Even with the introduction of so many shiny odds-increasing methods, meeting one of those uniquely colored Pokemon is still a rare sight in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. And being such a rare sight, you might be wondering if it’s possible for shiny Tera Raids to exist.
Can Pokemon in Tera Raids Be Shiny in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet?
Yes, Pokemon in Tera Raids can be shiny. You just need to be lucky enough for that to happen, and we mean extra lucky. Any of the aforementioned methods that would increase the Shiny odds won’t work in Tera Raids, so you’ll always have a 1/4103 chance of finding it.
And yes, you will see the Pokemon as shiny during the raid! However, certain shiny Pokemon are very hard to notice due to the Terastallize effect, so be sure to pay extra attention.
If you need more proof, the image above shows a shiny Ralts in a Tera Raid Battle!
Whether or not a Pokemon appears shiny in a Tera Raid is determined when the raid crystal spawns in the overworld, not when you start the raid. This means you won’t be able to reset the raid in hopes of forcing it to become shiny.
The only exception to this rule is Pokemon from the 7-Star Tera Raids, such as Unrivaled Charizard or Cinderace. They can only be caught once per save file and cannot be shiny at all. That doesn’t mean you can’t catch them and breed until you get a shiny, but it will take a little bit longer. At least you have things like the Masuda Method to help you out with that.
The Masuda Method refers to a popular way to obtain shiny Pokemon by breeding a foreign Pokemon (usually a Ditto) with a non-foreign one. This method of breeding substantially increases the odds of the newly hatched Pokemon being shiny.
While it’s understandable why the event-exclusive Pokemon would be shiny locked, the reason behind regular Tera Raids Pokemon having hard-coded fixed shiny odds is completely unknown. Maybe they just wanted to make them really rare. Well, they did it. It’s common behavior to always catch a shiny, but make an extra effort if said shiny is found in a raid, as those are some of the rarest possible encounters in the game.
Do Tera Raids Have Good Shiny Odds?
No! Tera Raids do not have good shiny odds. In fact, they’re a little worse than your standard odds of encountering a shiny Pokemon in the wild. The odds of you encountering a shiny Tera Raid are 1/4103. This is just slightly lower than the 1/4096 odds of encountering a wild shiny Pokemon without any kind of odds-boosting conditions such as the Shiny Charm or Sparkling Power Sandwiches. And unlike with wild Pokemon, you won’t be able to use the aforementioned odds-boosting conditions to increase your odds of finding a shiny Tera Raid. Shiny Tera Raid odds will always be 1/4103.
If you want a shiny Pokemon with a unique Tera type, you’re more likely to find a shiny Tera-shifted static encounter in the wild. Unlike with shiny Tera Raids, these unique Pokemon will be affected by odds-boosting items like the Shiny Charm and Sparkling Power Sandwiches. You can also find yourself an average shiny Pokemon, and then use Tera Shards on it to change it to whatever Tera Type you’d like it to have.
What Are Shiny Tera Raids?
Shiny Tera Raids in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are how players are referring to Tera Raids that feature shiny Pokemon.
If you’re unfamiliar with shiny Pokemon (understandable considering how unlikely you are to encounter one), they’re uniquely colored Pokemon. Every Pokemon species has a secondary color palette it can appear as. For example, the average Staryu is a bronze starfish with a red gem in its center, but there’s a very small chance you can encounter a Staryu that’s white with a blue center gem instead.
When you encounter these shiny Pokemon, they’ll have an initial sparkle to them, indicating their unique status. Hence the “shiny” moniker. Some shiny Pokemon are quite different and much more vibrant than their natural counterparts, but others are dull and hardly perceptible. Gengar is a particularly infamous example of a Pokemon with a dull shiny who’s difference you likely won’t even notice.
Tera Raids themselves are a new feature in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, and they essentially take the place of Sword & Shield’s Dynamax Raids, pitting you against a particularly tough Pokemon with a group of friends, strangers, or NPCs. Tera Raids appear as crystal dens in the overworld, and approaching them will allow you to take on a Pokemon with a unique Tera Type.
So now that you’re familiar with shiny Tera Raids, you should probably look out for the best looking Shiny Pokemon in Scarlet & Violet.
