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The color of a ‘shiny’ Pokémon will look distinctly different to that of a regular one.

Your first question is probably what a “shiny” even is. A Shiny is a special type of Pokémon. Most prominent is its coloration, which is generally quite different from a normal Pokémon’s. For example, a normal "Pikachu" IconPikachu is yellow; a Shiny Pikachu is more orange-gold in coloration.

Besides the different color, there is no actual difference between a Shiny Pokémon and a normal one. However they’re quite prized for their rarity (and often appearance) - in Pokémon Black/White 2, a rare medal was even awarded for finding one.

In some games, you were guaranteed to encounter a Shiny Pokémon on certain occasions - for example, the Shiny "Gyarados" IconGyarados at the Lake of Rage in Gold/Silver/Crystal, or the Shiny "Haxorus" IconHaxorus in the Nature Preserve of Black/White 2.

Sometimes Nintendo even distributes special Shiny Pokémon, like the Shiny "Pichu" IconPichu for the Spiky-Eared Pichu event in HeartGold/SoulSilver.

The odds of finding a Shiny Pokémon in the wild are pretty low. Reportedly, the odds are 16 in 65,536, which is equivalent to 1 in 4096 or 0.0244% . So, yeah, they’re rare, although twice as common as in previous generations, for what it’s worth..

In some generations, there are methods to boosting the rate of finding Shinies. Most notably, you can complete the National Pokédex for the Shiny Charm , which triples the Shiny-finding rate. It’s not a lot, but, heck, 3 for 1,000 hours of gameplay is significant enough for some.

Less obvious methods exist too, which are ironically more effective. There’s the Matsuda method (see the Breeding section for the details), where you breed with a Pokémon from a foreign country to greatly raise the chance of hatching a Shiny - with the Wonder Trade function in X/Y, that becomes very significant!

Best of all, there’s PokéRadar chaining , which can make Shinies 40 times more common by simply finding the same Pokémon again and again through the PokéRadar. X and Y has also added the similar method of Chain Fishing . It’s a bit of effort, but like they say: “No pain, no gain.”

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Pokemon Company International
  • Platforms,
    3DS
  • Genre
    RPG
  • Guide Release
    1 November 2013
  • Last Updated
    11 July 2022
  • Guide Author
    Daniel Chaviers

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Become the ultimate Pokémon champion with our greatest Pokémon strategy guide yet. Inside we cover:

  • Everything that’s new to Pokémon X & Y.
  • 5 amazing tips to get your Pokémon collecting off to a blistering start.
  • Every single route, trainer battle and hidden shortcuts are covered.
  • What Pokémon can be found on what routes (both versions).
  • How to beat every single gym leader without breaking a sweat.
  • Where to find all those hidden items.
  • The locations of every single legendary Pokémon!
  • Where to find all of the amazing Mega Stones.
  • Pokémon-Amie, Super Training, Battle Chateau etc all covered!
  • Accompanied by over 240 super high-quality screenshots!
  • Additional details on the elusive event Pokemon distributions.
  • Encounter rates for finding wild Pokemon.
  • Videos for all the Gym Leader and Elite Four battles, plus legendary and shiny Pokemon.
  • Dozens of additional tips and reminders throughout the main walkthrough.
  • How to solve crime with the Looker Bureau in the post-game.
  • Full breakdown on how to breed the perfect Pokémon of your dreams!
  • How to catch those insanely rare Shiny Pokémon!
  • List of all the really helpful (and free) O-Powers.

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