10 of the best Shiny Pokemon of all time

We’ve compiled a list outlining ten of the best Shiny Pokemon of all time. Before we begin, do keep in mind that this isn’t an objective list. There are far more than ten out there there, so we won’t be able to cover all of the great shinies on this list alone.

Shiny Pokemon were first introduced in Pokemon Gold and Silver, and since then they’ve been sort of hit-or-miss. For every great-looking Shiny coloration, there’s another one out there that’s incredibly disappointing (we’re looking at you, Ceruledge). That being said, there are plenty of Shiny Pokemon worth hunting – and that’s what we’re here for today.

The best Shiny Pokemon ever

Charizard

Charizard is kind of a shoo-in, so let’s get it out of the way. It’s one of the most beloved Shiny Pokemon of all time, and it’s easy to see why. It trades its iconic orange color for a jet-black palette that highlights its ferocity and draconic nature. For the most part, Mega Charizard Y keeps this coloration – but it’s more of a purple than a black. Mega Charizard X, on the other hand, becomes a strange teal color, which doesn’t exactly match its vibe. Still, base Charizard’s Shiny form is cool enough to warrant an inclusion on this list.

Umbreon

Umbreon is perhaps another obvious inclusion, but it’s absolutely one of the best Shiny Pokemon ever made. Lots of players consider Umbreon their favorite Pokemon, and more than a few of them will probably tell you it’s at least partially because of its Shiny coloration. Shiny Umbreon trades its yellow rings for bright blue ones, which does a lot to make it stand out. Great colors!

Rayquaza

Rayquaza is already an incredibly popular Legendary Pokemon, and its Shiny coloration is good enough to take that to the next level. You might notice a theme with the first three Shiny Pokemon on this list: they all have dark colors with specific accents. Rayquaza is no exception – in addition to looking great when Shiny, its Shiny coloration perfectly matches the color palette of a Luxury Ball. If you want the ultimate Poke Ball to color scheme match, try catching a Shiny Rayquaza in a Luxury Ball.

Mothim

Mothim isn’t a terribly interesting Pokemon on its own. In fact, if you’ve ever used one in a playthrough, you probably noticed that it’s frail, slow, and rather weak. It does have one thing going for it, though: its Shiny form. Its normal colors are tan and orange, but the Shiny palette swaps these out for bright yellow and blue. It might not sound great on paper, but it winds up combining into one of the most colorful and vivid Shiny Pokemon we’ve ever seen.

Giratina

Giratina is another fantastic Shiny Pokemon, and certainly ranks up there with the best Shiny Pokemon of all time. Many Sinnoh Pokemon have Shiny forms that just make their base colors brighter, but that’s not the case for Giratina at all. Instead, it receives a light tan body, shiny silver highlights, and light blue accents. This winds up creating one of the most striking Shiny Pokemon out there. Its Origin form is just as colorful, too.

Hisuian Zorua

Hisuian Zorua is the first unevolved Pokemon on the list, and it’s easy to see why. Even in its baby form, Hisuian Zorua is one of the best Shiny Pokemon available. It trades its white fur for dark gray, and it receives ice-blue accents rather than red ones. This perfectly fits its preferred habitat, that being snowy mountains. Unfortunately, when Hisuian Zorua evolves into Zoroark, it loses its blue accents in favor of deep purple. While we do like Hisuian Zorua better, we totally understand if you like Zoroark’s purple accents better.

Clawitzer

Clawitzer is perhaps a deep cut pick – it’s not the most popular Pokemon. Its Shiny colors, however, are excellent. It’s a colorful red and white pattern, which is in stark contrast to its normal sea blue colors. The blue accents on Shiny Clawitzer really bring the design together, propelling this otherwise rather forgotten shrimp to being one of the best Shiny Pokemon of all time.

Trevenant

Trevenant, once again, isn’t a particularly popular Pokemon. Its normal colors are, as you might expect, brown and green. Its Shiny form, however, takes on a completely different appearance. Instead of brown and green, Shiny Trevenant is white with crimson accents. This makes it look even more haunting than it normally does! Shiny Phantump carries the same color scheme as Shiny Trevenant, making it another worthy inclusion on the list.

Palossand

Palossand is yet another dark-colored Shiny Pokemon with blue accents, but it’s actually got an origin in real life. Shiny Palossand is based on real-world beaches made of black sand, which only adds to this Pokemon’s coolness factor. Sandygast shares the same Shiny form, too! Between these great colors and the real-life origin, Palossand definitely has a reason to be considered one of the best Shiny Pokemon out there right now. You can hunt it in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, too.

Iron Thorns

Iron Thorns might not be considered a great Shiny Pokemon. In fact, the future Paradox Pokemon in Pokemon Violet have drawn criticism because all of their Shiny forms make them silver. Iron Thorns is no exception. That said, its normal coloration is green, black, and light green. Its Shiny coloration changes its palette radically, instead becoming a lustrous silver with black and light-green accents. In-game, Shiny Iron Thorns is reflective and metallic, so the texture work does admittedly do a lot of the heavy lifting here.

We figured we’d include a few honorable mentions here. Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre would’ve made the list – they’re jet-black with colorful accents – but we thought it’d be a better idea to leave them out to give the list a bit more variety. Their normal Shiny colorations, yellow and purple, respectively, also don’t stand out as much as their Primal forms do. A lot of other Pokemon fit the whole “dark colors with accents” vibe, too – all four Tapus, Greninja, and Koraidon, who is currently unavailable in its Shiny form.

It’s important to note that this list is just ten of the best Shiny Pokemon of all time – it’s not meant to be an objective list of the top 10. How about you? Do you agree with our list, and would you make any additions to it? Feel free to let us know in the comments down below.

We’ll be writing a list of ten  of the worst Shiny Pokemon in the near future, so stay tuned if you’re interested. If you want to learn how to hunt some Shiny Pokemon for yourself, check out our Shiny sandwich guide for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Switch. You can visit the official site here.