Shiny Pokémon

File:Pokémon Gallery Encounter with Shining.png
A **Shiny Pokémon** (Japanese: **色違い** *color variation*; **光る** *shining*), previously officially known as **alternate coloration** or **rare coloration**, and called **Color Pokémon** in Pokémon Stadium 2, 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.

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!, a Pokémon's Shininess is visible in the overworld.

## 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.

The Japanese term "いろちがい" (*color variation*) is used in several official sources referring to Shiny Pokémon:

* The list of the player's Pokémon from Pokémon Stadium 2.
	+ Translated in English as "Color Pokémon". Specifically, the player's Pokémon may be listed according to the options "Group Color Pokémon" and "Cancel Color Pokémon".
* The easy chat system from Generation III games.
	+ Translated in English as "Alt. Color".
* A Wonder Card distributed with a Shiny Milotic in the Japanese version of

## Shiny Pokémon

. Specifically, the 2008 TCG World Championships Milotic, released in 12 October 2008.
	+ Adapted in English into the "Wow! Shiny Milotic!" Wonder Card, which was received with the US Video Game Championships 2009 Milotic released in 9 May 2009, and then with the UK Video Game Championships 2009 Milotic released in 30 May 2009. These Milotic were also distributed for Pokémon Platinum.
	+ This is the first use of the word "Shiny" (referring to Shiny Pokémon) in an English game. However, these Wonder Card texts were retrieved with the Milotic distributions, and are not otherwise included in Pokémon Platinum's game data.
* This Japanese word is used in

## Shiny Pokémon

, when a female Ace Trainer mentions Shiny Pokémon, and a male Ace Trainer mentions Shiny Krokorok. They are both located at the same house in Nimbasa City.
	+ Translated in English with the word "Shiny" in both cases.
	+ This is the first use of the word "Shiny" (referring to Shiny Pokémon) stored in the data of an English game, instead of received from a Wonder Card.
* In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, this Japanese word appears in the description of Shiny Charm.

The Japanese word "光る" (*shining*) is sometimes used in official sources as well.

* The Shining Pokémon from the Trading Card Game use the word "ひかる" in Japanese. For instance, the Shining Gyarados (Japanese: ひかるギャラドス) card.
* A Japanese webpage about Pokémon Stadium 2 on Nintendo.co.jp refers to Shiny Pokémon with the word "光る".
* Ken Sugimori's artwork "Pokémon Gallery: Encounter with Shiny Pokémon" (Japanese: 光るポケモンとの遭遇) uses the word "光る".
* The Shiny Charm (Japanese: ひかるおまもり *Shining Charm*) uses that word in its Japanese name as well.
	+ From Pokémon X and Y onwards, the Japanese description of Shiny Charm mentions Shiny Pokémon with the word "ひかる" as well.

## 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, 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 and Pokémon with similar palettes have distinct Shiny colorations even in Generation II. 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.

## In the core series games

*How Shiny Pokémon have been marked throughout the generations*

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, Template:Game2 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.

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.

Template:Reflist

### 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, then the Pokémon has square Shiny sparkles.

#### 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

## Shiny Pokémon

, the Odd Egg also has a high chance of hatching a Shiny Pokémon: 50% in Japanese games, and 14% in all other languages. Template:Fact

In the Game Boy mode of

## Shiny Pokémon

, 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 Template:Eng), 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.

Additionally, in Generation I, if a wild Pokémon transforms again while already transformed, when caught it will be a Ditto with the same DVs as the first Pokémon it transformed into, allowing Ditto's DVs to be manipulated so that it is Shiny in Generation II by having it initially transform into a Pokémon with Shiny DVs.

### Generation III

#### In-game Shiny Pokémon

In Generation III, some Shiny Pokémon appear on NPCs' teams. In

## Shiny Pokémon

, 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.

#### In-game Shiny Pokémon

In the Generation IV remakes of Generation II's

## Shiny Pokémon

, 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

## Shiny Pokémon

, the player can obtain three specific Shiny Pokémon (but only two per version). If the player registers every non-event Pokémon in the List of Pokémon by Unova Pokédex number, 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**.

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.

#### 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 weather trio, 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.

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.

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.

#### 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 a 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.

##### 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.

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.

 11-20
 21-30
 31+

Catch combos affect all Pokémon, so if the player has a catch combo of 31 Pikachu, all Pokémon have a 1 in 314 chance of being shiny. However, the Pokémon the player has a catch combo for will be more common.

With a catch combo of 31 or higher, a Shiny Charm, and a Lure, the highest chance of 1 in 273 can be reached.

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

### Generation VIII

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.

#### Variants

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 a star sparkle similar to the Shiny animations in previous generations, and is more commonly found on Pokémon hatched from Eggs, received as gifts, or encountered in Max Raid Battles in Sword and Shield, as well as Pokémon transferred from previous games with Pokémon HOME. All Shiny Pokémon obtained from Dynamax Adventures have star sparkles. The other type has square sparkles, and is more commonly found on wild Pokémon encountered in Sword and Shield.

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 Pokémon having a personality value that yields star sparkles, and a 1/16 chance of it having a personality value that yields square sparkles, and indeed this holds true for Pokémon obtained in ways other than wild encounters in Sword and Shield, and for most Pokémon transferred from previous games. However, due to differences in the way the game calculates personality values for different encounter types, these rates are inverted for Pokémon met in wild encounters, having a 15/16 chance of square sparkles and a 1/15 chance of star sparkles.

There are also situations in which a Pokémon is guaranteed to have square sparkles. Pokémon that are forced to be Shiny by the game (which occurs in certain Max Raid Battles during Wild Area News events) will always be assigned a personality value that yields square sparkles. Shiny Pokémon met in a fateful encounter are also guaranteed to have square sparkles (in the case of fateful encounter Pokémon transferred from a previous game that would otherwise have star sparkles, their personality value will be slightly altered to change their sparkle type).

#### In-game Shiny Pokémon

The following Pokémon are prevented from being Shiny when encountered as wild Pokémon: the Galarian Slowpoke at Wedgehurst Station, Zacian, Zamazenta, and Eternatus. Additionally, the player's starter Pokémon from Leon, the gift Toxel from the Pokémon Nursery, the Type: Null at the Battle Tower, the Kubfu and gift Porygon from the Master Dojo, all of the gift Pokémon from the Diglett Trainer, and in-game gift Gigantamax Factor Pokémon 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.

##### Max Raid Battles

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, a Shiny Pokémon in a den can still be forced to not be Shiny if its level is too high. If a Pokémon currently residing in a den would normally be Shiny but is forced not to be due to its level being too high, and the player then earns enough Badges to catch Pokémon of that level before the Pokémon in question is defeated or caught or the den deactivates, the Pokémon will then become Shiny.

###### Wild Area News events

Pokémon Sword and Shield has had six Wild Area News events that each focused on a singular 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:

In addition, at the launch of the 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 that 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 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

Catching or defeating a given Pokémon a certain number of times slightly increases the chance that any Pokémon of that species that spawns in the wild will be Shiny (Pokémon hatched from Eggs, received as gifts, or encountered in Max Raid Battles are unaffected). This is done by first determining if extra personality values will be generated (which only occurs a small percentage of the time) and if so, generating those extra personality values in an attempt to find one that is Shiny. The number of extra attempts and the chance those extra attempts will occur increases the more of that Pokémon have been caught or defeated, up to a maximum 3% chance of 5 extra attempts. The Pokémon do not have to be caught or defeated consecutively, and can be defeated in either wild battles (including Max Raid Battles) or Trainer battles (excluding Link Battles, the Battle Tower, or Restricted Sparring). The number of each Pokémon caught or defeated is shown in the Pokédex as "Number Battled".

### 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 obtained by any means in that generation.

Template:Reflist

### Non-playable character's Shiny Pokémon

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

* The Poochyena/Zigzagoon that attacks Professor Birch in Template:Game2.
* The Zigzagoon that Wally uses in the capture tutorial in Template:Game2.
* The Ralts that Wally catches in Template:Game2 (but only when he catches it and not in subsequent battles).
* The Pokémon that the Template:Ka encounters in

## Shiny Pokémon

.
* Rental Pokémon found in the Battle Factory in

## Shiny Pokémon

.
* Wild Pokémon that appear in the Battle Pike and Battle Pyramid in

## Shiny Pokémon

.
* The Starly that attacks the player in

## Shiny Pokémon

.
* Battle Frontier Pokémon used by the AI in Template:Game2.
* The Minccino that appears in the "world of Pokémon" intro in

## Shiny Pokémon

.
* The Cinccino that appears in the "world of Pokémon" intro in

## Shiny Pokémon

.
* 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.

## Generation AN series

Generation AN-I changed the mechanics of Shiny Pokémon slightly, due to changes in the Personality Values. Firstly, the base rate of encountering Shiny Pokémon is 48/262144, or 1.5/8192. This is exactly in between the used shiny rates of 1/8192 prior to Generation VI, and 1/4096 in Generation VI and later. Additionally, if a Shiny Pokémon also meets the requirements to be Albino, it will be Melanistic and use a fourth altered color, which usually is the inverse of its Albino color set.

### Generation AN-II

#### In-game Shiny Pokémon

The Shiny Lock mechanism does exist in these games. Hence, the player's starter given to them in Calibra Town, Astrayshi, Monadura, and Crithano cannot be caught as Shiny Pokémon. Degraynjr's story appearances do use the lock, however, it cannot be obtained legitimately through non-event means (whcih are not shiny locked) anyway.

#### Methods of increasing Shiny Rates

The system of Generation AN-II is similar to that of Generation VI. Hence, S.O.S. Battle chaining does not exist in these games due to the exclusion of S.O.S. Battles.

Both the Masuda method (including its increased effect of 6x instead of 5x from Generation V) and the Shiny Charm return. The lead Shiny bonus was introduced in this generation, as a method to increase Shiny encounter rates. Additionally, Pokémon caught or hatched near temples will have an increased chance of being Shiny.

##### Lead Shiny bonus

When a Shiny (or Albino or Melan) Pokémon is in the lead position of the party, Shiny Pokémon have double the usual chance of appearing.

##### Temple bonus

When a Pokémon is encountered near a temple, Shiny Pokémon have triple the usual chance of appearing. When a Pokémon is hatched near a temple, it has double the chance of being Shiny.

### Generation AN-III

#### In-game Shiny Pokémon

Although the Shiny lock mechanism does exist in these games, only the three Titan Pokémon encounters use the lock, and they cannot be obtained legitimately anyway.

The truck Skitty in Old Arikati is guaranteed to be Melanistic, or in other words, it is Shiny and Albino simultaneously. Additionally, although not obtainable in-game, Red's Pikachu is Shiny.

#### Methods of increasing Shiny Rates

The system of Generation AN-III is similar to that of Generation VII, however, instead of S.O.S. chaining, Poké Radar chaining is used.

Both the Masuda method (including its increased effect of 6x instead of 5x from Generation V) and the Shiny Charm return. However, there are two new ways to increase the odds of obtaining a Shiny Pokémon: the Poké Radar obtained upon completion of the regional Pokédex, and the lead Shiny bonus. Additionally, bait encounters have an additional chance to be Shiny.

##### Lead Shiny bonus

When a Shiny (or Albino or Melan) Pokémon is in the lead position of the party, Shiny Pokémon have double the usual chance of appearing.

##### Bait encounters

In all bait encounters, the chance of obtaining a Shiny Pokémon is doubled. However, due to the effort involved in a bait encounter, it is not frequently used for shiny hunting.

##### Poké Radar

Main article: Poké Radar § Generation AN-III
The Poké Radar (or Shiny Radar, as referred to in the code of the game) received an overhaul in Generation AN-III. It now allows one to chain Pokémon encounters or hatches to gradually increase the odds of gaining a Shiny. The rate is equal to `100+sqrt(sqrt(2))^(c-1)`%, where *c* is the chain's current length. The Poké Radar tops out at a chain of length 45, allowing for a 2148% chance of encountering Shiny Pokémon; however, due to the Masuda method, the chain cannot exceed a length of 39 (a chance of ~961.1%) from Eggs alone. Only capturing or hatching Pokémon affects the chain length; encountering a Pokémon not being chained does not reset the chain.

### Generation AN-IV

#### In-game Shiny Pokémon

All of the game's obtainable Legendary Pokémon encounters are Shiny locked. However, all other ways of obtaining these Legendary Pokémon are not Shiny locked.

#### Methods of increasing Shiny Rates

The system of Generation AN-IV is identical to that of Generation AN-III. However, the Poké Radar must receive the Bootloader upgrade in order to work in Arcadia.

##### Lead Shiny bonus

When a Shiny (or Albino or Melan) Pokémon is in the lead position of the party, Shiny Pokémon have double the usual chance of appearing.

##### Poké Radar

Main article: Poké Radar § Generation AN-IV
The Poké Radar works identically to its Generation AN-III counterpart, however, even with the Bootloader upgrade, the chain is reset upon traveling to or from Arcadia.

### Generation AN-V

#### In-game Shiny Pokémon

All of the game's obtainable Legendary Pokémon encounters are Shiny locked. All alternative methods to obtain these Legendary Pokémon are allowed to be Shiny, however.

#### Methods of increasing Shiny Rates

The system of Generation AN-V is identical to that of Generation AN-III. However, the Poké Radar must receive the Bootloader upgrade in order to work in Arcadia or Ultra Space.

##### Lead Shiny bonus

When a Shiny (or Albino or Melan) Pokémon is in the lead position of the party, Shiny Pokémon have double the usual chance of appearing.

##### Poké Radar

Main article: Poké Radar § Generation AN-III
The Poké Radar works identically to its Generation AN-I counterpart, however, even with the Bootloader upgrade, the chain is reset upon traveling to or from Arcadia. The chain is not reset upon entering or leaving Ultra Space, however, the Bootloader is still required to chain Ultra Beasts.

## Trivia

 File:ShinyIntroMinccino.png
* In Generation III onwards, 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.
* Due to Shininess being determined by IVs in Generation II, several odd quirks arise:
	+ Since gender is 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.
	+ Since Unown's letter is also determined by IVs in Generation II, only Unown I and V can be Shiny.
	+ Since Hidden Power is determined by IVs, 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.
	+ 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 Pokémon

 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).

## See also

* Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
* Trainers with Shiny Pokémon

## 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 Gold Disassembly
4. ↑ @DrLavaYT on Twitter
5. ↑ @JamesTurner\_42 on Twitter
6. ↑ PokeRadar RNG wwwwwwzx/3DSRNGTool · GitHub
7. ↑ Pokémon Red/Blue Wild DVs
8. ↑ Friend Safari RNG · wwwwwwzx/3DSRNGTool Wiki · GitHub
9. ↑ Pokemon 6G Chain Fishing Probability Analysis
10. ↑ Pokemon ORAS DexNav Shiny Encounter Probability Analysis
11. ↑ wwwwwwzx on Twitter
12. ↑ wwwwwwzx on Twitter
13. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonLetsGo/comments/a48ruf/shiny\_chances\_an\_update/

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