Shiny Pokemon have been a staple of the Pokemon franchise since Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver, and are often seen as a hot commodity worth bragging about and showing off. Some trainers like having strong Pokemon on their team be shiny, while others spend their time after completing a Pokemon game hunting shinies for something to do. In Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, shiny Pokemon make a return, and thanks to some handy mechanics, players can easily farm for lots of shiny Pokemon (if they're lucky).
What are Shiny Pokemon?
Simply put, shiny Pokemon are Pokemon that feature an alternate color scheme and feature a sparking aura when tossed into battle. These discolored Pokemon are highly sought after because of their unique design and their rarity. In Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield, shiny Pokemon have a 1/4,096 chance of appearing. The odds of this happening are clearly extremely high, which is why so many players are so proud of their shiny Pokemon. However, players can do a number of things to increase the chances of finding a shiny Pokemon. Some Pokemon that are gotten through story events - like the starter Pokemon - cannot be shiny, but thankfully breeding them gives players a chance to get their beloved starters shiny.
There are actually two types of shiny Pokemon in Sword and Shield, standard shinies and "square shinies" that are a new addition to the series. These new additions feature the signature color change, but instead of sparkles when coming out of a Poke Ball, they feature little shiny squares. When a player finds a shiny Pokemon, that shiny has a 1/16 chance of being a square shiny - however, at the time of writing, there is a bug in the game that is making square shiny Pokemon more common than standard shinies, but most fans are thankful just to have a shiny to begin with.
Breeding and the Masuda Method
Breeding Pokemon is a common feature used, especially by trainers searching for perfect IVs on specific Pokemon. Breeding can let trainers get Pokemon that have specific natures, abilities, and moves that they may not have if caught in the wild. It's also one of the easiest ways to farm shiny Pokemon. The odds of finding a shiny Pokemon through breeding is still the same as if they were being encountered in the wild, but it's less resource-intensive. Breeding is especially useful if trying to get a shiny version of a Pokemon that's hard to catch in the wild.
What makes breeding so special is that if players breed a Pokemon with another that is from a trainer using a different language, then the odds of the offspring being shiny drastically increases (commonly known as the Masuda method). Commonly, players will go out of their way to get a Ditto that is from a trainer in another region, and use that to breed with the desired Pokemon. When using the Masuda method, the odds of a Shiny Pokemon go from 1/4,096 to 1/682.7. This is increased further to 1/512 if the player has the shiny charm in Pokemon Sword and Shield, which is the most common way players farm for shiny Pokemon if they have the required components.
Fight, Fight, and Fight Again
If players want to be a bit more active in snagging shiny Pokemon then Sword and Shield has just the thing. Pokemon Sword and Shield actively tracks the number of times players have encountered a specific Pokemon, and as that number goes up, so too does the chance of finding a shiny version of that Pokemon. After catching or battling 50 of the same Pokemon, the shiny chance goes up to 1/2048. At 100 encounters, it goes up again to 1/1365.33. 200 of the same Pokemon brings the rate up to 1/1024, and 300 of the same Pokemon brings it to 1/819.2.
The chance caps out after 500 of the same Pokemon, where the rate levels off at 1/682.67 - and all of these odds are without the Shiny Charm which will boost the chance significantly. This is just a passive buff, so players don't need to do this back-to-back. Players can check the number of encounters with any given Pokemon in the Pokedex. While the odds may not be as good as hatching Pokemon eggs, this is great for those who don't want to do the mind-numbing egg hatching process for hours.
Keeping the Chain Going
The Chaining method can go hand-in-hand with the encounter method, as it will continually increase the number of Pokemon that the player has faced. The idea behind chaining is that players need to encounter 25 of the same Pokemon in a row without defeating or catching another type of Pokemon. If players run into another type of Pokemon they need to run or use an escape item to avoid breaking the chain. If players combine chaining, Shiny Charm, and the 500+ encounter method, the odds of a shiny Pokemon appearing go from 1/4096 to a whopping 1/455. This is a good alternative so hopefully players aren't spending 60 hours trying to catch one Pokemon.
Shiny Pokemon are certainly a bragging right among many Pokemon fans, and thankfully there are several ways to get them. While they have no major impact on gameplay, fans like having special Pokemon that they hold dear, especially if they are key parts of their team. It's the perfect way to show off that a trainer really likes a specific Pokemon species. While Sword and Shield made some pretty drastic changes to the Pokemon formula, thankfully shinies seem to be here to stay.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are available now exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.