How to Find Shiny Pokémon

Co-authored by Ethan Dobbs

Last Updated: December 10, 2024

Shiny Pokémon are the Rolls Royces of the Pokémon world. These Pokémon are incredibly rare, and act as a status symbol for trainers that own some. Shiny Pokémon have different color schemes than standard Pokémon, but otherwise have identical stats and traits. Getting a Shiny Pokémon is a test of patience, especially if you want to create a whole team of Shinies, but the feeling of satisfaction will be worth it.

Method 1

Method 1 of 6:

Chaining

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1
Understand the concept. Encountering a Shiny Pokémon in the wild is a 1/8192 chance. Although this chance is 1/4096 in the newer games, that's still really, really low. Chaining is the practice of encountering the same Pokémon repeatedly to increase the chances that a Shiny version will appear. Breaking the chain at any time will reset your chances, making it a slightly tedious experience.
- You cannot chain in Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, White 2, HeartGold, or SoulSilver as there is no PokéRadar available. You can chain for Shinies in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
2
Get yourself the PokéRadar. The PokéRadar becomes available after you have defeated the Elite Four. This tool will show you spots in the grass where you can encounter wild Pokémon, and is essential to creating a chain.
- Register the PokéRadar to one of your buttons (if applicable), and unregister any other items (bike, fishing rod, etc.). Using any other item while chaining, even by accident, will reset your chain.
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3
Equip the Shiny Charm. You receive the Shiny Charm after completing your Pokédex, so it may take a while. Equipping it will increase your chances of encountering a Shiny Pokémon.
- The Shiny Charm is only available in Black 2 and White 2, X and Y, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Sun and Moon, & Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
4
Buy a lot of Super Repels. These items keep random Pokémon from attacking you, and are critical to keeping your chain intact. You should ALWAYS be under the effects of a Super Repel while chaining. It is recommended that you have at least 200 for extended chaining sessions.
- Make sure you have a good supply of Pokéballs to catch the Shiny Pokémon.^{[1]
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5
Prepare your team. Assemble a team of well-rounded Pokémon with lots of PP so that regardless of the type of shiny Pokémon you encounter, you will always have someone in your team to beat it. You can use the PP remaining to count your chain as well.
- It will really help to have a Pokémon that knows False Swipe, so you can lower the HP of the Shiny Pokémon to 1 without knocking it out.
- Having a Pokémon with Sleep or Paralyze will also make more difficult Pokémon easier to capture.
Shiny Pokémon appear in the same locations as their regular versions. This means that you should go to a location where you can find normal versions of the Shiny Pokémon you want.
7
Find a large patch of grass. To make chaining easier, you will want to find a patch of grass that is at least 5x5 tiles. This will give you enough room to walk around without breaking your chain, since leaving the patch at any time will break your chain.
- Some guides recommend finding patches that are 9x9.
This will give you the most room to move in any direction.
Make sure to pay attention to HOW the grass shakes; there are three different ways that the grass can shake. Note the way that the patch you enter is shaking.
This will start a battle. If the Pokémon is the type that you want to get as Shiny, KO it to start your chain. If it's not, finish the battle and then walk 50 steps to reset your PokéRadar and start again.
11
Look for the next patch that is shaking the same way as the first one. After KOing the first Pokémon, move onto the next shaking patch to continue the chain. There are several very important aspects to keep in mind:
- The next patch must be at least 4 tiles away from you (the numbers vary from guide to guide, but this number is a safe number that will keep your chain active).
- The next patch must be shaking the same way that the previous patch was.
- If the patch you pick is at the edge of the grass area, you will need to reset your PokéRadar after the fight. Do this by walking 50 steps without fighting and then using it again. Be sure to not leave the grassy area!
12
Repeat the process to raise your chain. Keep finding patches of grass to keep encountering the same Pokémon. Each time you defeat one, your chain will increase by 1. You can either make a tally on a piece of paper or use a Pokémon with a high PP attack to act as a counter. Increase your chain until you get to 40.
- If your chain breaks for any reason, you'll have to start over.
- Saving your game or quitting will break your chain.
- Using the Roller Skates will break your chain.
- Leaving the field will break your chain.
- Fleeing a battle will break your chain.
- Encountering any other Pokémon will break your chain.
13
Start resetting your PokéRadar to try to make shiny patches appear. Once you've reached a 40 chain, your odds are as high as they are going to get. You can now start resetting your PokéRadar until a shiny patch of shaking grass appears. Shiny patches will start appearing in about 1 out of 50 resets. Reset your PokéRadar every 50 steps to cycle through patches as quickly as possible.^{[2]
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- Once you've gotten your chain to 40, it can still take a significant amount of time to make a shiny patch appear.
Once you see the shiny patch, congratulations! You've summoned a Shiny Pokémon. All that's left to do is capture the Shiny Pokémon found inside. You can capture them just like you would a regular Pokémon. Make sure you don't knock it out!^{[3]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 6:

Breeding

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1
Obtain a Pokémon from another real-life region. The key to breeding a Shiny Pokémon is to breed Pokémon from two different regions. For example, if you live in the USA, obtain a Pokémon from Japan or Europe. Make sure to obtain the Pokémon that you want to get a Shiny version of.
- This breeding method, also known as the Masuda method, is only available in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Black, White, Black 2, White 2, X, and Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
- The easiest way to get a Pokémon from another region is to trade with someone. There are several popular trading sites online that can make this a fairly simple process, such as PokéBay and Reddit's Pokémon Trading subreddit.
- The two Pokémon must be able to breed normally with each other. This means they must be the same species or share an Egg Group, and are opposite genders. If the Pokémon you want to breed is genderless, then you will need to breed it with a Ditto.
- You can tell what region the Pokémon is from by looking at its PokéDex entry. In the upper-right corner, there will be a three-letter abbreviation for the region the Pokémon is from (JPN, FRE, ITA, etc.). If there is nothing there, then the Pokémon is from your own region.
2
Equip the Shiny Charm. You receive the Shiny Charm after completing your Pokédex. Equipping it will raise the chances that the egg that hatches contains a Shiny Pokémon.
- The Shiny Charm is only available in Black 2, White 2, X, and Y.
3
Put both Pokémon in the Day Care. Depending on their compatibility, the chance of you receiving an egg from the pairing can be anywhere from 70% down to 20%. The game calculates the chance for an egg every 256 steps you take in the world.
- You can increase the speed by riding your bike instead of walking.
Once you get an egg, you'll need to hatch it. This can take a little while, and you won't know what's inside until it hatches. By breeding Pokémon from two different regions, your chances for a Shiny go from 1/8192 to 1/1024 (8x more likely).

Method 3

Method 3 of 6:

Fishing

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Pokémon X and Y introduced the concept of "fishing streaks". This requires you to continuously hook wild Pokémon without pulling up nothing or messing up the reel timing. Increasing your streak will increase the chances of catching a Shiny.
Make sure you have plenty of PokéBalls, as well as a fishing rod. You don't need special rods to perform streaks, but the rod you use will determine the level and type of Pokémon that you can catch.
You will need Pokémon that can beat any Pokémon that you catch on the rod. You will also want a Pokémon with "Suction Cups" or "Sticky Hold" to be the first Pokémon in your party. This will increase the odds of hooking a wild Pokémon, which is essential for fishing streaks.
You can increase your chances for hooking a Pokémon by fishing in an enclosed water tile. For example, if you're fishing from the back of a Pokémon, try to find a tile that is surrounded by the land, a rock, you, and an unfishable deep water tile.
5
Start fishing. Once you've found a good spot, cast your line to start fishing. Press "A" as soon as you see the notice that you have a Pokémon on the line. Any of the following messages or actions will cause the streak to end:
- "Nothing seems to be biting..." - This is a random occurrence, but can be mitigated by fishing in an enclosed spot.
- "No! You reeled in too fast!" - You pressed the A button too soon.
- "No! You reeled in too slow!" - You pressed the A button too late.
- Leaving the area.
- Starting a battle outside of fishing.
- Quitting the game.
As long as you are successfully hooking Pokémon, your streak will increase. This will increase the odds of finding a Shiny, up to a certain point. Because it is random, there is still the chance that you will not find a Shiny, even after successfully catching numerous Pokémon with your rod.

Method 4

Method 4 of 6:

Getting Shiny Starters and Legendaries

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1
Save right before picking your starting Pokémon or starting a Legendary battle. There is a very small chance that the Pokémon you pick will be Shiny. Save right before picking or starting the battle.
2
Pick the Pokémon or start the fight with the Legendary. If the Pokémon is not Shiny, restart your game.
- This will not work on Legendaries in Pokémon X, Y, and some Legendary Pokémon in Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
3
Load your save and try again. This is a long and very time consuming process. Some people have reported it taking over 1000 tries. If you keep trying, however, you may be able to get a Shiny starter or Legendary.
- If the Legendary fight is one where the Pokémon will automatically run, it will still be Shiny when you meet it later.

Method 5

Method 5 of 6:

SOS Chaining

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1
Load up your copy of Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon. This will only work on these games.
2
Make sure you know the Pokémon you're hunting well. If it knows moves such as Explosion or Double Edge, then make sure to prepare for it. Check if the Pokémon can call for help--if not, then this method won't work on it. To counter self-destructing moves, use a Pokémon with the ability Damp. To counter recoil moves, use Skill Swap with a Pokémon with the ability Rock Head or use a Ghost type, as these moves are usually Normal-type.
3
Get some Adrenaline Orbs to allow easier chaining. They increase the odds of Pokémon calling for help. Having Pokémon call for help more will increase the speed of finding your shiny.
4
Have a Pokemon with the move False Swipe or Hold Back on your team. False Swipe is TM54, and a wide array of Pokémon can learn it.
5
Encounter the target Pokémon you want the shiny of. It has to be a Pokémon you can encounter naturally in the wild, so Ultra Beasts, the Tapus, and Legendary Pokémon will not work with this method.
6
Once you find your target, lower its HP to 50% or less. Make sure not to knock it out. At low HP, the Pokémon will start to call for help. This is the start of your hunt.
7
Knock out every Pokémon that is called that is NOT shiny whenever a new Pokémon is called into battle. You can tell if it's not shiny if it stays the same color as usual.
8
Switch Pokemon every 30 to 100 SOS calls. Do so by using False Swipe on the next Pokémon called and knock out the original caller. Knock out the original caller when it's running out of moves--this is why you need to prepare. However, do not swap callers if the other Pokémon isn't the same species as the one you are hunting for.
9
Rinse and repeat until you find the shiny, then catch it. The shiny will sparkle as it enters the battlefield.

Method 6

Method 6 of 6:

Ultra Wormholes

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1
Start up your Pokemon Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon game. This method only works for these games.
2
(Optional tip) Go to the Game Freak Headquarters on Akala Island. After you have completed the main story mode and defeated the Elite-Four, you can choose either to change how you control Solgaleo/ Lunala through the Ultra Wormhole through two options. 1. Motion Controls or 2. Circle-Pad Controls. This is for better accuracy if you are not comfortable using motion controls.
3
Go to the Altar of the Sun/or Moon. You need to have successfully defeated the Elite-Four to and completed the story mode.
4
Enter through the wormhole. This is located in the front of the Sun/Moon symbol on the ground. Choose Enter the Ultra Wormhole.
5
Catching the shiny Pokemon. There are 20 Pokemon you can catch shiny. You have a higher chance of encountering a shiny Pokemon if you travel farther into the Ultra Wormhole. The more rings a hole has, the rarer the Pokemon. But be careful! If you see a Wormhole with three rings and more smaller rings, that indicates a legendary Pokemon. Unless you are shiny hunting a legendary, do not enter through this Wormhole. See Getting Shiny Starters and Legendaries for catching legendary Pokemon in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

Community Q&A

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Question

What is the Horde Hunting method?

Bun bun

Top Answerer

This is when you repeatedly use Sweet Scent or Honey to encounter hordes of Pokémon. People view this as an efficient method, as there are 5 Pokémon in a horde, so it makes you find a shiny 5 times as fast!

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Will the sweet scent method work to find a shiny Pokemon?

Community Answer

In Oras and X/Y, yes. You'll get a herd of Pokemon, and your luck to find a shiny ups to 5/4096. I got some of my own shinies with this method, and those hunts were the shortest.

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Do I continue hatching eggs if I don't get a shiny Pokemon?

Bun bun

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Yes.

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Tips

Don't know what to hunt for? Try Caterpie. It can be used in Masuda Method breeding, can be chained on X and Y, and can call for help in Sun and Moon. Chain fishing for Remoraid is quick and easy too, as it is very common.

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Stock up on Ultra Balls. That way, if you get your target's HP low in the yellow stage, you have a higher chance of catching it than with a Great Ball or Pokéball.

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Warnings

Make sure you know the Pokémon you're hunting well, as it may knock itself out if you're not prepared.

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Don't use moves in SOS chaining that will hit both opposing Pokémon. You may accidentally knock it out.

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None of these methods are guaranteed to get you a Shiny Pokémon. All they do is increase your chances of finding one. Finding Shiny Pokémon will still boil down to lots of luck and patience.

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Some Pokémon will never be shiny by legitimate means. This is what fans call "shiny locked."

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