line is not necessarily guaranteed to have similar Shiny colorations even if their standard colorations are the same; both Ponyta and Rapidash have orange flames, but a Shiny Ponyta has blue flames while a Shiny Rapidash has gray flames (this is switched in Generation II ). Sometimes, two Pokémon in an evolutionary line with different standard colorations will have the same Shiny coloration, as in the case of Skitty and Delcatty .

Little is known about how Shiny colorations are chosen. While it is often rumored that early Shiny colorations were determined algorithmically, all Pokémon’s Shiny colorations are individually defined in the game data [1] and Pokémon with similar palettes have distinct Shiny colorations even in Generation II . [2] James Turner , who has worked as a Pokémon designer since Generation V , stated that the first time he selected Shiny colorations was in Generation VII , when he selected the Shiny colorations of the Ultra Beasts he designed. [3]

In the Game Boy mode of Pokémon Gold and Silver , the sprites of both regular and Shiny Pokémon use the same shades of gray. A Shiny Pokémon can still be identified by the stars on its status screen or the animation shown when it comes into battle.

In Pokémon HeartGold, SoulSilver , Let's Go, Pikachu!, Let's Go, Eevee! , Legends: Arceus , Scarlet, and Violet , a Pokémon's Shininess is visible in the overworld, though this only applies to the player's Pokémon in HeartGold and SoulSilver, and does not apply to static encounters. Additionally, in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the party icon of Shiny Pokémon will depict its Shiny coloration.

Determining Shininess

Generation ii.

In Generation II, being Shiny is determined by a Pokémon's IVs . If a Pokémon's Speed, Defense, and Special IVs are all 10, and its Attack IV is 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14 or 15, it will be Shiny. Because of this, a Shiny Pokémon traded to a Generation I game and then traded back to Generation II will retain its Shininess, and a Pokémon obtained in Generation I whose IVs meet the requirements for Shininess will also become Shiny when traded to Generation II.

Since the HP IV is calculated from the other four IVs, a Shiny Pokémon's HP IV will always be either 0 or 8. Shiny Pokémon are generally above average in terms of IVs, but only slightly.

The probability of a Pokémon encountered in the wild or obtained as a gift , in-game trade , or event in Generation II having its IVs line up in the above manner is 1/8192 (assuming every IV combination has the same probability, which is usually the case).

The probability differs for bred Pokémon, as their IVs are partially influenced by their parents. Specifically, a parent passes its Special stat (plus or minus 8) and its Defense stat to its children that are the opposite gender from it. (If Ditto is one of the parents, it is always the one that passes these stats.) This means that if a Shiny parent passes its IVs to a child, the child's inherited Defense IV will always be 10, its inherited Special IV will have a 1/2 chance of being 10, its randomly generated Attack IV will have a 1/2 chance of being an appropriate value, and its randomly generated Speed IV will have 1/16 chance of being 10. This results in a 1/64 chance that such a child will be Shiny. These breeding mechanics also mean that if a child inherits its IVs from a Pokémon that does not have a Defense IV of 10 and a Special IV of 2 or 10, it cannot be Shiny.

Transferring from Generation I Virtual Console games

Pokémon transported to Pokémon Bank from the Virtual Console releases of the Generation I games via Poké Transporter may be Shiny after being transported. Since Version 1.3 of Poké Transporter, this is determined the same way as in the Generation II games. Prior to Version 1.3, the roles of the Attack and Defense IVs were swapped, meaning that the process did not properly correspond to Generation II.

The same quirks that apply to transferring Pokémon from Generation I to Generation II games also apply.

The Mew that were distributed to the Generation I Virtual Console games have IVs of 15 in every stat, meaning they can never be Shiny.

Generation III onwards

From Generation III onward, whether a Pokémon is Shiny depends on the Pokémon's Original Trainer 's ID number and secret ID number, as well as the Pokémon's personality value . The exact calculation is:

where the latter two values represent the highest and lowest 16 bits of the 32-bit personality value respectively.

The above formula can result in a number ranging from 0 to 65535. In Generations III to V, if this result is less than 8, then the Pokémon is Shiny, giving an overall probability of 8/65536 or 1/8192, exactly the same as in Generation II. Starting in Generation VI , this threshold was increased to 16 (meaning the result must be less than 16), effectively doubling the probability from preceding generations. In Generation VIII , if this result equals 0, or if the Pokémon has the fateful encounter flag set, then the Pokémon has square Shiny sparkles.

Shiny Pokémon rates

The table below summarizes the rates at which Shiny Pokémon can be found by the methods that will be detailed below. The Shiny Charm can directly add to the odds for most methods, with hidden Pokémon being affected uniquely.

• ↑ If 0 out of 25 values result in Shininess, the Pokémon can only be Shiny if Cute Charm fails.
• ↑ Adds 3 extra Shiny rolls in Pokémon Legends: Arceus .
• ↑ In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl , it only adds extra rolls while breeding.
• ↑ If Shiny Charm, 1/100. Star sparkles variant only.

Shiny first partner Pokémon

In most core series games, the first partner Pokémon appear in their regular non-Shiny forms before the player chooses one, even if the chosen first partner Pokémon turns out to be Shiny. Therefore, the player is unable to verify if a first partner Pokémon is Shiny before obtaining it.

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver , the player is exceptionally able to check if Chikorita , Cyndaquil , or Totodile are Shiny before choosing one of them as their first partner Pokémon. However, if this first partner Pokémon that appeared as Shiny is obtained by the rival Silver instead, it will appear as a regular non-Shiny Pokémon for the remainder of the game. The rival's Pokémon teams are predefined in the game data, with no way to account for a possible Shiny first partner Pokémon.

In some games from Pokémon X and Y onwards, there are some cutscenes and dialogue before the player is able to obtain the first partner Pokémon and verify if it is Shiny.

Transformed Pokémon

These are the results of Transform or Imposter used by or on a Shiny Pokémon.

• In Generation I and II core series games (when played in color ), the transformed Pokémon retains its original color palette. For instance, Shiny Ditto and Shiny Mew are both blue Pokémon, so they will transform into blue versions of the target.
• In Japanese Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium , the transformed Pokémon has the normal colors of the target.
• In Pokémon Stadium 2 and Generation III games (including Pokémon Colosseum and XD ), a Shiny Pokémon transforms into the Shiny version of the target Pokémon. Likewise, a non-Shiny Pokémon transforms into the non-Shiny version of the target Pokémon. For instance, if a Shiny Ditto uses Transform on a non-Shiny (red) Magikarp, then Ditto becomes a Shiny (golden) Magikarp.
• From Generation IV onwards (including Pokémon Battle Revolution ), Transform copies the target's coloration; whether or not the transformed Pokémon is Shiny depends on whether the target is, not the user. For instance, if any Ditto (Shiny or not) uses Transform on a non-Shiny (red) Magikarp, then Ditto becomes a non-Shiny Magikarp as well. Likewise, if any Ditto uses Transform on a Shiny (golden) Magikarp, Ditto becomes a Shiny Magikarp as well.

In-game Shiny Pokémon

In Generation II, any Pokémon can be Shiny, but the game includes a red Gyarados that the player must encounter at the Lake of Rage during the course of the story. In Pokémon Crystal , the Odd Egg also has a high chance of hatching a Shiny Pokémon: 50% in Japanese games, and 14% in all other languages. [ citation needed ]

Pokémon that are transferred from Generation I games may also be Shiny, depending on their IVs. Due to correlations between pseudorandom numbers in the Generation I games, Pokémon encountered in those games in tall grass , on cave tiles , or by Surfing on water cannot have a set of IVs that would allow them to be Shiny in Generation II. Fishing encounters, gift Pokémon (including from Pokémon Stadium ), stationary Pokémon (such as Snorlax and Mewtwo ), and in-game trades can have any set of IVs, so they always have the same 1/8192 chance of having a Shiny IV combination. [9]

Due to Shininess being determined by IVs, certain oddities arise in other things that are also determined by IVs in Generation II:

• In v1.2 of Poké Transporter , when transfering Pokémon from Generation I , gender was determined randomly [10] instead of being determined by the Attack IV . As a result, prior to v1.3, it was possible for Transporter to generate "1 ♀ : 7 ♂" gender ratio Pokémon as both Female and Shiny.
• Only Unown I and V can be Shiny.
• A Shiny Pokémon's Hidden Power type in Generation II can only be either Grass or Dragon , with a power of either 49 or 69.
• In Pokémon Stadium 2 , Shiny Smeargle can only have pattern ID of 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 or 8.
• As Generation II does not allow two Pokémon to breed if they have the same Defense IVs, two Shiny Pokémon can never breed in Generation II.
• Each non-player character has a certain set of IVs shared by all of their Pokémon. Therefore, it would be technically possible for a NPC to have a team entirely consisting of Shiny Pokémon, but they cannot have a team with some Shiny and some non-Shiny Pokémon.

Shiny Ditto glitch

In Generations I and II , it is possible to use a glitch to catch a Shiny Ditto . If a wild Pokémon uses Transform twice (that is, transforms again while already transformed), when caught it will be a Ditto with the same DVs as the penultimate Pokémon it transformed into. This can be used to copy the DVs of a Shiny Pokémon owned by the player.

Generation III

In Generation III , some Shiny Pokémon appear on NPCs' teams. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen , three Trainers in the Trainer Tower have Shiny Pokémon: the Trainer on the seventh floor in the Single Battle mode has a Shiny Meowth , the pair of Trainers on the first floor in the Double Battle mode have a Shiny Espeon , and the second Trainer on the fourth floor in the Knockout Mode has a Shiny Seaking . Several Pokémon Battle e Trainers also have Pokémon which are preset as Shiny.

A bug with the way Shininess is handled for Eggs can cause the Shiny status of a Pokémon hatched from an Egg to differ from the Egg hatching animation. This means that a hatched Pokémon may appear to be Shiny during the hatching animation, but actually not be, and vice versa. This happens because an Egg is initially given the OT , Trainer ID and secret ID of the game in which it is generated, and if it is hatched in a different game, the hatched Pokémon will be given the Trainer details of that game's player; the problem originates in the fact that this update does not occur until after the cutscene of the Egg hatching, so while it may be Shiny for the player who hatched it, it may not be Shiny for the player who obtained the Egg (or vice versa). This also allows Eggs obtained from event distributions (which in Generation III were only distributed in Japan ) to hatch a Shiny Pokémon when they would otherwise be non-Shiny Pokémon. This bug was not fixed until Generation VI .

Unown also has an uneven distribution of Shiny probability depending on its form. This is because Unown 's form is also determined by its personality value . The exact probability for any given form depends on the player's Trainer ID and Secret ID, but it can have the values 1/5120, 1/6144, 1/9216, 1/10240, or 1/18432.

Generation IV

In the Generation IV remakes of Generation II's Pokémon Gold and Silver , Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver , the player once again must encounter a red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage during the course of the story.

Pokémon encountered via the PokéWalker are prevented from being shiny. [11]

Methods of increasing Shiny rates

Generation IV introduced the first ways to increase the chances of finding a Shiny Pokémon.

The Masuda method refers to breeding two Pokémon originating from games of different languages to increase the chances of breeding a Shiny Pokémon. Under these circumstances, the game generates up to five total personality values to attempt to find one that will be Shiny. Despite being obtainable in one's native language savefile, foreign language Pokémon obtained via in-game trades , such as the Meister 's Foppa and Lt. Surge 's Volty , are treated as being from the language of origin shown by the language tag, [12] [13] so if bred with a parent caught in the same save file, [14] the Masuda method will take effect.

The Poké Radar slowly improves the odds of finding a Shiny Pokémon as the player builds a chain. The odds can reach a maximum of 41/8192 (approximately 1/200) for a single patch of grass for a chain of length 40 or higher; since up to four patches of grass can shake, the total odds become approximately 1/50. If the Poké Radar forces a Pokémon to be Shiny, it constructs a semi-random personality value that will fulfill the requirement for the Pokémon to be Shiny.

Cute Charm can make it possible for players with certain Trainer ID number and Secret ID combinations to manipulate the chance of Pokémon with specific gender ratios being Shiny to be as high as 21.34% (while making the chance lower for all other players and Pokémon with different gender ratios, while using the Ability). This is due to how Cute Charm forces a wild Pokémon to be a specific gender when it activates, which is accomplished by modifying the Pokémon's personality value to be one of an extremely limited set of values.

The bug from Generation III that can cause a Pokémon's Shiny status to differ from the hatching animation persists. This again allows Eggs obtained from event distributions (which in Generation IV were only distributed in Japan ) and the Manaphy Egg to be Shiny after hatching.

Generation V

Generation V introduced a mechanism often referred to by fans as a " Shiny lock ", preventing Reshiram , Zekrom , and Victini from being encountered as Shiny, however Shiny sprites for all three exist in the games' data. All Pokémon obtained in Entree Forest (i.e., from the Pokémon Dream World ) are also prevented from being Shiny. The Zorua gifted at Castelia City B W , and the Zoroark encountered in Lostlorn Forest B W are also prevented from being Shiny.

In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 , the player can obtain three specific Shiny Pokémon (however two are mutually exclusive and cannot both be obtained by the same savefile). If the player registers every non-event Pokémon in the Unova Pokédex , they can receive a Permit that allows them to travel to the Nature Preserve , where they can encounter a Shiny Haxorus . After defeating Benga in the Black Tower B2 or White Treehollow W2 , Benga will give the player a Shiny Gible B2 or Shiny Dratini W2 , the player can only choose one. Additionally, all of N 's Pokémon that can be found in the wild or obtained as a gift are coded to never appear as Shiny.

Starting in Generation V, Pokémon in the Pokédex will appear Shiny if the first specimen of that Pokémon encountered was Shiny.

The Masuda method now generates up to six total personality values instead of five. This remains the case in later games.

Generation V also introduces the Shiny Charm , a Key Item that increases the chances of encountering Shiny Pokémon, both in the wild , (including static encounters, such as legendaries [15] ), and via breeding . This is done by generating two extra personality values to attempt to find one that is Shiny, effectively resulting in a tripled chance to find Shiny Pokémon compared to the base chance; from 1/8192 to approximately 3/8192 (roughly 1/2731). This stacks with most other modifiers which increase the Shiny encounter rate, such as the Masuda method . It has no effect on Pokémon obtained via NPCs from in-game trades , gifts , or from Event Pokémon obtained via Mystery Gift .

The bug from Generation III that can cause a Pokémon's Shiny status to differ from the hatching animation persists. This again allows Eggs obtained from event distributions to be Shiny after hatching.

Generation VI

Generation VI slightly changed how Shiny Pokémon are determined to double the default chances that a Pokémon will be Shiny. The basic formula remains the same, but the threshold for a Pokémon to be Shiny is now 16 instead of 8. This results in a base Shiny probability of approximately 16/65536, or 1/4096.

The following Pokémon are prevented from being Shiny when encountered as wild Pokémon in Pokémon X and Y : the legendary birds , the Aura trio , Mewtwo , the Snorlax encountered on Kalos Route 7 , the gifted Lucario at the Tower of Mastery , and in-game trade Pokémon.

The following Pokémon are prevented from being Shiny when encountered as wild Pokémon in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire : The Super-ancient Pokémon , Deoxys , the in-game gift Cosplay Pikachu , and in-game trade Pokémon.

The Poké Radar returns for Pokémon X and Y . The exact mechanics of the Poké Radar in these games are not confirmed, but the Poké Radar can still force a Pokémon in a shaking patch to be Shiny.

In X and Y, in the Friend Safari , Shiny Pokémon are more common. The game achieves this by generating up to four extra personality values when checking if a Pokémon will be Shiny. This effect can stack with the Shiny Charm's effect. [16]

Consecutive fishing can increase the odds of finding a Shiny Pokémon as the player builds a chain of reeled-in Pokémon by fishing from the same spot. For every Pokémon added to the chain, the game tries two extra personality values to attempt to make the Pokémon Shiny, up to a chain of 20 Pokémon, at which point the chances reach a maximum of 41/4096 or approximately 1%. This effect can stack with the Shiny Charm's effect. [17]

In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire , hidden Pokémon have a chance to be forced to be Shiny. Unlike most other methods that increase the odds of finding a Shiny Pokémon, this does not increase the number of personality values that the game tries, but instead executes a custom algorithm to decide whether to force a Shiny personality value. In brief summary, the chances of forcing a Shiny Pokémon grow steadily from 0% at Search Level 0 to 0.06% at Search Level 100 (only surpassing the natural odds of finding a Shiny Pokémon at Search Level 41), then grows steadily to 0.08% at Search Level 200, after which the rate of growth becomes 0.01% for every 100 Search Levels. Certain factors can increase the odds further by performing the check extra times. There is a random 4% chance it will be performed four extra times; if the player has the Shiny Charm it will be performed two extra times; and if the player is encountering the 50th or 100th Pokémon in a chain of hidden Pokémon, it will be performed five or ten extra times respectively. All of these bonuses stack. [18]

Generation VII

In Pokémon Sun, Moon , Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon , after entering the Hall of Fame , Sightseer Marcus appears at the Seafolk Village Pokémon Center , battling the player with a Shiny Exeggcute . This marks the only time an NPC Trainer outside of a battle facility uses a Shiny Pokémon (excluding capture tutorials).

The following Pokémon are prevented from being Shiny when encountered as wild Pokémon in Generation VII games: The Guardian deities , the Light trio , Zygarde in Resolution Cave US UM , the two Wishiwashi encountered during the Trial in Brooklet Hill S M , Pinsir on Exeggutor Island US UM , Bewear in the Hau'oli City Shopping District US UM , the Gastly and Drifloon at the Trainers' School US UM , the Sandygast on Route 15 US UM , the static encounter female Frillish on Route 14 US UM , and the Electrode found in Team Rocket's Castle .

The following Ultra Beast encounters are prevented from being Shiny in Pokémon Sun and Moon, but are not prevented from being Shiny in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon: Nihilego , Buzzwole , Pheromosa , Xurkitree , Celesteela , Kartana , and Guzzlord .

The following gift Pokémon are also prevented from being Shiny: Cosmog , Magearna , all Zygarde obtained from Route 16 and the Zygarde Cube , and all Totem -sized Pokémon obtained on Heahea Beach US UM .

Pokémon Sun and Moon

In Pokémon Sun and Moon , as well as Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon , as Pokémon in SOS Battles continue calling in allies, the chance that they will be Shiny increases. At chain lengths of 11, 21, and 31, the game will check up to four extra personality values to find a Shiny Pokémon (meaning the maximum number of personality values checked will be 13 for a chain of 31 Pokémon or more). This effect can stack with the Shiny Charm's effect. [20]

In Pokémon Sun and Moon , the chain length value is stored as an 8-bit integer . As a result, the chain length will reset to 0 if the chain length exceeds 255 due to integer overflow . This issue was fixed in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon , allowing SOS chains of any length.

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Pokémon encountered through the Ultra Warp Ride (excluding Legendary Pokémon and Ultra Beasts ) have a chance to be forced to be Shiny. The Shininess of these Pokémon is determined when the player arrives at the Ultra Space Wilds . The probability that a Pokémon encountered this way will be Shiny depends on the rarity of the wormhole and the distance traveled. [21]

Note that 3-ring "blooming" wormholes will always contain Legendary Pokémon (which do not have increased odds of being Shiny), unless all Legendary Pokémon that could be encountered in that particular wormhole have already been caught.

Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! , Shiny Pokémon rates can be increased dramatically with catch combos and lures. However, combos past 31 will have no additional effect on shiny chance.

The Catch Combo bonus is only applied to the next Pokémon of the chained species to spawn after the prior Pokémon is captured, meaning the player must continue to catch Pokémon regardless of chain length, or the bonus will not apply to any subsequent spawns. The bonus does not apply to any Pokémon that spawn nearby that do not match the currently chained species. [22]

With a catch combo of 31 or higher, a Shiny Charm , and a Lure , the next Pokémon of the chained species to spawn will have the highest shiny chance of 1/273.53.

The above three Shiny-increasing methods have no effect on in-game trades or Gift Pokémon . [23]

Generation VIII

In Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl , Pokémon that appear in the overworld use their standard coloration, regardless of whether they are Shiny or not. They will not be revealed to be Shiny until they are encountered. Walking Pokémon assigned to follow the player in Isle of Armor , Crown Tundra , and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl outdoor areas will use their correct coloration. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus , Shiny Pokémon that appear in the overworld will be colored properly, play the Shiny animation and audio cue when spawning, and periodically play the Shiny animation and audio cue while roaming the overworld.

In Pokémon Sword and Shield , there are two different types of Shiny Pokémon, distinguished only by the type of sparkle animation that plays when they enter battle. One type has an animation with star-shaped sparkles (similar to previous generations), while the other uses square-shaped sparkles.

Like Shininess itself, the type of Shiny sparkle a Pokémon has is determined by its personality value . Ordinarily, there is a 15/16 chance of a Shiny Pokémon having a personality value that yields star sparkles, and a 1/16 chance of it having a personality value that yields square sparkles. (For Shiny Pokémon obtained in Generation III, IV, or V, due to the different Shiny rate in those games, there is instead a 7/8 chance of a Shiny Pokémon having star sparkles, and a 1/8 chance of it having square sparkles.)

However, wild encounters in Pokémon Sword and Shield have drastically different rates for each Shiny sparkle type. Shiny Pokémon encountered in the wild in Pokémon Sword and Shield have a 65521/65536 chance of having square sparkles and a 15/65536 chance of having star sparkles. [24] This does not apply to Pokémon hatched from Eggs , received as gifts , or encountered in Max Raid Battles .

Shiny Pokémon obtained from Dynamax Adventures always have star sparkles. Pokémon that are guaranteed to be Shiny (i.e. from Max Raid Battles during some Wild Area News events) always have a personality value that yields square sparkles.

Additionally, starting in Pokémon Sword and Shield v1.1.0, Shiny Pokémon met in a fateful encounter or transferred from Pokémon GO always have square sparkles, regardless of their personality value. [25]

In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus , these variants are not distinguishable from each other, as all Shiny Pokémon use the same entry animation with star-shaped sparkles like in previous generations .

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, the following Pokémon are prevented from being Shiny when encountered as wild Pokémon: the Galarian Slowpoke at Wedgehurst Station , [26] the Corvisquire on Galar Route 3 , [27] Zacian , Zamazenta , Eternatus , the Galarian legendary birds , Keldeo , Glastrier , Spectrier , and Calyrex . Additionally, all in-game gift Pokémon (except the fossil Pokémon from Cara Liss ) cannot be Shiny. [28]

Pokémon that are too high a level for the player to catch with the current Badges (described as "very strong-looking" in-game) cannot be Shiny, except Pokémon that appear as static encounters.

In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, the following Pokémon are prevented from being Shiny: the Gift Mew and Jirachi in Floaroma Town , and all Pokémon available via In-game trade .

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, all Legendary , Mythical , and Gift Pokémon are prevented from being shiny, as well as certain static encounters during Missions and Requests , such as the three Alpha Pokémon found in Lake Verity , Valor , and Acuity 's caves during Missions 14, 15, and 16. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus in the request A Peculiar Ponyta the player will encounter a guaranteed Shiny Ponyta . Once you've calmed the first Frenzied Noble Pokémon , you will be able to pick up this request in Jubilife Village from Yota.

Max Raid Battles

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, whether the Pokémon currently occupying an active Pokémon Den is Shiny or not is determined when the den becomes active, and will not change if the game is reset. For dens activated with a Wishing Piece , the Shiny status of the Pokémon in the den is also predetermined for every subsequent day the den remains active. The chance of encountering a Shiny Pokémon in a Max Raid Battle is not affected by the Shiny Charm .

Although Pokémon encountered in Max Raid Battles can always be caught regardless of how many Badges the player has, if the Pokémon's level is too high for the number of Badges the player has, it will be forced not to be Shiny. However, because Shiny status is determined when the Max Raid Battle spawns, if the player earns enough Badges before defeating it, the Pokémon will be Shiny upon capture even if they lacked the required Badges when it spawned.

Wild Area News events

Pokémon Sword and Shield has had several Wild Area News events that included Shiny Pokémon. During these events, one of the 5★ Max Raid Battle encounter slots was guaranteed to be a Shiny Pokémon. As mentioned above, these guaranteed Shiny Pokémon will always have square sparkles.

The following is a list of such events in reverse chronological order:

• ↑ At the launch of The Isle of Armor , uncatchable Zeraora appeared in 3★-5★ raids. In 5★ raids, one of the Zeraora encounters was Shiny and set to a higher difficulty. Players eventually received Shiny Zeraora via Pokémon HOME as a reward for collectively defeating over 1 million Zeraora in Max Raid Battles .

Traded Eggs

Unlike in previous generations, where Eggs keep their original personality values when traded and can potentially go from Shiny to non-Shiny or vice-versa if hatched by a player with a different Trainer ID and Secret ID, Eggs traded in Generation VIII have their personality values altered according to the hatcher's TID/SID, to ensure they retain their original Shiny status when hatched by a player other than the original owner.

Pokémon Sword and Shield

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, the number of times that the player has caught or defeated each species of Pokémon increases the chance of Pokémon of that species appearing as a Brilliant Pokémon in the overworld. [31] This number is recorded in the player's Pokédex as "Number Battled". The number recorded increases when opponents are defeated in wild battles, Max Raid Battles, and Trainer battles (except Link Battles , the Battle Tower , and Restricted Sparring ).

The appearance rate of Brilliant Pokémon is further increased while chain fishing ; depending on the length of the chain, a bonus between +2% and +25% will be added to the base appearance rate. [32]

Brilliant Pokémon are more likely to be Shiny depending on the "Number Battled" for that species. When determining a Brilliant Pokémon's personality value, if the Pokémon would not be Shiny the game will regenerate the personality value a number of times depending on the "Number Battled", up to a maximum of 6 times. [33] Non-Brilliant Pokémon are not affected and do not have enhanced Shiny rates.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

In the Grand Underground , the Lightstone bonus [34] allows for 1 bonus shiny reroll after all players in an instance of the Grand Underground collect pink sparkles left by Diglett and Dugtrio that occasionally appear at corners and intersections, that give 1 and 3 points respectively.

Accumulating 40 of these points displays the message "something good will happen", and a whistle sound will play to all players in the instance. This increases the shiny odds for Pokémon in Hideaways from 1/4096 to 1/2048.25, for a period of 4 minutes. After the 4 minute period is over, a whistle will sound and the counter resets to 0, allowing Diglett and Dugtrio to appear again.

Additionally, Poké Radar chaining is available, and has Chain Bonuses that differ from Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, capping out at a Shiny Rate of 1/99 when the player reaches a chain length of 40+. [5]

Pokémon Legends: Arceus

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, completing Research Tasks to increase a Pokémon's Pokédex entry grants extra shiny rolls for that species once the entry reaches Level 10, and completing all Research Tasks for a given entry upgrades that entry to "Perfect", granting even more shiny rolls that stack with other bonus rolls.

The Shiny Charm in this game also grants 3 additional shiny rolls (instead of 2 in prior games), and is obtainable after all Pokédex entries are at Research 10.

Massive Mass Outbreaks grant 12 additional rolls, and Mass Outbreaks grant an additional 25 rolls, both of which will stack with any rolls granted from the Shiny Charm, or the player's Pokédex Research progress for that species. [7]

Generation IX

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet , all wild Shiny Pokémon will appear as Shiny in the overworld. However, unlike those found in Pokémon Legends: Arceus , there is no audio or visual effect to alert the player to a nearby Shiny prior to being encountered and beginning a battle. Additionally, while using the Auto Battle feature, walking Pokémon will refuse to attack Shiny Pokémon. However, this will not happen while using the Synchro Machine .

The star and square sparkle variants that appeared in Pokémon Sword and Shield are not present in Scarlet and Violet. Pokémon that previously appeared with square sparkles, if transferred to Scarlet or Violet, will display standard star-shaped sparkles like any other Shiny Pokémon.

When multiple players join a co-op session via the Union Circle , each player has a radius where Pokémon will generate around them, and the chance of a Shiny appearing, and their respective bonus Shiny rolls, are determined by the player that "caused" that Pokémon to appear. If multiple players stand near each other, one of the players spawns will take priority. If players stand near the player hosting the Union Circle, it appears to always prioritize the host player's spawns and respective Shiny chances.

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet , all static encounters , NPC gifts (such as the first partner Pokémon ), and NPC in-game trades (with one exception) are coded never to appear as Shiny. [36] Static encounters include:

• All legendary Pokémon, including Koraidon , Miraidon , all four treasures of ruin , all three of The Loyal Three , Ogerpon , Terapagos , and all legendary Pokémon encountered from speaking to Snacksworth .
• Titan Pokémon
• All Gimmighoul
• The Lechonk encountered during the catching tutorial on Poco Path .
• Artazon Gym Test Sunflora
• The interactable Tatsugiri at Casseroya Lake prior to the "False Dragon" Titan encounter
• Bloodmoon Ursaluna
• Gouging Fire , Raging Bolt , Iron Boulder and Iron Crown

There are also some fixed symbol encounters that are only prevented from being Shiny in v1.0.1 onward, but could generate as Shiny in v1.0.0, specifically:

• The two Green Plumage Form Squawkabilly located on the roof of the player's house in Cabo Poco
• The Wingull and Fletchling that fly away when approached in Cabo Poco, Poco Path and South Province (Area One)
• Tarountula in South Province (Area One)
• Wattrel in West Province (Area Two) and East Province (Area Two)
• Wingull in North Province (Area Three) .

Wild Tera Pokémon have the standard 1/4096 chance to appear as Shiny. [37]

Due to the RNG being limited to 32-bit seeds for Tera Raid Battles (1,046,775 possible Shiny seeds out of 4,294,967,295 possible seeds), the chance of a Shiny Pokémon appearing in a Tera Raid is 1/4103.05 rather than the typical 1/4096.

The fixed symbol encounters listed above (also known as wanderers ), wild Tera Pokémon, and Pokémon generated in Tera Raid Battles are all unaffected by the Shiny Charm and Sparkling Power from sandwiches , and Eggs only benefit from the Shiny Charm, but not from Sparkling Power.

• All wild Pokémon that appear in the Area Zero Underdepths are considered fixed symbol/wanderer encounters internally, and are subject to the restrictions above. [38]

In The Teal Mask , after completing Ogre Oustin' on Hard difficulty for the first time, the receptionist rewards the player with a Shiny Munchlax . This Munchlax has a Crafty Mark and is the maximum possible Scale .

In The Indigo Disk , Cyrano will trade a Shiny Blitzle to the player after he is invited to the League Club Room as a special coach.

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, both Mass Outbreaks and the " Sparkling Power " bonus from certain Sandwiches have an effect on the chances for a Pokémon to appear as Shiny in the wild.

Outbreaks can be cleared via catching , battling , or using the Auto Battle feature to forcibly despawn Pokémon, and this progress is retained even if the game is saved and exited, or if the player leaves the area. However, Pokémon that despawn if the player leaves the area, enters a town, or enters a Picnic will not deplete a Mass Outbreak, allowing for the player to progress to 60 cleared Pokémon, then continue respawning the Mass Outbreak encounters indefinitely. [39]

During multiplayer sessions via the Union Circle , progress in an Outbreak is shared by all players, and the Outbreaks that appear will match the host player's singleplayer session. Any progress in a given Outbreak is retained between singleplayer and multiplayer.

Poké Portal News events

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has had several Poké Portal News events that boosted the Shiny rates of certain species of Pokémon in Mass outbreaks . During these events, the Pokémon that appeared had a flat 0.5% bonus chance of being Shiny.

Unobtainable Shiny Pokémon

In all generations since Shiny Pokémon debuted, there are a few species that cannot be legitimately obtained as Shiny. These Pokémon are commonly referred to by fans as Shiny-locked .

This can happen if the Pokémon is coded not to appear as Shiny in the wild or via in-game gifts or trades and if the Pokémon cannot be bred or has never been distributed as Shiny via events .

Non-playable character's Shiny Pokémon

It is possible for all of the following NPC Pokémon to be Shiny:

• The Rattata that the dude catches in Pokémon Gold, Silver , and Crystal .
• The Poochyena / Zigzagoon that attacks Professor Birch in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire , and Emerald .
• The Zigzagoon that Wally uses in the capture tutorial in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire , and Emerald .
• The Ralts that Wally catches in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire , and Emerald (but only when he catches it and not in subsequent battles).
• The Weedle that the old man encounters in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen .
• Rental Pokémon found in the Battle Factory in Pokémon Emerald .
• Battle Frontier Pokémon used by the AI in Pokémon Emerald .
• Wild Pokémon that appear in the Battle Pike and Battle Pyramid in Pokémon Emerald .
• The Pokémon that the player uses in Battle CDs in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness .
• The Starly that attacks the player in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl , as well as in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl .
• The Bidoof that Lucas or Dawn captures in the capture tutorial in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl .
• Battle Frontier Pokémon used by the AI in Pokémon HeartGold, SoulSilver , and Platinum .
• Professor Juniper 's Minccino that appears in the "world of Pokémon" intro and the one used in the catching tutorial in Pokémon Black and White .
• Professor Juniper's Cinccino that appears in the "world of Pokémon" intro in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2
• The Purrloin that Bianca catches in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 .
• The Excadrill used by Lass Diana in her first battle in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 , if the player traded her a Shiny Excadrill.
• The Hippowdon used by Lass Diana in her second battle in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 , if the player traded her a Shiny Hippowdon.
• The Fletchling that the rival, Calem or Serena , uses in the capture tutorial in Pokémon X and Y .
• The Bunnelby that the rival, Calem or Serena, captures in the tutorial in Pokémon X and Y .
• The Exeggcute used by Sightseer Marcus in Pokémon Sun, Moon , Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon .
• Arven 's Pokémon that he uses in the battles against the Titan Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet .

In the side series games

Pokémon Stadium series

In Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2 , non-Shiny Pokémon with a nickname can be colored slightly differently. The colors a nicknamed Pokémon has are determined by the Pokémon's nickname and the Original Trainer 's Trainer ID number and name. Pokémon Eggs change colors in the same way, as the game internally considers "EGG" to be a nickname. Additionally, Smeargle's back and tail markings can be red, green or blue depending on its DVs. [40]

In Stadium 2, nicknamed Shiny Pokémon do not vary in color. This also applies to Eggs containing Shiny Pokémon, meaning it's possible to determine if a Pokémon is Shiny before it hatches since it will always be the basic Egg color.

In the Ekans Hoop Hurl game in the Pokémon Stadium series mini-games , there are golden Diglett that are worth extra points. In Pokémon Stadium 2 mini-games, when a compatible box or party Pokémon is not available from a Transfer Pak or it is disconnected, there are color variations that it defaults to .

In Stadium 2, there is an option while viewing the list to exclude any non-Shiny Pokémon from the listing (i.e. Group Color Pokémon / Cancel Color Pokémon ). This will show Shininess, even if the player is currently viewing a Generation I cartridge in the Lab.

It is possible for Challenge Cup Pokémon to be Shiny.

Pokémon Colosseum

In Pokémon Colosseum , non-Shadow Pokémon obtained in the game—such as the player's initial Espeon or Umbreon and Duking 's Plusle —are prevented from being Shiny.

There is roughly a 1/8192 chance of a Shadow Pokémon being Shiny. When a Shadow Pokémon is first encountered, it is assigned a random personality value , but the game ensures that the personality value does not cause it to be Shiny for its NPC Trainer (using that Trainer's Trainer ID and Secret ID). When the player catches the Shadow Pokémon, because it retains that same personality value but now has a different Trainer ID and Secret ID, it is possible for the Shadow Pokémon to be Shiny for the player. In subsequent encounters, the Shadow Pokémon retains the same personality value it had in the first encounter (meaning that whether it is Shiny for the player or not cannot change); however, because its NPC Trainer's Trainer ID and Secret ID can differ, it can be Shiny for its NPC Trainer in these subsequent encounters.

Purification has no effect on the Shiny status of a Pokémon: Shiny Pokémon remain Shiny, and non-Shiny Pokémon cannot become Shiny.

In Pokémon Colosseum, the color of a Shiny Pokémon can differ drastically from the handheld games.

In Pokémon XD , the game ensures that all Shadow Pokémon are not Shiny by recalculating the Pokémon's personality value if it would result in a Shiny Pokémon. However, non-Shadow Pokémon (such as the initial Eevee , in-game trades , Mt. Battle Johto first partner Pokémon , and Poké Spot Pokémon) can be Shiny.

Like in Pokémon Colosseum, the color of a Shiny Pokémon can differ drastically from the handheld games. Shiny Pokémon have a different profile icon next to their health bar than their normally-colored counterparts.

My Pokémon Ranch

In My Pokémon Ranch , Pokémon's Shininess is visible. Pokémon traded by Hayley cannot be Shiny. (Including Mew and Phione , which despite having variable personality values , they both use the antishiny ARNG generation method which prevents them from being Shiny, the same way as Type 1 Wonder Card Pokémon and Pokémon Ranger 's Manaphy Egg.)

Pokémon Battle Revolution

In Pokémon Battle Revolution , Shiny Pokémon have face-sprites which show their Shininess. Random Pokémon in Colosseum can be Shiny, but have the same chance of being Shiny as wild Pokémon. Similarly to Colosseum, the shiny Pokémon can be drastically different from their handheld counterparts.

Costumes worn by the Colosseum Leaders also have the potential to appear as Shiny, and if the Leader is encountered and defeated for the first time while wearing the Shiny variant of their costume, it will grant the player the ability to wear that gear on their Custom Pass .

In the spin-off games

Pokémon mystery dungeon series, pokémon mystery dungeon: explorers of time, darkness and sky.

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky , a Shiny Celebi is part of the story, although Shiny Pokémon are not obtainable normally in the game.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon WiiWare

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games for WiiWare , Shiny Pokémon can be found in dungeons. Unlike the core series , only 36 different species of Shiny Pokémon are obtainable. The chances of finding one in a dungeon is the same as finding one in the wild in the core series. Unlike Shiny Pokémon in the past however, the Shiny Pokémon found in these games have an added bonus: their Belly stat starts at 200 as opposed to the 100 of normal Pokémon. A Red Gyarados can also be obtained at Level 30 via Wonder Mail password, as a reference to the one found in the Johto-based games.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity , Ho-Oh can be uniquely encountered as a Shiny Pokémon at Eternal Ruins through a Legend of the Mysterious Ruins job request. This Shiny Ho-Oh has a slightly different moveset to the regular Ho-Oh that can be met. It also has a unique animation that plays before the battle begins.

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon

The Shiny Celebi from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky makes an appearance. She is rescued as part of an expedition and subsequently connects with the player. She has a unique animation that plays when entering a dungeon.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX

27 Mystery Dungeons , once completed for the first time, will have "Strong Foe" Pokémon that spawn. These Pokémon have a higher than normal chance of being Shiny compared to the main series. Shiny Pokémon cannot be recruited unless the Player has the Friend Bow equipped and the Shiny Pokémon's respective Camp purchased. Recruitment is still not guaranteed if these criteria are met.

Additionally, the Shiny Celebi from past Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games also makes a cameo appearance, and can be recruited after clearing Purity Forest and visiting Mystery Houses—rare rooms that spawn in post-game dungeons—with an invitation.

Super Smash Bros. series

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Pikachu , Jigglypuff , Mewtwo , Squirtle , Ivysaur , Charizard , Lucario , Greninja , and Incineroar each have several different colorations exclusive to the series. One of Pikachu 's alternate colorations is its Shiny coloration wearing Red 's hat. One of Jigglypuff 's alternate colorations in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is its Shiny coloration wearing a straw hat, and one of Incineroar 's alternate colorations greatly resembles its Shiny coloration; Mewtwo also has its Shiny coloration in Super Smash Bros. Melee . Squirtle and Ivysaur both have their current Shiny colorations, but Charizard has its original Shiny coloration from Pokémon Gold/Silver / Crystal . All other playable Pokémon in the series do not have their actual Shiny coloration as an alternate coloration.

Pokémon Rumble series

Pokémon rumble.

In Pokémon Rumble , Shiny Pokémon may rarely appear. They will always tip over when defeated. The chances of their appearance are unconfirmed, although they appear to occur more often than in the core series. Shiny Pokémon are always given a special trait, a blue name in menus, and a star below their picture on the Collection screen. Some Shiny Pokémon can be obtained by the use of passwords.

The Pokémon that appear during the credits can be Shiny, as well.

Pokémon Rumble U

Shiny Pokémon return to the Pokémon Rumble series in Pokémon Rumble U though are only obtainable through the use of passwords or the NFC Rumble U Figures.

Pokémon Conquest

A Shiny Rayquaza is featured in Pokémon Conquest , sharing a Perfect Link with Nobunaga , and is his Pokémon of choice during the final battle of the main scenario. Nobunaga's Black Rayquaza was distributed over Wi-Fi for Japanese Black and White players to commemorate the release of the game.

Pokémon Shuffle

There are 15 Shiny Pokémon, including Mega Evolved Pokémon, in Pokémon Shuffle : Charizard , Gengar , Magikarp , Gyarados , Mewtwo , Tyranitar , Ho-Oh , Gardevoir , Metagross , Rayquaza , Genesect , Hawlucha , Xerneas , Yveltal , and Diancie . Shiny Pokémon are treated as alternate forms of the standard Pokémon, sharing its Pokémon list number but not its Skill , experience, level, Mega Effect (where applicable), and sometimes type.

In Pokémon GO , certain Pokémon species have a chance of being Shiny, with each species having its own Shiny rate. For most Pokémon, the Shiny rate is approximately 1 in 512. However, in certain in-game events , the Shiny chance may be increased for certain Pokémon. For example, on Community Days , the featured Pokémon will always have increased Shiny odds. Shiny Pokémon may be encountered through any method: randomly in the wild , from hatching Eggs , by completing Field Research tasks, by winning Raid Battles , or as GO Battle League rewards. All Pokémon seen in the overworld appear non-Shiny, but when a player attempts to capture a Pokémon, it may appear as a Shiny Pokémon. Likewise, during a Raid Battle, the Raid Boss always appears non-Shiny during battle, but it may become Shiny during the bonus challenge. Shiny encounters are random for each player, meaning that if two players attempt to catch the same Pokémon, one player may encounter a Shiny Pokémon and the other may not.

Pokémon Duel

There are several figures that are Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Duel . These figures are usually posed identically or near-identically to their regular Pokémon counterparts. A Shiny figure's Data Disk is always identical to the regular version's but a few have different Abilities. A Shiny figure cannot evolve or change form into a non-Shiny figure nor vice-versa. Additionally, a Shiny figure cannot be selected to be made into a Golden or Silver Figure . The following is a list of Shiny figures.

Pokémon: Magikarp Jump

A Shiny Magikarp , referred to as a Gold Magikarp, is one of the possible Magikarp to fish in Pokémon: Magikarp Jump . Shiny Feebas , Luvdisc and Corsola may also appear in random encounter events during feeding. If the player breaks the Everstone that the Shiny Magikarp is holding and evolves it into a Gyarados , the Gyarados will also be Shiny.

Pokémon Quest

Shiny Pokémon are available in Pokémon Quest , with their standard alternate color scheme. However, this only applies to the model of the Pokémon. The icon for the Pokémon will use the standard coloration. The "short detail block" for the Pokémon, seen in various menus when selecting the Pokémon (often, just above the Power Charm ), includes a white star in the lower left corner.

In the Pokédex , if the player has obtained a Shiny Pokémon of the species, then while viewing the details for that species the same white star will be present to the right of the species name, now enclosed in a yellow box. Tapping the Pokémon displayed will cause it to switch to the Shiny coloration. A second tap reverts the colors to normal These are not saved at any point, moving to a different Pokémon's information or closing the Pokédex resets the displayed color to normal.

The only gameplay related benefit to having a Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Quest is that obtaining one completes the "Shiny Pokémon" Challenge Quest, which rewards 20 PM Tickets.

The exact chance of a Pokémon the player befriends being Shiny is unknown, but is estimated to be between 1/75 and 1/100. It is unknown if wild Pokémon in stages are able to be Shiny.

Pokémon Masters EX

In Pokémon Masters EX , some of the Egg Pokémon have a chance to be Shiny. Other characters would later form sync pairs with Shiny Pokémon. A Shiny Celebi also makes its appearance during the special events Double Trouble and Blasting Off Again .

The following is a list of sync pairs with Shiny Pokémon.

Pokémon Café ReMix

In Pokémon Café Mix , there was only Shiny Celebi available as a part of special event from December 23, 2020, to January 31, 2021. There were no new Shiny Pokémon added until the major overhaul.

In Pokémon Café ReMix, Shiny Pokémon can now be found randomly when selecting a customer. Similar to Pokémon GO , new Shiny Pokémon are added over time, the first being Shiny Minccino and Eevee . Shiny variants are treated as separate Pokémon, although they share the same speciality (except for Celebi), skill and alternate outfits with normal variants. From January 12, 2022, the "Shuffle Customers" button now shines if there's a Shiny Pokémon in the customer pool.

Sometimes there are events called Welcome, Shiny Pokémon! that increase Shiny encounter rate for specific Pokémon, or in Shiny Rowlet 's case, are distributed via daily stamp during certain events. The following is a list of such events in reverse chronological order:

Pokémon UNITE

From February 22, 2024 to March 12, 2024, Shiny Rayquaza replaced the regular Rayquaza that normally appears as an objective Pokémon on Theia Sky Ruins .

Many cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game feature Shiny Pokémon. Most of these cards are regular cards. Usually, they have especially high Rarity compared to cards that do not have Shiny Pokémon, assuming they are not released as a Black Star Promo . Sometimes, that means they are released as secret cards , cards with a collection number greater than the listed number of cards in the set itself. In certain cases, mostly seen in older sets like Stormfront , that instead meant giving them a unique set of collectors numbers with the special prefix of SH or SL. Later sets introduced dedicated "shiny" rarities for Shiny Pokémon cards. Either way, these cards are generally harder to obtain than they would be otherwise. Furthermore, the high rarity also usually means the cards are available exclusively as holofoil cards, giving the cards a physical sparkle to match the ones seen in the video games.

Shiny Pokémon were major parts of the Hidden Fates , Shining Fates , and Paldean Fates sets, with the prior two sets having a subset named Shiny Vault dedicated to the Shiny Pokémon cards. The sheer number of included Shiny Pokémon was a selling point for all three sets, with Hidden Fates advertised as having over 75 such cards, Shining Fates advertised as having over 100 Shiny Pokémon, and Paldean Fates taking the crown with more than 130 such creatures. [41] [42] [43] The Shiny Pokémon in these sets are reprints of other cards from their series, with new artwork showing the Shiny variation of the species.

These three sets also introduce a convention of having Shiny Pokémon artwork consist of the Pokémon on a white background with star and sparkle visuals, which is always followed within these sets and on promotional cards related to these sets. Hidden Fates and Shining Fates cards additionally use action lines. The Pokémon VMAX cards in Shining Fates instead use a background with a rainbow gradient. Said VMAX exclusive background is sometimes drawn with a swirl.

There are also mechanics in the TCG that involve Shiny Pokémon. All Pokémon cards that use mechanics are Basic Pokémon , even if the species would normally be printed as Evolution Pokémon , and are generally restricted to 1 per deck.

• Later reintroduced in the Shining Legends expansion, but no longer with the rule restricting the number of copies played nor costs including multiple Energy types..

• Radiant Pokémon , introduced in the Astral Radiance expansion. They have the Radiant Pokémon rule, contained within a Rule Box , which only allows for 1 Radiant Pokémon to be in a deck total. This means that no other Radiant Pokémon can be in the deck. They are, in fact, a subgroup of Shiny Pokémon. [44]

The Dual-type Pokémon cards featured in the Steam Siege expansion feature Shiny Pokémon, except for Volcanion-EX . This group of cards is not associated with Shiny Pokémon otherwise, use normal evolutionary stages, and do not have a restriction on number of copies per deck.

In the anime

Main series.

Although the games had not premiered alternate colored Pokémon until Generation II , several Pokémon seen beforehand were colored differently. One such example is the pink Butterfree , the mate of Ash's Butterfree , which appeared as early as the twenty-first episode . This is, however, not the standard alternate coloration for a Butterfree , and therefore may not be counted as a Shiny Pokémon. Likewise, the first appearance of a Generation III Pokémon in The Kecleon Caper featured a non-standard alternately colored Pokémon, this time a purple Kecleon . Another example would be in Fighting Back the Tears! , where a non-standard alternately colored Mareanie (who happens to be James's Mareanie 's first love) appears, and later evolves into a Toxapex .

In the Orange Archipelago , certain Pokémon have a different coloration because the climate is different than that of the mainland. For example, a Butterfree, instead of the normal white with black markings, would have gold wings with red spots on them. On Pinkan Island of the Orange Archipelago, all of the Pokémon are colored pink because the Pinkan Berries they eat make them that way.

The first true Shiny Pokémon that appeared was a Noctowl in Fowl Play! . Ash eventually caught it, and, as in the games, sparkles surround it as it comes from its Poké Ball . Several other Shiny Pokémon have appeared later as well, often used to make them stand out more, or be the focus of an episode. The term "Shiny" was first used in Working on a Right Move! .

Pokémon Generations

In The Lake of Rage , the Red Gyarados appeared at the Lake of Rage .

Pokémon: Hisuian Snow

A Shiny Hisuian Zorua debuted in Onto the Icy Blue , which was befriended by Alec . In Two Hues , it was revealed to have evolved into a Zoroark .

In the manga

Because most manga series are published in black-and-white , Shiny Pokémon are few and far between. One major exception, because of its importance to the plot of Gold, Silver , Crystal , HeartGold, and SoulSilver , is the red Gyarados .

Movie adaptations

A Red Genesect appeared in Genesect and the Legend Awakened .

A Shiny Rayquaza appeared in Hoopa and the Clash of Ages . It had the ability to Mega Evolve into a Mega Rayquaza.

Pocket Monsters HGSS Jō's Big Adventure

In Pocket Monsters HGSS Jō's Big Adventure , Jō and his Totodile befriend the red Gyarados by calming its rampage and feeding it Berries . It later appears to help Jō and Lance battle Ariana and Petrel .

Pokémon Adventures

Gold, Silver & Crystal arc

In Raise the Red Gyarados , Silver caught a Shiny Gyarados , the raging leader of a group of Gyarados, who had been on a rampage since Team Rocket took control of the Goldenrod Radio Tower and sent out their evolution -inducing radio waves.

Crystal mentioned that she had caught a different-colored Pineco as part of the Pokémon sent to Professor Oak in Off Course with Corsola .

Black & White arc

A Shiny Genesect appeared in The Shadow Triad , although it wasn't revealed to be Shiny at this time.

Black 2 & White 2 arc

In Giant Chasm , the Shiny Genesect was revealed to be owned by Colress , who used it to battle Blake's Genesect .

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

The red Gyarados, owned by Lance , appeared in Flash of the Titans! . It participated in the finals of the World Coronation Series and was defeated by Leon and his Charizard .

A Shiny Larvesta appeared in the final chapter of the manga. It evolved into a Volcarona , which Goh collected scales from to clear his Project Mew Trial Mission .

Pokémon Pocket Monsters

The Red Gyarados made an appearance in Stop That Strange Sonic Sound!! , where Team Rocket plotted on catching it by luring it out of hiding using sonic waves, while at the same time, Clefairy went fishing for it. The Red Gyarados is darker than any normal-colored Gyarados in this media.

• Confusingly, this means that if a player hatches a traded Egg that would have been Shiny on the game it was originally bred on, it will appear Shiny on the hatching screen (since it still has the ID and SID of the original game), and then suddenly no longer be Shiny afterward (once it has obtained the ID and SID of the hatcher's game). Conversely, it is also possible for a newly hatched Egg to not appear Shiny on the hatching screen and then suddenly become Shiny afterward, if the Egg has been traded.
• While all (Generation III onward) event Eggs are set to prevent or force Shininess, if a player other than the one who obtained it from the event hatches the Egg, this prevention is bypassed, allowing an event Egg to hatch Shiny. This is the only way to obtain a Shiny Manaphy .
• Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 have the most in-game event Shiny Pokémon available (excluding Wild Area News ), with two.
• Before Generation VIII , Castform 's weather forms and Magearna 's default form had the same colors regardless of whether they were Shiny or not (although the latter is not legitimately available in its Shiny coloration).
• In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet , during one of Jacq 's biology classes, he mentions "the chance of finding a Shiny Pokémon in the wild is 1 in 4000", which is an inaccurate approximation compared to the true standard chance of 1/4096.

In other languages

Different-colored Pokémon

• Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
• Trainers with Shiny Pokémon
• ↑ Pokémon Gold Disassembly
• ↑ @DrLavaYT on Twitter
• ↑ @JamesTurner_42 on Twitter
• ↑ PokeRadar RNG wwwwwwzx/3DSRNGTool · GitHub
• ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1462473371917111303
• ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1486699504732717057
• ↑ 7.0 7.1 https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1498056331315625984
• ↑ 8.0 8.1 https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonScarletViolet/comments/yygwqr/shiny_rates_infographic/
• ↑ Pokémon Red/Blue Wild DVs
• ↑ https://twitter.com/SciresM/status/824147081698967555
• ↑ https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/past-gen-rng-research.61090/post-2634864 Pokewalker RNG Research
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1558955387369439232
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Atrius97/status/1558988423460925440
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1558956869829492737
• ↑ https://github.com/Admiral-Fish/PokeFinder/issues/17
• ↑ Friend Safari RNG · wwwwwwzx/3DSRNGTool Wiki · GitHub
• ↑ Pokemon 6G Chain Fishing Probability Analysis
• ↑ Pokemon ORAS DexNav Shiny Encounter Probability Analysis
• ↑ kawayoo confirming he drew the Shiny Tapu Koko event art.
• ↑ wwwwwwzx on Twitter
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1492970750264979456
• ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonLetsGo/comments/a48ruf/shiny_chances_an_update/
• ↑ https://twitter.com/SciresM/status/1197039032112304128
• ↑ https://twitter.com/SciresM/status/1273492861065912320
• ↑ https://github.com/kwsch/PKHeX/blob/e7d60a88de8b89b687aae46f2ed151cc81249eb7/PKHeX.Core/Legality/Encounters/Data/Gen8/Encounters8.cs#L342
• ↑ https://github.com/kwsch/PKHeX/blob/e7d60a88de8b89b687aae46f2ed151cc81249eb7/PKHeX.Core/Legality/Encounters/Data/Gen8/Encounters8.cs#L101
• ↑ https://github.com/kwsch/PKHeX/blob/e7d60a88de8b89b687aae46f2ed151cc81249eb7/PKHeX.Core/Legality/Encounters/Data/Gen8/Encounters8.cs#L35-L70
• ↑ https://www.serebii.net/swordshield/maxraidbattles/eventden-waterevent.shtml
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Pokemon_cojp/status/1275629411514175488
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1448334955461939210
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1448334998474477577
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1448335003834851333
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1459147114110492676
• ↑ Kazama confirming he drew the SV Shiny Lucario Event art.
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1602047739751432192
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1601990024920444928
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1753874296772935729
• ↑ https://twitter.com/Atrius97/status/1593273003957055488
• ↑ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u4PDIfP9VerQSQibzHPzQh5oRNBUhmEi10F4kZ2uuho/edit?usp=sharing
• ↑ Hidden Fates dedicated site
• ↑ Shining Fates dedicated site
• ↑ MEDIA ALERT: Pokémon Trading Card Game: Scarlet & Violet—Paldean Fates Expansion Launches Today, Marking Return of Shiny Pokémon
• ↑ Astral Radiance overview
• Articles needing sources
• Articles needing more information
• Variant Pokémon
• Pokémon world
• Game mechanics

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The Rarest Shiny Pokemon In Every Pokemon Game

• Shiny Pokemon are rare, with generally only a 1/4096 chance of encountering them in the wild.
• A few games, such as Pokemon Sword & Shield, have DLC that increases your chance of success.
• Some shinies, like shiny Munchlax, are extremely difficult to catch with odds of 1/4,300,800.

Pokemon is one of the world's biggest franchises, and just one look at some of the iconic and adorable critters populating its world is enough to see why. What you may not know, however, is that for every Pokemon design, there exists an alternate version with different colors. These "shiny" variants account for just 1/4096 (or 1/8192 in games prior to X & Y) of a species, so they're extremely rare.

Pokemon Scarlet And Violet: The Hardest Pokemon To Shiny Hunt

Despite this, some dedicated players spend their time seeking out these elusive shinies for their collections. One thing these shiny hunters would be quick to tell you is that not all hunts are created equal — for a whole host of factors, some shinies are far more difficult to obtain than others. Here's a look at the shiny Pokemon that, for various reasons, are the hardest but therefore most satisfying, to catch.

Updated on May 21, 2024, by Marissa Fiore: The Pokemon Series only continues to grow, and with it, the number of shinies that prove difficult to catch. Along with adding another entry, this list has also been updated to reflect our current publication standards.

Shiny Hunting Tera Raids

Pokemon scarlet & violet.

While shiny hunting in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet has been made easier on the whole thanks to sandwiches that increase the odds of finding shiny Pokemon based on type, that doesn't include Tera Raids. There are two reasons for this. The first, which has less to do with odds but more to do with appearance, is that you can't tell when a Tera Pokemon is shiny by how the Tera Crystal looks or when you are joining a Tera Raid online.

The second has to do with the odds themselves. It doesn't matter if you've eaten a sandwich with your team before attempting to hunt these Tera Pokemon, these bonuses do not affect the odds within a Tera Raid. This keeps the odds of all Pokemon being shiny locked at 1/4096.

The Shiny Charm, which you get for completing the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Pokedex, also does not increase your shiny odds when it comes to Tera Raids.

Hat Pokemon

While Pokemon Go has a reputation for being incredibly easy to shiny hunt in due to its massively boosted shiny rate, Pokemon that are very rare within the game still make for challenging hunts. Some of Pokemon Go's rarest Pokemon are ones that spawn wearing hats for various celebrations and events in the game.

Given that these Pokemon are available for such short windows of time, few players have them, and even fewer have shiny versions, so it's safe to say that hat Pokemon are the rarest shinies in Pokemon Go.

Shiny Ditto

Ditto is a unique Pokemon to shiny hunt as, unlike almost every other Pokemon in the series, you can't breed it, making it impossible to use the Masuda Method - a common go-to for quick hunting. The only other unbreedable Pokemon are legendaries, though all of them are huntable in some way via very fast soft-reset encounters due to their roles in games' stories, or in places like the Dynamax Adventure den, Ramanas Park, or the Ultra Worhmoles.

This leaves Ditto as a Pokemon with no "quick" way to hunt. There are options available to avoid full-odds encounters - radar chaining, and Let's Go's catch combos are both possible - but Ditto is noteworthy nonetheless as a Pokemon where neither of the standard hunting methods are possible.

An SOS Chained Beldum

Pokemon sun & moon.

SOS chaining is a mechanic introduced in the Alola games that can cause wild Pokemon to call for help as they become damaged in battle, bringing other wild Pokemon into the battle. Knocking out the original Pokemon and damaging the ally so that it calls for help gets a chain going, and as the chain progresses, the allies called in have increased odds of being shiny.

Pokemon: The Best White Shiny Pokemon

The problem with Beldum is that it only knows one move - Take Down. This is a recoil move, meaning that every time it uses it, it'll damage itself, and eventually knock itself out. Even if you continually knock out Beldum as they call for help and are replaced by allies, a few unlucky turns with no calls for help are all that's needed to end your chain. A ghost-type that's immune to Take Down can fix this problem, but then you've got to worry about your own PP.

Any Pokemon In A Safari Zone

In the first four generations of Pokemon, one staple feature of the games was the Safari Zone, an area where you could catch uncommon and powerful Pokemon. Encounters in the Safari Zone don't work like they do elsewhere, though. Instead of battling to weaken the wild Pokemon, you simply throw things at it (Safari Balls, rocks, etc) until it runs away or you catch it. Safari Zone Pokemon typically run away in just a few turns, and they can be super hard to catch.

The mechanics vary slightly from generation to generation, but that's the general idea and it's easy to see why this makes for such brutal shiny hunting. It's common to finally encounter a shiny only to have it flee before you can catch it.

The Kalos Starter Pokemon

Pokemon x & y.

The soft reset method of hunting sees frequent use for a few types of Pokemon. Legendaries are one common example, but Starter Pokemon are another: who wouldn't want to play through the whole game with an extra-special version of their partner?

What makes Generation 6's starters such a nasty hunt is the time between resets. There are over two minutes of cutscenes between your save point and finding out if your choice is shiny or not. An honorable mention goes to Generation 7's Starters for having a similar problem.

Faraway Island Mew

Pokemon emerald.

Faraway Island was exclusive to Pokemon Emerald and originally only accessible by attending a distribution event in Japan. However, it's now possible to get there yourself by taking advantage of some glitches in Emerald's code — a lot of glitches. Known as the "Pomeg Berry Glitch," this is a ridiculously lengthy and complicated process of over 30 steps to ultimately access the island yourself.

Of course, once getting there, it's not even over. Mew still has to be hunted by soft resetting like any other special Pokemon encounter.

Curry Pokemon

Pokemon sword & shield.

Sword and Shield's Wild Area introduced the camping mechanic to the Pokemon series, and one of the options available to you within a camp is to cook a curry for your Pokemon. Sometimes, wild Pokemon will be drawn in by the smell of the meal, and when they approach you, you have the option to catch them.

Curry Pokemon can indeed be shiny, making this a viable hunting method. The problem is that cooking a curry is a tedious process - far longer than the likes of a soft reset - and once you've cooked it, the odds of a Pokemon even showing up are slim.

Dynamax Adventure Zygarde

In Pokemon Sword & Shield's Crown Tundra, Dynamax Adventures boost shiny odds to an amazing 1/100 . Because of this, they're seen as a fairly relaxed way to catch shiny Legendaries, but there's one Pokemon to whom this breezy attitude cannot apply: Zygarde.

Pokemon: Every Ultra Beast, Ranked

In addition to already being a strong Pokemon, Zygarde's ability means that just when it's getting to half health — right as players would be gaining the upper hand — it changes forms, regenerating health and gaining a massive stat boost. It also has two powerful spread moves, meaning it can wipe your whole squad very quickly. And, if you're super unlucky on the RNG, you'll have to win this battle potentially upward of 100 times. Good luck.

Roaming Legendaries

Particularly prevalent in Gen 4, roaming Legendaries move around the map as the player does, making them very difficult to encounter. Hunting one of these roamers means saving your game before causing the Pokemon to start roaming, wandering the region until the roamer is encountered, and then if it's not shiny, reloading the save and repeating ("soft resetting").

This is an incredibly tedious process, as, unlike soft resets for a static Legendary, it can take a very long time between loading saves. Catching a shiny roamer would be very exciting, but finding it in the first place is no mean feat.

Shadow Pokemon

Pokemon colosseum.

On paper, hunting Shadow Pokemon isn't that hard - pick your target reset until it shines, and catch it. The idea that a shiny Shadow Pokemon can become non-shiny upon purification is actually a myth, so once you have the shiny, you should have nothing to worry about.

Unfortunately, "once you have the shiny" is the issue here. This is another hunt that makes the list due to the frustration factor, as while hunting in Colosseum was intended to work normally, there's a bug that means Pokemon can be shiny when sent out by opponents, but non-shiny once you capture them. Imagine finally seeing your target shine only to have it turn normal when you catch it - heartbreaking.

Pokemon Generations 3 And 4

Feebas is found on Route 119 in Hoenn and in Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh — simple, right? Not exactly. In those areas, Feebas can only be fished up on a tiny number of the hundreds of fishing tiles (six in Hoenn and four in Sinnoh). Even on those tiles, it's only a 50 percent encounter, so each tile might have to be fished multiple times to properly check for Feebas spots.

10 Best Pokemon Games On Nintendo DS

Once you do finally find a tile, you still have to hunt Feebas at odds of 1/8192. The tiles change daily though, so to pick up the hunt the next day, you'd have to go through all this again.

An Authentic Sinistea

There are two forms of Sinistea ; the phony form, and the antique, or "authentic" form. The latter is distinguished only by a tiny sticker under the base of the cup. It also isn't found anywhere at better odds than 1 percent. This puts the odds of encountering a shiny, authentic Sinistea at 1 in 409,600 .

While this seems like a ridiculous amount of work for such a tiny difference, think of how exciting it would be to actually have something so rare. It's been enough of an incentive for one remarkably determined player to actually take on the hunt.

Pokemon In The Gen 1 Games

If you're familiar with shinies, you'll likely know that they were introduced with Gold & Silver, meaning they didn't exist in the Generation 1 games. What you may not know, however, is that it is technically possible to find a shiny in these games; crucially, in Generation 2, whether or not a Pokemon was shiny was determined by its IVs.

Ranking All Of The Baby Pokemon From Worst To Best

So if you caught a Pokemon in Generation 1 with shiny IVs, it would become shiny upon transfer to Generation 2. The difficulty with hunting here comes from the fact that there's no way to know if the Pokemon you're catching is shiny.

Pokemon Ranger Manaphy

Though not as hard to acquire these days , when Manaphy first became available, it was a gift for beating the first Pokemon Ranger game. Crucially, this egg was the same every time, so there's no way to soft reset for it. In fact, it's shiny-locked by default, meaning it could never be shiny.

Trading removes this shiny-lock, so the best way to hunt Manaphy is to buy and finish multiple copies of Pokemon Ranger, hoping the codes are still unused, then trade the eggs between multiple DS consoles, hatch them, and start over at pre-trade if they're not shiny.

Munchlax in Sinnoh

Pokemon diamond & pearl.

Many Pokemon fans have likely heard stories of the fabled Munchlax trees in the Gen 4 games — they're true. Of the 21 honey trees in the game, a random four (it's impossible to know which four) will have just a 1 percent chance of a Munchlax encounter. What's more, these are painfully slow honey tree encounters, not regular encounters. You have to slather honey on a tree, then wait several hours before a Pokemon spawns. Honorable mentions go to Vespiquen in Sinnoh and Heracross in Johto for similar, though not as bad, situations.

Crunching all the numbers, the odds of a shiny Munchlax on any given honey tree encounter are around 1/4,300,800. And those encounters are not fast. It's a grueling hunt requiring an inhuman amount of patience — and a worthy winner of the title of hardest shiny to catch.

How Long To Beat Every Pokemon Game?

The 30 Best Shiny Pokémon Forms, Ranked

While some Pokémon don't drastically change in shiny form, some shiny Pokémon stand out with their unique color schemes and appealing new designs.

Shiny Pokémon were first introduced in the Generation II Pokémon games — Silver , Gold, and Crystal — and is a welcome tradition that's persevered into Gen IX. Starting with the Generation V games, the odds of encountering a Shiny Pokémon have increased from 1/8192 to a still-rare 1/4096. Due to these unlikely odds, Shiny hunting is not for the impatient. It takes immense determination due to the minuscule odds of encountering one. When a player does catch a Shiny, it can be one of the most exciting moments in a Pokémon journey.

In Pokémon Sword and Shield , the odds of catching a shiny are still 1/4096. However, if players complete the Pokédex and obtain the Shiny Charm, the odds increase to 1/1365. Players can also improve their Shiny chances using the Masuda breeding method, which involves breeding two species from different real-world regions. Regardless, this mechanic has paved the way for some aesthetically pleasing new color schemes for various Pokémon.

Updated on May 16, 2024, by Guillermo Kurten: Shiny Pokemon have always been beloved by the community since the mechanic's debut in the Gen II games. Now with Scarlet and Violet, released players have over 1,000 creatures to choose from to Shiny hunt. This list has been updated to spotlight five more noteworthy Shiny Pokemon forms available in the mainline games.

30 Shiny Iron Thorns Leans Into Its Kaiju Influences

Green's 8 best pokémon in the adventures manga.

With Generation IX's Pokémon Scarlet and Violet bringing the species count to over 1,000 unique species, more Shiny designs can be found in the wild. The Violet -exclusive Iron Thorns is among them, taking its Tyranitar parallels another step forward with its futuristic spin.

Iron Thorns is one of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet 's Paradox species, which function as counterparts and distant relatives from existing creatures from the world's main timeline. Tyranitar was already meant to take cues from Godzilla, and Iron Thorns borrowed from his robotic rival Mechagodzilla. The latter's Shiny form gives it a metallic finish, leaning even harder into its Kaiju-inspired roots.

29 Mew Is An Elegant Redesign

Mew is the iconic Kento Mythical creature from the Gen I Pokémon games, forever known as the elusive 151st species . Players can't obtain one legitimately in the original Game Boy games anymore, making its Shiny form in Gen II even more coveted. Like many other Pokémon, Mew gets a simple yet effective redesign for its Shiny form.

Changing the color palette to a straightforward light blue was an easy way to give the Psychic-Type an elegant variant. Even if some Legendary creatures can be obtained in somewhat unceremonious Wi-Fi giveaways in more modern games, this spin on Mew will always be a fan-favorite for many.

28 Decidueye Complements Its Ghost Typing Better

Like Greninja in Gen VI's Pokémon X and Y for the Nintendo 3DS, Decidueye was an instant favorite of the Sun and Moon starters. A dual Grass/Ghost-Type species, this creature is a clever combination of an owl with a Robin Hood motif, complete with a natural bow and arrow.

Giving a starter Pokémon a secondary Ghost typing is particularly interesting, but its Shiny variant complements Decidueye better than the base form. This version swaps its green and beige aesthetics for a darker teal and black, fitting the nocturnal "ghost owl" theme. Decidueye could also be inspired by the barn owl since, in certain areas, the latter is known as the "ghost owl."

27 Ho-Oh Draws Even More From Its Phoenix Roots

The Legendary Ho-Oh has one of the most majestic designs, first appearing in a cameo during the first episode of the Pokémon anime and in Gold and Silver for the Game Boy Color. The dual Fire/Flying-Type embraces its phoenix theme, while its Shiny variation makes it stand out further.

Ho-Oh's Fire typing is already reminiscent of the trope about phoenixes rising from ashes, and the color swap to a bright orange emphasizes that even more. It's a great and visually striking alternate form that supports the Pokémon's theme just as much as its original version. Another excellent, if subtle feature is Ho-Oh's back row of wing feathers adopting the darker orange accents of its base form.

26 Shiny Gigalith Feels Like A Properly Rare Gemstone

Several of Gen V's Unova region Pokémon from Black and White served as analogs to some Kanto species, Gigalith included. The pure Rock-Type Pokémon seems to be Unova's equivalent to Gen I's Golem, and its Shiny form fits the elusive theme of this mechanic.

Gigalith's design appears inspired by earth elemental creatures from various folklores, taking on a crystalline form. It's mostly dark blue with red accents normally, but its Shiny form leans into the stunning crystal-themed aesthetic. Gigalith's red accents — including its pupils — turn into a light blue, which also pairs well thematically with how rare Shiny Pokémon are in the first place.

25 Shiny Groudon Is A Sharp Contrast From Its Normal Form

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Alongside the creatures Kyogre and Rayquaza, Groudon is part of the beloved Super-Ancient Legendary Pokémon trio . Particularly with its rivalry with Kyogre, this beast has fascinating lore in the world, with its powers to expand landmasses effortlessly clashing with the former's ability to expand the seas.

Groudon already has an incredibly imposing dinosaur-like design, and the primary red coloring fits its ability to manipulate the land and magma, making its yellow-green shiny variant stand out so much. It's a stark but clever contrast to its base colors, making Shiny Groudon one of the most hunted variants in the mainline Pokémon games.

24 Shiny Greninja Fits The Ninja Motif

While the Kalos region games aren't the most memorable titles of the mainline series, Greninja quickly became one of the most popular starters and Pokémon in general. The base version of this species is already one of the most inventive modern creature designs, combining a frog with a ninja theme.

However, Greninja's Shiny variation is perhaps the best of the two, swapping its primary blue color scheme to black. Another simple alteration, but it does wonders for the Pokémon's creature design, as it doubles down on the frog's ninja motif.

23 Shiny Chandelure Is A Perfect Parallel To Its Base Color Scheme

Turning inanimate objects into Pokémon is often controversial in online fan circles, but Black and White 's Chandelure is perhaps one of the best examples. Based on a chandelier, Chandelure is a Ghost/Fire species that turns the flashy decoration into a possessed living being.

Naturally, that makes its base color scheme of blue-purple fit the ghostly aspect of the Pokémon, which makes its Shiny version the perfect parallel. This variant gives Chandelure's flames a traditional orange and its body a brighter tone to contrast its normal design.

22 Shiny Suicune Is A Subtle But Elegant Change

The Legendary Beast trio from the Johto region have been fan favorites since their debut on the Game Boy Color games, with the Water-type Suicune having some of the most significant story and lore content across Pokémon media. True to its Water typing, Suicune has arguably the most regal design of its contemporaries, and its Shiny form only adds to it.

This Shiny variant makes subtle changes, with its crest having a lighter blue and its mane swapping from purple to a darker blue. However, these small alterations look great together, leaning into Suicune's elegant and ethereal aesthetic qualities.

21 Shiny Metagross Gets More Lustrous Qualities

The Game Boy Advance Hoenn games are special by having two Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon — the Dragon/Flying-type Salamence and the Steel/Psychic Metagross. The latter is among the strongest species in its category, with a UFO-like design to complement its powerful Steel typing.

Instead of the blue and gray combination, Shiny Metagross gets a silver-gray primary color with yellow-gold accents. This is one of the most striking Shiny redesigns, giving the Pokémon an even more lustrous aesthetic quality to match its dual Type.

20 Shiny Tinkaton Makes The Endearing Heavy-Hitter Even More So

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Tinkaton is a Fairy and Steel-type Pokémon first introduced in Generation IX. Tinkaton, and the rest of its three-stage evolution line beginning with Tinkatink, are based on dwarves or gnomes. They're a natural predator of Corviknight and will try to knock them out of the sky by pelting them with rocks. This can explain the silver and blue coloring of Tinkaton's hammer.

For its shiny, Tinkaton's hammer rusts. Nothing else changes in its shiny design. Just hours of tireless work with its reliable hammer. Some Pokémon fans speculate that the hammer color changes to reflect Corviknight's shiny form.

19 Shiny Lechonk Makes A New Fan-Favorite Even More Charming

Lechonk is a popular Normal-type Pokémon first introduced in Generation IX. Lechonk quickly became a fan-favorite upon its reveal for its small, adorable, and round pig design. Lechonk is constantly following its strong nose in search of food, which has resulted in its body being built up by muscles instead of fat.

Lechonk, along with its evolution Oinkologne, typically has black and brown coloring, which is common for real-world hogs. However, the black coloring in their shiny forms is replaced with pink, which is a color most commonly associated with pigs.

18 Shiny Klawf Is A Simple, Tasteful Color Change

Klawf is a Rock-type Pokémon first introduced in Generation IX. Klawf was one of the first Pokémon introduced for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and used to introduce Titan Pokémon. Titan Pokémon are variations of normal Pokémon that are massive in size. Trainers must defeat numerous Titan Pokémon throughout the Scarlet and Violet story.

Klawf's shiny form replaces its red coloring with blue. This is likely a reference to blue crabs, which are commonly found along the east coast of North America and the western edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Blue crabs are especially popular in the state of Maryland where it's the Maryland state crustacean.

17 Shiny Cetitan Gives The Imposing Creature A Slick Recolor

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Cetitan is an Ice-type Pokémon first introduced in Generation IX. Cetitan is Cetoddle's evolution when exposed to an Ice Stone. Cetitan has five horns, but its front-most horn is the source of many of its ice abilities, like freezing its surroundings and gathering ice energy.

Cetitan normally has simple white and gray skin with subtle pink coloring throughout, but its shiny form looks much sleeker. The gray coloring remains, but the white is replaced with black while the pink is replaced with orange. This leads to a drastically different look that stands out compared to its normal variant.

16 Shiny Futuristic Paradox Pokémon Take "Shiny" Literally

Paradox Pokémon are one of the most fascinating additions to Scarlet and Violet . Paradox creatures are distantly related to modern Pokémon and they can come from the distant past or the distant future. For example, the Ancient relative of Volcarona is Slither Wing while its Future relative is Iron Moth .

The Future Paradox Pokémon, which are versions exclusive to Violet , are all metallic and robotic. These normal variants do have chrome coloring in their designs, but their shiny forms cover more of the Pokémon's body with chromium — almost as if someone didn't finish painting them. These Future Paradox species are some of the shiniest shiny Pokémon, literally.

15 Shiny Galarian Zigzagoon Is A Vibrant Regional Alternative

Zigzagoon is a Normal-type Pokémon first introduced in Generation III and got a regional variant in Generation VIII, adding Dark to its Normal typing. Regional variants can breathe new life into old, typically overlooked Pokémon by giving them a fresh new design and typing. Regional variants can result in new evolutions like Zigzagoon with Obstagoon.

Galarian Zigzagoon's design is reminiscent of the rock band Kiss as well as the European Badger. The Galarian Zigzagoon's shiny form trades in its black and white colors for red and light blue, which makes each evolution of the Galarian variant of Zigzagoon stand out far more than its non-Galar variant.

14 Shiny Emboar Is A Stylish Contrast To Typical Fire-Themed Designs

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Emboar is a Fire/Fighting-type Pokémon first introduced in Generation V, a generation that introduced more Fire-types than any other. Emboar is one of the most unpopular starters in the franchise. While showing promise with the adorable quadruped, Tepig, the result was yet another bipedal Fire/Fighting type starter.

Players who gave Emboar a chance and pursued its shiny form were rewarded with one of the coolest shinies ever. From its flaming head to its pointy hooves, Emboar turns up the heat with blue flames and fur. Despite being one of the least picked starter Pokémon, Emboar boasts one of the best shiny forms among them.

13 Shiny Yveltal Leans Into Its Intimidating Presence

Yveltal is a Dark/Flying-type legendary Pokémon first introduced in Generation VI. Yveltal made an immediate impression on Pokémon fans by appearing on the cover of Pokémon Y . Yveltal is a dangerous Pokémon with destructive life-absorbing powers. Yveltal's counterpart, Xerneas, has the power to undo those effects creating a life-and-death dynamic.

Shiny Yveltal swaps black coloring with white while the rest of its body is a slightly darker red. Yveltal's piercing blue eyes are much more prominent, making for a much more intimidating legendary Pokémon. Pokémon fans also like shiny Yveltal for its resemblance to bacon, making it a fine addition to any food-inspired team.

12 Shiny Zygarde Uses A Creative Color Combination

Zygarde is a Dragon/ Ground-type legendary Pokémon first introduced in Generation VI. Yveltal and Xerneas aren't just two peas in a pod, they're a part of the "aura trio" alongside Zygarde. Zygarde has multiple forms based on how many cells it has: 10%, 50%, and Complete. The 10% form is reminiscent of a dog, the 50% form is snake-like, while the Complete form looks like a mech soldier.

Regular Zygarde uses the already stellar green and black combination, and its shiny form is just as cool. Zygarde's shiny form goes with the underutilized color combination of white and teal instead, which looks hauntingly ghost-like.

11 Shiny Rayquaza Is Among The Best Black Redesigns

Rayquaza is a Dragon/Flying-type legendary Pokémon first introduced in Generation III and one of the most popular legendaries, serving as the mascot of Pokémon Emerald . In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire's Delta Episode, players can catch Rayquaza, ride it up to space, and face off against a Deoxys. Rayquaza also serves to end the conflict between Groudon and Kyogre.

While Rayquaza looks amazing in green, it looks even better in black, especially after it mega evolves. Notably, shiny Rayquaza even appeared in the Pokémon anime, playing a key role in the 18th Pokémon movie Hoopa and Clash of Ages .