In most Pokemon games these days, it's simply not enough to catch them all as many players are also keenly interested in obtaining shiny creatures as well. Originally added all the way back in the second generation of games that included Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver, the Shiny tradition has continued throughout the long running series and has resurfaced again in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield.
In most cases, Shiny Pokemon are special and rare variants of their normal versions. Not only do they feature a different a different color pattern but the pocket monster also has a unique sparkling animation and sound effect as they enter a battle. While shinies are intended to be hard to come across, resourceful players have managed to find a way to capture a limitless supply of raid Pokemon.
As Redditors have discovered, the new raid mechanic in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield seem to determine nearly every element of the battle including the Pokemon, moves, natures, and more, when the raid activity is spawned. If a player saves right before a raid and reset the game after catching then checking the Pokemon stats, the raid details will remain the same. Not only is this great for players who fail the encounter and want to try again, but the same is true for those that join or are invited to the raid event as well.
So the trick seems to be to save before each raid until one that features a shiny Pokemon is found, reset the game, invite any friends to the raid battle, allow friends to capture the shiny Pokemon, then reset the console and start the process again. Considering many people would classify this as an exploit or gamebreaking, it's highly likely that Nintendo and Game Freak will patch this system to prevent players from farming what are supposed to be rare and unique creatures.
It's because of this discovery that players have been able to utilize the in-game mechanics of saving and resetting to essentially farm found shiny Pokemon in raids. Not only that, the player can then invite up to three friends to join in on the raid as well and continue using the reset mechanic to continue catching the shiny until the daily reset hits at midnight. As players like BenignLarency have found out, this mechanic can also be used to farm things like infinite high IV Ditto, items, and more.
For those who may not be keen on exploiting a system, players can naturally increase their odds of finding these unique variants. While it's impossible to get a shiny starter Pokemon this time around, players should utilize combo-catching or catching the same creature multiple times in a row to increase the odds of getting a Shiny Pokemon to spawn. Breeding is also another good way to potentially spawn a shiny, especially by utilizing the Masuda Method. The last technique is to utilize an item called Shiny Charm, which is only given once the player has completely finished the PokeDex.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are out now for Nintendo Switch.
Source: Reddit