As usual, Shiny Pokemon are a natural occurrence in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and as usual, developer Game Freak has decided to forbid some static-encounter Pokemon from being Shiny. So before you waste your time endlessly resetting your game, here’s a list of all shiny locked Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet.
What Are Shiny Locked Pokemon?
Shiny locked Pokemon are, simply put, Pokemon that will never appear with their alternate coloration no matter how many times they’re encountered or you reset your game. Normally, you have about a 1 in 4,096 chance to come across a Shiny Pokemon—Pokemon with a distinctly alternate color palette. Shiny locked Pokemon also have a unique palette-swapped form coded into the game, but these forms are locked and prevented from appearing.
Shiny locked Pokemon have been a thing since the early generations but became more prominent during Generation V when, no matter how much you tried, the box Legendaries would never appear Shiny and couldn’t be legitimately obtained Shiny unless received through gifted events. This situation is no different in Scarlet and Violet. So here’s the complete list of all shiny locked Pokemon in the Generation 9 games.
Shiny Locked Pokemon List in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
All of the scripted encounters in the game have been coded to be shiny locked. This means chancing upon situations such as finding a shiny Lechonk in the tutorial are impossible, and this is only the first example. Other Shiny locked Pokemon are:
- All of the starters (Sprigatito, Quaxly, and Fuecoco).
- All Gift Pokemon you get from NPCs, including in-game trades.
- Both box Legendaries (Koraidon and Miraidon).
- The ex-Titan Pokemon (Klawf, Bombirdier, Orthworm, Great Tusk/Iron Threads, and Tatsugiri).
- The Pokemon of Ruin quartet (Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, Wo-Chien, and Chi-Yu).
- Ghimmighoul (Chest Form).
- 7-Star raid Pokemon.
- Regular scripted encounters.
Yeah, there’s no way to start your game with a Shiny starter, so don’t bother trying. There are tons of cutscenes involving the trio before you pick, and showing only one of them as Shiny wouldn’t make much sense. Through the same logic, it’s easy to see why none of the Pokemon appearing in cutscenes will ever get their chance of being Shiny.
This also includes the second legendary (Koraidon / Miraidon) you can find and catch in Area Zero. All Legendaries in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are Shiny locked and, no matter how hard you try, will never appear as Shiny.
All Shiny Locked Pokemon in The Teal Mask DLC
The same rules for locking Pokemon out of their alt-colored forms are also present in the DLC. For a more precise list, these are the shiny Pokemon you won’t be finding in Kitakami Island.
- The Loyal Three (Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti).
- The Sinnoh starter you got from Professor Jacq’s Egg.
- Ogerpon (all Masks).
- Ursaluna (Bloodmoon).
- Hisuian Growlithe.
- Regular scripted encounters.
Of all of the Pokemon above, only Growlithe, the Sinnoh starters, and the encounters Pokemon (when found anywhere else) can be obtained as Shiny legitimately. Since Ursaring cannot evolve to Ursaluna in Scarlet and Violet, you cannot obtain its shiny Bloodmoon form. There’s no currently known method for evolving to said form specifically just yet, so Game Freak also needs to add that one first.
You can find legitimate Shiny versions of the Hisuian Pokemon and the Sinnoh starters in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Once caught, you can then transfer them over to your copy of Pokemon Scarlet or Violet by using the Pokemon Home app on your Switch. Pokemon GO is another great source for Shiny Pokemon you cannot otherwise obtain in the ninth generation of games.
Can I Get Shiny Locked Pokemon as Legitimate Shinies?
While Shiny versions of the above-mentioned Pokemon are locked away from their sparkles, you can still get them through other methods. You can breed Sprigatito eggs until you get a Shiny one, for example. Similarly, while the specific Titan Klawf will never be Shiny, any other Klawf found in the wild has a chance to be.
Most NPC-related Pokemon can be obtained through other means as well, with all of them having their regular chance of being Shiny, but the same cannot be said for the Legendaries. As is usually the case, you can only get Shiny versions of Legendaries through temporary giveaway codes.
Gimmighouls are a special case, though. They are scattered around the map from the moment you start the game, and none of them are allowed to be Shiny whatsoever. You can’t breed them either, so you can only get Shiny Gimmighouls from special Tera Battle Events or through trades. By extension, this also means you can’t currently get a Shiny Gholdengo, as Gholdengo is only obtainable by evolving Gimmighoul.
That’s all you need to know about Shiny-locked Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet. Hopefully, no other Pokemon will be joining the Shiny-locked crew once the DLC packs arrive in Paldea later this year. But knowing Game Freak, the new Legendaries aren’t escaping their Shiny-locked prison.
