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Shiny Pokémon

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"Pokémon Gallery: Encounter with Shiny Pokémon" by Ken Sugimori

A Shiny Pokémon (Japanese: 色違い color variation; 光る shining) is a specific Pokémon with different coloration to what is usual for its species. It is one of the many differences that a Pokémon can have within its species.

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.

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

In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a Pokémon's shininess is visible in the overworld. Additionally, in Legends: Arceus, the menu sprite of Shiny Pokémon will depict its Shiny coloration.

Terminology

The term "Shiny Pokémon" was first created by fans to refer to the sparkling sound effect and animation made 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.

Japanese

In Japanese, there are some distinct terms used to describe Shiny Pokémon..

「レア」 (rare) in the debug menu found in the game data of Pokémon Gold and Silver.

「いろちがい」 (color variation) is used in several official sources referring to Shiny Pokémon:

「光る」 (shining) is sometimes used in official sources as well.

English

These are the names used for Shiny Pokémon in English.

Design

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 Shiny colorations are individually defined in the game data[5] and Pokémon with similar palettes have distinct Shiny colorations even in Generation II.[6] 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 Ultra Beasts he designed.[7]

In the core series games

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: LA Shiny stars
How Shiny Pokémon have been marked throughout the generations
Gen II Stadium 2 FRLG Gen IV Gen V Gen VI SMUSUM SMUSUM
Pokédex 		PE SwShBDSP HOME
Mobile
ShinyIIStars.png
ShinyStad2Star.png
 ShinyFRLGStar.png ShinyIVStar.png ShinyVStar.png ShinyVIStar.png ShinyVIIStar.png ShinyVIIStar Pokédex.png ShinyLGPEStar.png ShinyVIIIStar.png ShinyHOMEStar.png


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 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.

Gen. II Gen. III Gen. IV Gen. V Gen. VI Gen. VII Gen. VIII
Base rate 1/8192 1/4096
Breeding a Shiny Pokémon
if the offspring is the opposite gender 		1/64 — — — — — —
Masuda method — — 5/8192 6/8192 6/4096
Poké Radar chaining (single patch): ≥40 — — 41/8192 — 1/100[8] — 1/99[9]
Forcing a gender with Cute Charm — — 1/24576[note 1] – 21.34%[note 2] — — — —
Shiny Charm — — — +2/8192B2W2 +2/4096[note 3][10]
Friend Safari — — — — 5/4096 — —
Consecutive fishing: ≥20 — — — — 41/4096 — —
Hidden Pokémon: Search Level 200 + X — — — — 0.08% + X*0.01% — —
SOS Battles: ≥31 — — — — — 13/4096 —
Dynamax Adventure — — — — — — 1/300[note 4]
Grand Underground
after "something good happens" 		— — — — — — 2/4096[9]
Mass outbreak — — — — — — +25/4096[10]LA
Massive mass outbreak — — — — — — +12/4096[11]
Pokédex research level 10 — — — — — — +1/4096[10]
Pokédex research level max — — — — — — +2/4096[10]


  1. ↑ If 0 out of 25 values result in Shininess, the Pokémon can only be Shiny if Cute Charm fails.
  2. ↑ If 8 out of 25 values result in Shininess.
  3. ↑ Adds 3 extra Shiny rolls in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
  4. ↑ If Shiny Charm, 1/100. Star sparkles variant only.

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 onward

Main article: Personality value → Shininess

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:

TrainerID xor SecretID xor PersonalityValue31..16 xor PersonalityValue15..0

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; starting in Generation VI, this threshold was increased to 16. For Generations III to V, this gives an overall probability of 8/65536 or 1/8192, exactly the same as in Generation II. For Generations VI and later, the probability is doubled. 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.

Generation II

A Shiny Gyarados in the anime

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]

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.

Quirks

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.[12]

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

  • It is impossible to have a Shiny Pokémon with a gender ratio of seven males to one female that is female in those games, as the highest Attack IV a female Pokémon with a gender ratio of seven males to one female can have is 1, while the lowest Attack IV a Shiny Pokémon can have is 2.
  • 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.

Shiny Ditto glitch

Main article: 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-game Shiny Pokémon

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.

Quirks

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

Pikachu-colored Pichu, a Shiny Pichu available via event

In-game Shiny Pokémon

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.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, a Shiny Pokémon's coloration is reflected in the overworld if it is used as a walking Pokémon.

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. Foreign language Pokémon obtained via in-game trades, such as the Meister's Foppa and Lt. Surge's Volty, still count as being from the same game, so they do not activate the Masuda method unless traded to a different language. This mechanic is retained in all subsequent games.

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.

Quirks

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

In-game Shiny Pokémon

Generation V introduced a mechanism often referred to as a "Shiny lock", preventing wild Reshiram, Zekrom, and Victini from being Shiny. Any Pokémon obtained in Entree Forest (i.e., from the Pokémon Dream World) are also prevented from being Shiny. Reshiram, Zekrom, and Victini still have Shiny sprites in the games' data.

In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, the player can obtain three specific Shiny Pokémon (but only two per version). 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 TowerB2 or White TreehollowW2, Benga will give the player a Shiny GibleB2 or Shiny DratiniW2.

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

Methods of increasing Shiny rates

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 causes the game to generate up to two extra personality values in an attempt to make a wild or bred Pokémon Shiny. This effect can stack with the Masuda method's effect. This item is also available in all future games.

Quirks

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

Promotional artwork of a Shiny Mega Metagross

In-game Shiny Pokémon

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 16/65536 or 1/4096.

The following Pokémon are prevented from being Shiny when encountered as wild Pokémon in Generation VI games: the Legendary birds, the aura trio, Mewtwo, the super-ancient Pokémon, and Deoxys. The in-game gift Cosplay Pikachu also cannot be Shiny.

Methods of increasing Shiny rates

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.[13]

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.[14]

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.[15]

Generation VII

Promotional artwork of a Shiny Tapu Koko

In-game Shiny Pokémon

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).

Methods of increasing Shiny rates

Sun and Moon

In the Pokémon Sun and Moon, as well as 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). In Pokémon Sun and Moon, the chain length resets to 0 after 255, but in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, it does not reset. This effect can stack with the Shiny Charm's effect.[16]

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.[17]

Distance (ly) 0 rings 1 ring 2 rings 3 rings
0–999 1% N/A N/A N/A
1000–1499 2% 3%
1500–1999 3% 5%
2000–2499 4% 7%
2500–2999 5% 9% 16%
3000–3499 6% 11% 20%
3500–3999 7% 13% 24%
4000–4499 8% 15% 28%
4500–4999 9% 17% 32%
5000+ 10% 19% 36%


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.

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.

Catch Combo Shiny Rate Lure Shiny Charm Lure &
Shiny Charm
0–10 1/4096 1/2048.25 1/1365.67 1/1024.38
11-20 1/1024.38 1/819.6 1/683.08 1/585.57
21-30 1/512.44 1/455.56 1/410.05 1/372.82
31+ 1/341.79 1/315.54 1/293.04 1/273.53


The Catch Combo bonus is only applied to the next Pokémon of the chained species to spawn after the prior Pokémon is captured, meaning you 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.[18]

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.[19]

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.

Variants

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Images of square and star sparkles

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.[20] 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.[21]

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. (similar to previous generations)

In-game Shiny Pokémon

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, the following Pokémon are prevented from being Shiny when encountered as wild Pokémon: the Galarian Slowpoke at Wedgehurst Station, 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.

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, the player can obtain a guaranteed Shiny Ponyta from the request A Peculiar Ponyta.

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:

Start date End date Focus Shiny Pokémon Notes Source
July 1, 2022 July 10, 2022 Marill Themed around "round water Pokémon". [1]
May 19, 2022 May 22, 2022 Shellder [2]
April 1, 2022 April 2, 2022 Sudowoodo Released for April Fool's Day. [3]
March 18, 2022 March 27, 2022 Tyrantrum Themed around Unova/Kalos region "fossil Pokémon". [4]
February 11, 2022 February 20, 2022 Milcery Released for Valentine's Day, re-run of event from February 11 to 14, 2021. Has the Gigantamax Factor. [5]
January 1, 2022 January 9, 2022 Magikarp Released for New Year. [6]
December 17, 2021 December 26, 2021 Delibird Released for the Holiday season. [7]
November 19, 2021 November 28, 2021 Eevee Themed around Eevee's evolutionary line. [8]
October 29, 2021 October 31, 2021 Zoroark Released for Halloween. [9]
September 17, 2021 September 19, 2021 LunatoneSolrock Released for the autumnal Equinox. [10]
September 3, 2021 September 5, 2021 Cinccino Themed around "cleaning". [11]
August 20, 2021 August 22, 2021 Chandelure Released for Bon Festival. [12]
August 6, 2021 August 8, 2021 Vanilluxe Released for Summer. [13]
July 23, 2021 July 25, 2021 Omanyte Themed around Kanto region "fossil Pokémon". [14]
July 9, 2021 July 11, 2021 Copperajah Have the Gigantamax Factor. [15]
June 25, 2021 June 27, 2021 Grapploct Themed around "tentacled Pokémon". [16]
May 21, 2021 May 23, 2021 Politoed Themed around "frog Pokémon/the rainy season". [17]
May 21, 2021 May 23, 2021 Wooloo [18]
April 30, 2021 May 2, 2021 Meowth [19]
April 23, 2021 April 25, 2021 Eiscue Released for World Penguin Day. [20]
April 2, 2021 April 4, 2021 Azumarill Released for Easter. [21]
March 26, 2021 March 28, 2021 Lilligant Released for the spring Equinox. [22]
February 27, 2021 February 28, 2021 Pikachu Released for Pokémon Day. Have the Gigantamax Factor. Part of 1 Million Victories challenge. [23]
February 11, 2021 February 14, 2021 Milcery Released for Valentine's Day. Have the Gigantamax Factor. [24]
February 4, 2021 February 8, 2021 Cramorant Released to celebrate Pokémon featured in Secrets of the Jungle. Part of 1 Million Victories challenge. [25]
January 22, 2021 January 24, 2021 Tauros Released for Chinese New Year. [26]
January 8, 2021 January 11, 2021 SkwovetGreedent Re-run of event from November 20 to 22, 2021 [27]
December 1, 2020 December 31, 2020 Vulpix Released for Christmas. [28]
November 20, 2020 November 22, 2020 Skwovet Received a re-run on January 8 to 11, 2021. [29]
October 30, 2020 November 1, 2020 Gourgeist (Small Size)Gourgeist (Super Size) Released for Halloween. [30]
September 18, 2020 September 20, 2020 Clefable Released for the autumnal Equinox. [31]
August 6, 2020 August 9, 2020 Pikachu [32]
July 17, 2020 July 19, 2020 Wailord Released for Marine Day. [33]
June 17, 2020 June 28, 2020 Zeraora Zeraora was uncatchable, part of 1 Million Victories challenge. [34]
December 31, 2019 January 3, 2020 Magikarp Released for the Japanese New Year. [35]


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 more difficult to defeat. Players eventually received Shiny Zeraora via Pokémon HOME as a reward for collectively defeating over 1 million Zeraora in Max Raid Battles.[22]

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 Sword and Shield have their personality values altered according to the receiver's TID/SID to ensure they retain their original Shiny status when hatched on a different game.

Methods of increasing Shiny rates

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.[23] This number is recorded in the player's Pokédex as "Number Battled". It includes wild battles, Max Raid Battles, Trainer battles (except Link Battles, the Battle Tower, and Restricted Sparring).

The appearance rate of Brilliant Pokémon is further while chain fishing; depending on the length of the chain, a bonus between +2% and +25% will be added to the base appearance rate.[24]

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.[25] Non-Brilliant Pokémon are not affected and do not have enhanced Shiny rates.

No. Battled Brilliant
appearance rate 		Bonus
Shiny Rolls 		Approximate Shiny rate
No Charm Shiny Charm
1 1.5% 1 1/2048.25 1/1024.38
20 2% 1 1/2048.25 1/1024.38
50 2.5% 2 1/1365.67 1/819.6
100 3% 3 1/1024.38 1/683.08
200 3% 4 1/819.6 1/585.57
300 3% 5 1/683.08 1/512.44
500 3% 6 1/585.57 1/455.56


Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

In the Grand Underground, the Lightstone bonus[26] 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 you reach a chain length of 40+.[27]

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 your Pokédex Research progress for that species.[28]

Variables Wild
Shiny Rate 		Wild
Shiny Rolls 		Mass Outbreak
Shiny Rate 		Mass Outbreak
Shiny Rolls 		Massive
Mass Outbreak
Shiny Rate 		Massive
Mass Outbreak
Shiny Rolls
Base Shiny Rate 1/4096 1 1/158.02 26 1/315.54 13
Species Research Level 10 1/2048.25 2 1/152.19 27 1/293.04 14
Species Research Perfect 1/1024.38 4 1/141.72 29 1/256.47 16
Shiny Charm &
Species Research Level 10 		1/819.6 5 1/137.02 30 1/241.41 17
Shiny Charm &
Species Research Perfect 		1/585.57 7 1/128.49 32 1/216.05 19


Appearance

Shiny Sandshrew II.png Shiny Sandshrew III.png Shiny Sandshrew IV.png Shiny Sandile V.png
Generation II Generation III Generation IV Generation V
Shiny Pawniard VI.png Shiny Sneasel VII.png Shiny Meltan PE.png Shiny Golisopod VIII.png
Shiny Square Wooloo VIII.png 		Shiny Shinx BDSP.png
Generation VI SMUSUM LGPE SwSh BDSP
Shiny Sandshrew Stad 2.png Shiny Sandshrew Colo.png Shiny Sandshrew XD.png Shiny Sandshrew PBR.png
Stadium 2 Colosseum XD Battle Revolution

Unobtainable Shiny Pokémon

In all generations since Shiny Pokémon debuted, there are a few species that cannot be legitimately obtained Shiny. This can happen if the Pokémon cannot be Shiny in the wild or as an in-game gift (or cannot be obtained this way at all) and has never been distributed as Shiny. However, with the exception of Pikachu in a cap, and Partner Pikachu and Eevee, all of these Pokémon have Shiny variants in their respective games' code.

Shiny Pokémon denoted with a ~ could not be received in-game, but could be acquired through events or transferring.

Shiny Pokémon denoted with a * could not be received in-game, but could be acquired through trading.

Shiny Pokémon denoted with a ✘ could not be obtained by any means in that generation.

Pokémon Generation
II III IV V VI VII VIII
Spr 6o 025C s.png Cosplay Pikachu ✘
Pikachu Pikachu in a cap ✘ [note 1] ✘
025Pikachu LG.png Partner Pikachu ✘
133Eevee LG.png Partner Eevee ✘
Articuno Articuno ~
Articuno Galarian Articuno ~
Zapdos Zapdos ~
Zapdos Galarian Zapdos ~
Moltres Moltres ~
Moltres Galarian Moltres ~
Mewtwo Mewtwo ~
Mew Mew[note 2] ~ ~ ~ ~ ✘PE ~
Spr 4h 172N s.png Spiky-eared Pichu ✘
Unown Unown ✘ [note 3]
Celebi Celebi ~ [note 4] ✘ ✘ ✘ ✘ ~ ~
Kyogre Kyogre ~
Groudon Groudon ~
Rayquaza Rayquaza ~
Deoxys Deoxys ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Manaphy Manaphy ~ [note 5] ~ ~ ~ ~
Arceus Arceus ✘ ✘ ~ ~
Victini Victini ✘ ✘ ✘ ✘
Reshiram Reshiram ✘
Zekrom Zekrom ✘
Keldeo Keldeo ✘ ✘ ✘ ✘
MeloettaMeloetta Meloetta ✘ ✘ ✘
Greninja Ash-Greninja ✘
Vivillon Fancy Pattern Vivillon ✘ ✘
Vivillon Poké Ball Pattern Vivillon ✘ ✘
Xerneas Xerneas ~
Yveltal Yveltal ~
Zygarde Zygarde ✘ ~
HoopaHoopa Hoopa ✘ ✘
Volcanion Volcanion ✘ ✘ ✘
Type: Null Type: Null ~
Silvally Silvally ~
Tapu Koko Tapu Koko ~
Tapu Lele Tapu Lele ~
Tapu Bulu Tapu Bulu ~
Tapu Fini Tapu Fini ~
Cosmog Cosmog ✘ ✘
Cosmoem Cosmoem ✘ ✘
Solgaleo Solgaleo ~
Lunala Lunala ~
Nihilego Nihilego *SM
Buzzwole Buzzwole *SM
Pheromosa Pheromosa *SM
Xurkitree Xurkitree *SM
Celesteela Celesteela *SM
Kartana Kartana *SM
Guzzlord Guzzlord *SM
Necrozma
NecrozmaNecrozmaNecrozma 		Necrozma ~
Magearna Magearna ✘ ✘
Marshadow Marshadow ✘ ✘
Poipole Poipole ~
Naganadel Naganadel ~
Zeraora Zeraora ✘ ~
Melmetal Gigantamax Melmetal ✘
ZacianZacian Zacian ~
ZamazentaZamazenta Zamazenta ~
EternatusEternatus Eternatus ✘
Kubfu Kubfu ✘
UrshifuUrshifu Urshifu ✘ [note 6]
Zarude Zarude ✘
Glastrier Glastrier ✘
Spectrier Spectrier ✘
CalyrexCalyrexCalyrex Calyrex ✘
EnamorusEnamorus Enamorus ✘
  1. ↑ With the exception of Partner Cap Pikachu, which is available in its Shiny form due to a programming error. If transferred from Generation VII to Pokémon HOME, it still lacks a Shiny model.
  2. ↑ Mew in its Shiny form can be obtained legitimately as part of the Gotta catch 'em all! Station or in the Japanese version of Pokémon Emerald. However, it cannot be obtained legitimately in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!.
  3. ↑ Because of how IVs determine both Unown's letter and Shininess in Generation II, all except I and V cannot be Shiny.
  4. ↑ Shiny Celebi can be obtained legitimately in the original Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal, the Virtual Console releases of Pokémon Crystal, and through Generation II event distributions.
  5. ↑ While the Ranger Manaphy Egg cannot hatch as shiny for the savefile that receives it, it can be shiny if traded and hatched by another player with a different Trainer ID and Secret ID from the original recipient.
  6. ↑ Due to an oversight, from June 17th 2022 to approximately 2:00-11:00 UTC on the 18th, the uncatchable Gigantamax Urshifu that appeared during a Max Raid event could appear as Shiny.

Non-playable character's Shiny Pokémon

A Shiny Minccino in the introduction screen

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

In the side series games

A Gloom nicknamed FruitSalad and an Ekans nicknamed KANS-E, sporting different colors that are different than their shiny counterparts (red eyes instead of the usual yellow)

Pokémon Stadium

In Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2, Pokémon with a nickname can be colored slightly differently, whether or not they are actually Shiny. The colors a nicknamed Pokémon has are determined by the Pokémon's nickname and the Original Trainer's Trainer ID number and name. The Pokémon Eggs change colors in the same way. Additionally, Smeargle's back and tail markings can be red, green or blue depending on its DVs.[29]

In the Ekans Hoop Hurl game in the Kids Club, 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

A Shiny Voltorb in Colosseum
Shiny Zigzagoon, Pikachu, and Bibarel as seen in My Pokémon Ranch
Main article: List of glitches (Generation III) → Shiny Shadow Pokémon bug

In Pokémon Colosseum, non-Shadow Pokémon obtained in the game (such as the player's starter 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.

Pokémon XD

In Pokémon XD, the game ensures that all Shadow Pokémon are not Shiny by recalculating the Pokémon personality value if it would result in a Shiny Pokémon. However, non-Shadow Pokémon (such as the starter Eevee, in-game trades, Mt. Battle Johto starter 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.

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 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

Shiny Roserade

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

Shiny Ho-Oh

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

Shiny Celebi

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

Shiny Gyarados

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 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

Shiny Mothim

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

Art of Nobunaga with his Shiny Rayquaza

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.

Dex# NDex Icon Pokémon Type Level 1
Attack Power 		Max
Raise Max Level 		Initial
Skill 		Alternate
Skill(s)
#006 #0006 Shuffle006S.png Charizard
Shiny 		Flying 60 5 Nosedive N/A
#108 #0701 Shuffle701S.png Hawlucha
Shiny 		Fighting 50 10 Hammering Streak N/A
#114 #0094 Shuffle094S.png Gengar
Shiny 		Ghost 70 5 Blindside N/A
#156 #0716 Shuffle716S.png Xerneas
Shiny 		Fairy 80 5 Hyper Drain N/A
#157 #0717 Shuffle717S.png Yveltal
Shiny 		Dark 80 5 Hyper Drain N/A
#158 #0150 Shuffle150S.png Mewtwo
Shiny 		Psychic 80 5 Mega Boost N/A
#162 #0384 Shuffle384S.png Rayquaza
Shiny 		Flying 80 5 Dragon Talon N/A
#210 #0248 Shuffle248S.png Tyranitar
Shiny 		Dark 80 5 Barrier Shot N/A
#226 #0649 Shuffle649S.png Genesect
Shiny 		Bug 80 5 Last-Ditch Effort N/A
#298 #0282 Shuffle282S.png Gardevoir
Shiny 		Fairy 70 5 Stabilize++ N/A
#306 #0250 Shuffle250S.png Ho-Oh
Shiny 		Fire 80 5 Cross Attack+ N/A
#307 #0719 Shuffle719S.png Diancie
Shiny 		Fairy 70 15 Block Shot N/A
#477 #0129 Shuffle129S.png Magikarp
Shiny 		Water 30 10 Cheer Dragon Shriek
#478 #0130 Shuffle130S.png Gyarados
Shiny 		Water 70 5 L-Boost N/A
#641 #0376 Shuffle376S.png Metagross
Shiny 		Steel 80 10 Hammering Streak N/A

Pokémon GO

Main article: Shiny Pokémon (GO)

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 450. 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

Gold Magikarp

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 Tangela

Pokémon can appear Shiny in Pokémon Quest. When viewing the Pokémon's details, the Pokémon's picture will appear in its shiny coloration. The only benefit to having a Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Quest is to gain 20 PM Tickets. Otherwise, it is just an aesthetic feature. The exact chance is unknown, but is estimated to be between 1/75 and 1/100.

Pokémon Masters EX

In Pokémon Masters EX, some of the Egg Pokémon have a chance to be a Shiny variant. The first Shiny Pokémon to be made available to a character other than the player character was Rayquaza, who appears paired with Steven in his Anniversary 2021 appearance. Alternate outfit versions of Sonia and Morty have also teamed up with Shiny Pokémon since then.

Shiny Celebi also makes its appearance during the special events Double Trouble and Blasting Off Again.

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:

Start date End date Focus Shiny Pokémon Notes
July 1, 2022 July 8, 2022 Café ReMix Eevee Shiny.pngCafé ReMix Buizel Shiny.pngCafé ReMix Lucario Shiny.png Shiny Eevee encounter rate will be boosted from July 1 to July 3, 2022,
while Shiny Buizel encounter rate will be boosted from July 3 to July 5, 2022,
and Shiny Lucario being boosted from July 5 to July 8, 2022.
May 27, 2022 June 1, 2022 Café ReMix Sneasel Shiny.png
April 27, 2022 May 11, 2022 Café ReMix Exeggutor Shiny.png Shiny Exeggutor will be available on Day 5 of Golden Week's daily stamp.
April 27, 2021 May 5, 2022 Café ReMix Kirlia Shiny.pngCafé ReMix Snubbull Shiny.png Shiny Kirlia encounter rate will be boosted from April 27 to May 1, 2022,
while Shiny Snubbull encounter rate will be boosted from May 1 to May 5, 2022.
March 25, 2022 April 1, 2022 Café ReMix Slurpuff Shiny.png
February 27, 2022 March 2, 2022 Café ReMix Piplup Shiny.png Released for Pokémon Day.
February 23, 2022 February 27, 2022 Café Mix Starly Shiny.png
January 28, 2022 February 1, 2022 Café ReMix Munchlax Shiny.png
January 19, 2022 January 27, 2022 Café Mix Rowlet Shiny.png Released for the Pokémon Legends: Arceus release.
Shiny Rowlet was available on Day 5 of special event daily stamp.
December 29, 2021 January 4, 2022 Café ReMix Minccino Shiny.pngCafé ReMix Eevee Shiny.png Released for New Year. Shiny Minccino encounter rate was boosted from December 29, 2021 to January 1, 2022,
while Shiny Eevee encounter rate was boosted from January 1 to January 4, 2022.

In the TCG

Shiny Pokémon have appeared in the TCG as well, first as Shining Pokémon in Neo Revelation and Neo Destiny, and later as Pokémon Star in EX Team Rocket Returns - EX Power Keepers. The Stormfront, Platinum, Supreme Victors and Arceus sets include three cards each with alternate coloration artwork and a reverse holo effect, but are not classified as an entirely separate rarity. Unlike Shining Pokémon and Pokémon Star, these newest alternate coloration cards are not limited by special gameplay and deckbuilding rules, and since the names of the cards are not changed to indicate the alternate coloration, they can be evolved into non-Shiny Pokémon.

Shiny versions of several Pokémon were also featured as secret rares in the Call of Legends expansion, as well from Next Destinies until Plasma Blast, and in VMAX Rising ownards. Special sets such as Shining Legends and Shiny Vault are also focused on Shiny Pokémon

Sometimes, cards with Shiny Pokémon are tied to ongoing events in the games or anime, such as the Shiny Gengar distributed in October 2014, or the appearance of the Red Genesect in Genesect and the Legend Awakened.

List of cards featuring Shiny Pokémon


In the anime

Main series

Main article: List of alternately colored Pokémon in the anime
Ash's Noctowl sparkling as it exits its Poké Ball, similarly to the games
Normal and Shiny Dustox in the anime

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!.

Shiny Hisuian Zorua in Pokémon: Hisuian Snow

Pokémon Generations

In The Lake of Rage, 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

Gyara, a regular Gyarados (left) and Silver's red Gyarados (right) in Pokémon Adventures
A Shiny Genesect in Pokémon Adventures

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.

Pokémon Adventures

Gold, Silver & Crystal arc

Silver captured 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 mentions that she 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 in Pokémon Journeys: The Series
Main article: Lance's Gyarados

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.

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 Pocket Monsters

The Red Gyarados makes an appearance in Stop That Strange Sonic Sound!! where Team Rocket plots 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.

Trivia

  • In Generation III through Generation VII , it is possible for an Egg to hatch Shiny on one game but not another. This is because Shininess is partially determined by the Original Trainer ID and Secret ID number. Eggs have the ID and SID of the game they were originally bred on, but change to the ID and SID of the hatcher immediately after hatching. It is this change that affects Shininess.
    • 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 whether they were Shiny or not (although the latter is not legitimately available in its Shiny coloration).

In other languages

Shiny Pokémon

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 發光寶可夢 Faatgwōng Pokémon
Mandarin 發光寶可夢 / 发光宝可梦 Fāguāng Pokémon
The Czech Republic Flag.png Czech Alternativně zbarveného Pokémon
Denmark Flag.png Danish Skinne Pokémon
The Netherlands Flag.png Dutch Flitsende Pokémon
Finland Flag.png Finnish Kiilto-Pokémon
France Flag.png French Pokémon chromatique
Germany Flag.png German Schillerndes Pokémon
Italy Flag.png Italian Pokémon cromatico
South Korea Flag.png Korean 빛나는 포켓몬 Binnaneun Pokémon
Poland Flag.png Polish Lśniący Pokémon
Portuguese Brazil Flag.png Brazil Pokémon Brilhante*
Pokémon shiny*
Shiny Pokémon*
Portugal Flag.png Portugal Pokémon brilhante
Russia Flag.png Russian Шайни покемон Shayni Pokémon
Spain Flag.png Spanish Pokémon variocolor
Sweden Flag.png Swedish Glänsande Pokémon
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Pokémon Sáng Ngời

Different-colored Pokémon

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 異色寶可夢 Yihsīk Pokémon
Mandarin 異色寶可夢 / 异色宝可梦 Yìsè Pokémon
Finland Flag.png Finnish Erivärinen Pokémon
France Flag.png French Pokémon de couleur inhabituelle
Germany Flag.png German Unterschiedlich gefärbte Pokémon
Italy Flag.png Italian Pokémon di colore diverso
South Korea Flag.png Korean 색이 다른 포켓몬 Saegi Dareun Pokémon
Poland Flag.png Polish Pokémon o innym kolorze
Portugal Flag.png Portuguese Pokémon de cor diferente
Spain Flag.png Spanish Pokémon de color diferente
Thailand Flag.png Thai โปเกมอนสีแตกต่าง Pokémon Si Taektang
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Pokémon khác màu

See also

References

  1. ↑ ポケモンスタジアム 金銀 - Nintendo.co.jp
  2. ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/nom/0205/03/02/index.html ３－２．この春登場、強力・注目　商品ラインナップ - Nintendo.co.jp]
  3. ↑ Pokémon.com | Gotta Catch 'Em All! Station (September 27, 2002 to January 2, 2003)
  4. ↑ Pokémon.com | Gotta Catch 'Em All! Station (January 3 to March 13, 2003)
  5. ↑ Pokémon Gold Disassembly
  6. ↑ @DrLavaYT on Twitter
  7. ↑ @JamesTurner_42 on Twitter
  8. ↑ PokeRadar RNG wwwwwwzx/3DSRNGTool · GitHub
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1462473371917111303
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1486699504732717057
  11. ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1498056331315625984
  12. ↑ Pokémon Red/Blue Wild DVs
  13. ↑ Friend Safari RNG · wwwwwwzx/3DSRNGTool Wiki · GitHub
  14. ↑ Pokemon 6G Chain Fishing Probability Analysis
  15. ↑ Pokemon ORAS DexNav Shiny Encounter Probability Analysis
  16. ↑ wwwwwwzx on Twitter
  17. ↑ wwwwwwzx on Twitter
  18. ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1492970750264979456
  19. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonLetsGo/comments/a48ruf/shiny_chances_an_update/
  20. ↑ https://twitter.com/SciresM/status/1197039032112304128
  21. ↑ https://twitter.com/SciresM/status/1273492861065912320
  22. ↑ https://twitter.com/Pokemon_cojp/status/1275629411514175488
  23. ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1448334955461939210
  24. ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1448334998474477577
  25. ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1448335003834851333
  26. ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1459147114110492676
  27. ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1462473371917111303
  28. ↑ https://twitter.com/Sibuna_Switch/status/1498056331315625984
  29. ↑ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u4PDIfP9VerQSQibzHPzQh5oRNBUhmEi10F4kZ2uuho/edit?usp=sharing


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