Shiny hunting is one of the best ways to squeeze additional hours out of Pokemon games. Almost every single Pokemon is obtainable in its Shiny form in one way or another. That being said, there are a handful of Pokemon – mostly of the Legendary and Mythical varieties – that are completely unavailable in this form without hacking. If you’re curious, we’ve compiled a list of every Shiny locked Pokemon in 2024.
Shiny locked Pokemon list
Here’s our big list of Shiny locked Pokemon. Depending on what kinds of events we see in the next few years, some of these Pokemon may become available in their Shiny forms. Any Pokemon not mentioned here has been available Shiny in some way, shape, or form – be it through random encounters, an event, or even through Pokemon GO.
- Victini has never been available Shiny in any form. Its initial Liberty Garden event encounter in Pokemon Black and White is Shiny locked, and all of Victini’s consequent distributions were, too. It’s a shame – Victini has a fantastic Shiny color palette.
- Keldeo, despite being available for native capture in Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Crown Tundra DLC, is Shiny locked there too. As you might expect, all of Keldeo’s distribution events are coded to never be Shiny as well.
- Poke Ball Vivillon is a more obscure instance of a Shiny locked Pokemon. It’s not even a Legendary or Mythical! Indeed, Poke Ball Vivillon was only distributed in its normal form (and over 10 years ago), so it’s impossible to see Shiny outside of hacking.
- Hoopa, whose Shiny form paints it gold, is also completely unobtainable outside of its normal form. This goes for Hoopa’s Unbound form as well, who shares a similarly golden color palette.
- Volcanion’s Shiny form becomes yellow with light pink accents. Much different from its normal crimson color! Unfortunately, this is impossible to see in game because all of Volcanion’s distribution events are Shiny locked.
- Cosmog and Cosmoem cannot be Shiny either, though their evolutions Solgaleo and Lunala are huntable via Dynamax Adventures and events from Sun and Moon. The only difference between a Shiny Cosmog and a regular one is that its cheeks turn red!
- Magearna actually didn’t have a different Shiny palette coded into Sun and Moon at all. It did finally receive one in Pokemon Sword and Shield, but it’s unobtainable. Don’t get this confused with the Original Colors Magearna, either – that’s a completely different form. Shiny standard Magearna is a metallic silver color. Original Colors Magearna isn’t available Shiny, either.
- Marshadow is an unfortunately lame Shiny. In fact, there’s no noticeable difference between normal and Shiny at first glance. When Marshadow uses an attack, however, it changes into a form with green accents. In its Shiny form, those green accents turn purple.
- Melmetal is available in its Shiny form in Pokemon GO, so this little technicality might not count as a truly Shiny locked Pokemon. Melmetal’s Gigantamax form, which was introduced in Pokemon Sword and Shield, cannot be Shiny under any circumstances. Sure, you can transfer a Shiny Melmetal to Sword and Shield, but it won’t be able to Gigantamax because the only ones that can come from a Shiny locked event. You also can’t give Melmetal Max Soup – it refuses to eat it.
- Kubfu, Urshifu, Zarude, Calyrex, Glastrier, Spectrier, and Enamorus all come from Generation 8, and not a single one of them is currently available Shiny. Kubfu, Glastrier, and Spectrier all appear in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and can be caught there, but they’re Shiny locked there too.
- Chien-Pao, Wo-Chien, Chi-Yu, Ting-Lu, Koraidon, Miraidon, Walking Wake, Iron Leaves, Ogerpon, Okidogi, Munkidori, Fezandipiti, Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt, Terapagos, Iron Crown, Iron Boulder, and Pecharunt are all Shiny-locked, too. As you can see, The Pokemon Company sort of went crazy with Shiny locks in Scarlet and Violet. The returning Legendary Pokemon are Shiny locked in those games, too. We really hope this isn’t a sign of things to come. Let us hunt Shiny Legendaries!
That’s just about all of them, then. If we include Pokemon who are only available Shiny via events, the list gets a bit longer – Pokemon like Zacian, Zamazenta, and Eternatus have never been available Shiny in anything but a Cherish Ball, for instance.
Which of these Shiny locked Pokemon do you want to become available most? Lots of the ones here have really nice Shiny forms – Victini and Koraidon are among our favorites. Feel free to leave your favorite unobtainable Shiny Pokemon in the comments below. Maybe it’ll urge The Pokemon Company to make it available in a future game?
There’s good news yet, though. While Pokemon Scarlet and Violet has all of their Legendary Pokemon Shiny-locked, for normal Pokemon it’s almost certainly the fastest main series game to Shiny hunt in. If you’re interested in grabbing a few, check out our Shiny Sandwich guide to learn more.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Switch, and you can find the official website here.
