Shiny Pokémon

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This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: A screenshot of Shiny Pokémon encounter animation in Generation V

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

A Shiny Pokémon (Japanese: 色違い differently colored or 光る shining), also recognized as alternate coloration, 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.

The term "Shiny Pokémon" was 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 term Shiny Pokémon was first used in-game in Pokémon Black and White.

Shiny Pokémon in the games may differ in color from their normal counterparts either very little or very much. Usually the former is the case, with some Pokémon, such as Glaceon or Pichu, having their Shiny form be only a few shades lighter or darker in color, although a majority of the Pokémon that exhibit this are not in their final form of evolution. However, many Pokémon will have a spectacular difference between their normal and Shiny variations; even extremely common Pokémon like Caterpie show a dramatic difference. An evolutionary line is not necessarily guaranteed to have similar alternate colorations, even if their standard colorations remain consistent; both Ponyta and Rapidash have orange flames, but an alternate colored Ponyta has blue flames, while an alternate colored Rapidash has gray flames (with this being the opposite in Generation II).

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 the games

In the main series, Shiny Pokémon were first introduced in Generation II. This was likely to take fullest advantage of the Game Boy Color, which enhanced Gold and Silver and was required for Pokémon Crystal.

When a Shiny Pokémon appears in the wild or from a Trainer's Poké Ball, stars will surround it and make a pinging sound effect. In Generation II, this ping happens before the Pokémon's cry, while in Generations III and IV, it occurs afterward. In Pokémon Battle Revolution, a flash of light circles the Pokémon upon its release from the Poké Ball. On the Pokémon's status screen, its Shiny status is indicated in Generation II as three small stars beside its gender and in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, yellow star that animates from bright to dim in Pokémon Stadium 2, and in Generations IV and V as a large star near its picture. In Generation III, the Pokémon's Pokédex number will also be colored gold instead of black, whereas in Generations IV and V, the number will be colored red. In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the background behind the sprites of Shiny Pokémon is white instead of gray. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, the border with gender, nickname, and level will be teal instead of purple.

Generation II

A Red Gyarados in the anime

In Generation II, Shininess is determined by the IVs of a Pokémon. If a Pokémon's Speed, Defense, and Special IVs are 10, and its Attack IV is 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14 or 15, it will be Shiny. This determination allowed for compatibility with Generation I, as if a Shiny Pokémon is traded back, then traded forward, it would retain its Shininess. Despite the bonus of backward compatibility allowing for a Shiny Pokémon to learn Generation I TMs, provided it was a Generation I Pokémon, Shiny Pokémon are only slightly above average in terms of IVs.

Due to the probability of the IVs lining up in any of these manners to produce a Shiny Pokémon, the chance of obtaining one in Generation II is approximately 1/8192. However, if one breeds a Shiny Pokémon properly, the offspring may have as high as a 1/64 chance of being Shiny, depending on the species of Pokémon.

Shininess is inherent to an individual Pokémon; that is, a Pokémon that starts out Shiny will always be Shiny, and one that is not will never be (provided its data is not altered through cheating). Upon evolution, a Pokémon will retain its Shiny status. A Shiny Charmander, if leveled up, will eventually become a Shiny Charmeleon and then a Shiny Charizard, just as a regular Charmander will become a regular Charmeleon and then a regular Charizard. This is due to the status being determined by values inherent to the Pokémon; however, there is a difference in the determination between Generation II and Generations III to IV.

To highlight alternate coloration, a red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage is part of the plot of the Generation II games and their remakes. After its defeat or capture, a Red Scale will be obtained, which can be given to Mr. Pokémon in exchange for an Exp. Share. The red Gyarados is the only wild Pokémon in the games that will be Shiny without fail.

The Pokémon that hatches from the Odd Egg in Crystal has a 50% chance of the result being Shiny.

Generations III, IV, and V

In Generation III, most of the data structures were redone. As such, a Pokémon's Shininess would no longer need to be linked to its stats due to incompatibilities between the previous generations. The determinant for Shininess is instead a calculation based on the Trainer ID number and secret ID number of the player encountering it and the personality value of the Pokémon. The same method is used in Generations IV and V.

The secret ID and Trainer ID byte words are first xored together, and then the first byte word of the personality value is xored with the second byte word of the personality value. If the xor of these two results is less than eight, then the Pokémon is Shiny. This results in a probability of 8 in 65536; simplified as 1/8192 (2^-13, or 0.0001220703125%), just as in Generation II. Symbolically:

(Trainer ID) xor (Secret ID) = E

(First byte word of personality value) xor (Second byte word of personality value) = F

If E xor F is less than eight, then the Pokémon is Shiny.

In the Trainer Tower in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen there are three Trainers which have Shiny Pokémon. In the single battle mode, the seventh Trainer has a Shiny Meowth, while in double battle mode, the first pair of Trainers have a Shiny Espeon. Finally, in the knockout mode, the fourth Trainer will send out a Shiny Seaking.

Several Pokémon Battle e Trainers have Pokémon which are preset as Shiny.

In Generation IV, some Pokémon, such as Mystery Gifts and Ranger Manaphy, cannot be Shiny due to the game's code. However, the Ranger Manaphy's Shininess won't be altered by the game if traded to a second cartridge as an egg (changing the ID and SID). There are other methods which make obtaining alternately colored Pokémon a little bit easier: the Masuda method and the Poké Radar slightly raise the probabilities of hatching Pokémon from eggs and catching Pokémon from the wild, respectively.

In the Veilstone Game Corner, in the second mode on the slot machines, a Clefairy appears on the lower screen. There are three kinds of Clefairy: a Ditto that has transformed into a Clefairy, a normal Clefairy, and a Shiny Clefairy. Shiny Clefairy are the rarest and last for the most rounds, but are not as rare as encountering a wild Shiny Pokémon.

Shiny Pokémon are again highlighted in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, where the red Gyarados makes its return as a plot point, while Shiny Pokémon also appear in their Shiny state as walking Pokémon when they follow the player.

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

A special event has been released that will allow the player to encounter a wild Zoroark if one of the Shiny legendary beasts released with the thirteenth movie is transferred forward to Generation V.

The game is programmed so that the wild Reshiram, Zekrom and Victini in Generation V will never be encountered Shiny. However, like all Pokémon, these Pokémon have Shiny sprites.

Appearance

Unobtainable Shiny Pokémon

In most Generations there are a few Pokémon that cannot be obtained Shiny without cheating or glitches, due to either being distribution-exclusive or, in Generation V, being programmed so that they cannot be Shiny in the wild.

Generation II

• Celebi*

Generation III

None

Generation IV

• Arceus
• Spiky-eared Pichu

Generation V

• Arceus
• Victini
• Reshiram
• Zekrom

Shiny event-exclusive Pokémon

Pokémon that are only available through Nintendo events can only be caught Shiny under certain conditions.

In the side series games

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. This seems to have been removed from later games. In the Ekans Hoop Hurl game in the Kid's Club, there are golden Diglett that are worth extra points.

Pokémon Colosseum

A Shiny Voltorb in Colosseum.

Main article: List of glitches in Generation III

In Pokémon Coloseum, like in the main series games, Pokémon have a 1/8192 chance of being Shiny. Likewise, there is a 1/8192 chance of a Shadow Pokémon being Shiny; however, when a Shiny Shadow Pokémon is captured, it is highly improbable that the Pokémon will retain Shininess. Conversely, when an ordinary Shadow Pokémon is captured, there is still the 1/8192 chance of that Pokémon becoming Shiny when it is sent to the player's party or the Pokémon storage system. Shininess is retained through purification. 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 Pokémon are not Shiny by recalculating the Pokémon personality value if it would result in a Shiny Pokémon. As in Pokémon Colosseum, the color of a Shiny Pokémon can differ drastically from the handheld games.

My Pokémon Ranch

In My Pokémon Ranch, Pokémon's Shininess is visible. Pokémon traded by Hayley—except Phione and Mew—cannot be Shiny.

In the spin-off games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team

A regular Kecleon with a purple Kecleon

It is sometimes thought that the TM Merchant in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team is a Shiny Pokémon. It is a Kecleon, and although Kecleon are normally green, it is actually purple, including its sprite. However, though it is alternate-colored (like the Kecleon in The Kecleon Caper), it is not Shiny (Shiny Kecleon have a blue stripe instead of a red stripe) and is more likely a different color due to its Color Change ability. It says that it was so excited about Orbs that it turned rosy-colored.

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 appears, although Shiny Pokémon are not obtainable normally in the game. It is believed that the Shiny coloring (pink) further emphasizes that this particular Celebi is inherently female, a fact proven by in-game dialogue as well as her crush on a male Pokémon.

Also, Dialga appears with different coloration. Like the purple Kecleon, this Dialga is not Shiny; the coloration is caused by a collapsing Temporal Tower, resulting in a state where it is known as Primal Dialga. After defeating it the first time in Time and Darkness, the effect will disappear, and Primal Dialga goes back to its normal self. However, in Sky, Primal Dialga can still be found in the special episode In the Future of Darkness.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon WiiWare

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

Super Smash Bros.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Mewtwo, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, and Lucario each have several different colorations exclusive to the series. One of Pikachu's alternate colorations is its Shiny form wearing Red's hat, and one of Jigglypuff's is its Shiny form wearing a straw hat; however, all other playable Pokémon in the series, except Mewtwo, do not have their actual Shiny form as an alternate coloration.

Pokémon Rumble

In Pokémon Rumble, Shiny Pokémon may rarely appear. They will always tip over when defeated. The chances of their appearance are unconfirmed, although it could be 1/8192 to match the chances in the main 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.

Pokémon Battle Revolution

In Pokémon Battle Revolution, Shiny Pokémon have face-sprites which show their Shininess. Random Pokémon in Colosseums can be Shiny, but have the same chance of being Shiny as wild Pokémon. This is due to the RNG, which generates a random PID.

In the TCG

Alternate colored Pokémon have appeared in the TCG as well, first as Shining Pokémon in Neo Revelation and Neo Destiny, and later as Pokémon in EX Team Rocket Returns - EX Power Keepers. Players can only have one Pokémon per deck. The Stormfront, Platinum, and Supreme Victors sets includes 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 , 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 Stage 1 Pokémon, or, in the case of shiny evolved Pokémon, from normal Basic Pokémon.

Shiny versions of several legendary Pokémon were also featured in the Call of Legends expansion as secret rares under the SL numbering subset.

In the anime

Like Shiny Pokémon in the games, Noctowl sparkles as it exits its Poké Ball.

Main article: List of alternately colored Pokémon 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, causing many to not count it. Likewise, the first appearance of a Generation III Pokémon in The Kecleon Caper featured a non-standard alternate colored Pokémon, this time a purple Kecleon. This may be due to Kecleon's Color Change ability, however, similarly to the case in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.

The first Pokémon with an alternate coloration that was seen was also the first Generation II Pokémon to appear, a Ho-Oh in the first episode. However it is possible that it may not have been intended to be an alternate coloration, as Ho-Oh may not have been fully designed by the episode's release and may have simply been colored after the version it represents, Pokémon Gold, and since alternate coloration was also not yet an explored concept. For these reasons, most do not consider this to be a Shiny Pokémon either.

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.

A blue Breloom and a light-blue Marill also appeared in Weekend Warrior, which aren't the official alternate colors for those Pokémon, and are possibly coloring errors.

The first true Shiny Pokémon that appeared, however, was a Noctowl in Fowl Play!. Ash eventually captured 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.

A Team Rocket mecha that appeared in Bagged Then Tagged!, the Digital Drapion, appears to be based on a Shiny Drapion.

In the manga

Red Gyarados and Silver in HeartGold & SoulSilver arc

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

Pokémon Adventures

In Pokémon Adventures's Gold, Silver & Crystal arc, Silver captured 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. Silver's Gyarados has since made appearances on Silver's team in FireRed & LeafGreen arc and HeartGold & SoulSilver arc

Trivia

• Ash's Noctowl is the only Pokémon in the anime to display the attributed sparkles when released from its Poké Ball. Subsequently seen Shiny Pokémon do not have this effect. However, as of the Diamond and Pearl series, all Pokémon show an extra sparkle effect when released.
  • Pikachu-colored Pichu, however, displays a sparkle effect almost identical to the one in the games for Shiny Pokémon.
• Due to the fact that Shininess in Generation III onwards is determined by the OT's ID and Secret ID, and to the fact that eggs take the ID/SID of their hatchers when hatched, eggs can be Shiny on the game that breeds them, but not on a game that they're traded to (or vice-versa) if still in their eggs. The OT of the egg isn't changed until after it hatches—this can lead to scenarios where an egg will hatch and appear Shiny, but will not be Shiny when actually checked (or vice-versa) because the ID/SID changes immediately after the hatching scene.
  • This is also why Manaphy can hatch Shiny when they would normally be prohibited from doing so on the original receiver's game.
• Due to the way that Generation II Shininess and gender are determined, 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.
• Prior to Generation V, Shininess in canonically unique Pokémon such as Mewtwo created plotholes when the Pokédex displayed the normally colored version. However, in Generation V, the Pokédex displays the first form encountered, meaning that the Shininess is canonical in that particular copy of the game.