There are a lot of factors that go into building your perfect Pokémon team: preference, personal connection to a Pokémon, and even a Pokémon’s competitive viability can play a role. But one factor usually ends up trumping them all, especially in a more casual playthrough of any given Pokémon game: shininess. It’s not unheard of for players who come across a shiny or alternately-colored Pokémon to add them to their party because of their rarity alone. But that also doesn’t stop some of the stronger Pokémon from having great-looking shiny colors. Here’s a list of the 10 best-looking shiny Pokémon you need on your team when you’re off on your Pokémon journey.
Best Shiny Pokémon for Your Team: Honorable Mentions
Nidoking
Shiny Nidoking is a great example of a shiny with meaning. Its hide is a genuinely pleasant shade of blue, a worthy alternate color to its iconic design’s already appealing color palette. What makes it even better, though, is how it matches Nidoqueen’s typical color scheme, making for a shiny that’s as clever as it is stylish. The fact that Nidoking is a solid member of any party is really just a bonus at this point.
The only downside here isn’t even a direct fault of Nidoking’s: shiny Nidoran Female and Nidorina look like they follow Nidoking’s lead, with beautiful Nidoran Male-colored purple shiny forms. Yet Nidoqueen throws it all out the window for a shocking spinach-green hide with pink accents. You may not want a Nidoking and Nidoqueen on the same team anyway due to type overlap, but as great as shiny Nidoking is, it always reminds us, whether we want it to or not, of one of the more disappointing shinies out there.
Gigalith
Gigalith has a fantastic shiny coloration: its red, crystal-like rocks turn into practically glowing blue diamonds, which are already a phenomenal alteration. Its navy blue body shifting slightly into a more purple shade to better match the new crystals is another great change to keep the coloration cohesive. The icing on this cake made of rock are its eyes, which become blue to match its crystals and gain a red outline to really make them pop.
What keeps Gigalith in honorary mention territory is the challenge of evolving it. You’ll need to find someone trustworthy to trade and return your Boldore in order to have this awesome shiny Pokémon on your team—or have multiple game consoles and cartridges to make the trade yourself.
Scolipede
Early-game Bug-type Pokémon can oftentimes struggle to keep up with the rest of your team, but not Scolipede. This Bug is “bad” in the good way, and a great addition to any party. Its shiny coloration doesn’t look too different from its normal colors at first glance, but its normally maroon-colored exoskeleton becomes a striking, bright red, and its normally purple markings become bright blue.
This color combination works surprisingly well, and makes an already fierce-looking Pokémon even more intense. Bug-types may not always be the strongest, but Scolipede can hold its own both in your party and as a shiny Pokémon.
Top 10 Best Looking Shiny Pokémon You Need on Your Team
10: Gyarados
Some classic Pokémon get by riding the coattails of nostalgia, but when it comes to shiny Gyarados, the hype is well-earned. Gyarados is already a great Pokémon to add to your team regardless, but its shiny coloration is truly outstanding. The bright, bold red fits its aggressive nature perfectly, and allows it to stand out from its regular blue counterpart with ease. Shiny Gyarados may be one of the easiest shiny Pokémon to get, as it’s a guaranteed encounter in the Lake of Rage in Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold, and SoulSilver Versions, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy of an addition to your team.
9: Milotic
Milotic is already a beautiful Pokémon as it is. Its shiny coloration, however, is on a whole other level: the cool grayish-blue of its fins work surprisingly well with the bright yellows and reds of its tail. The result is a striking color scheme that keeps with the Pokémon’s original design idea of being a beautiful, elegant fish, evocative of mermaids and the wonders of the ocean.
Although Gigalith was relegated to honorary mention status because of its trade evolution requirement, Milotic is a generally more viable team member to make up for it. Milotic can hold its own more often in various competitive formats, making it a great team member that can go from earning Gym Badges to climbing online ladders with ease. Depending on the game your shiny Feebas is in, you may not even need to trade it to have it evolve. Milotic is already incredibly rare and party-worthy. As a shiny Pokémon, it’s elevated to the point where you’d struggle to find a reason to not make room for it on your team.
8: Whimsicott
Don’t let Whimsicott’s cute appearance fool you: this is one tough Pokémon. Its great supportive moveset is only made greater by its Prankster Ability, allowing it to pull off its attacks with increased priority. Add in a fast base speed stat of 116 and you have a Pokémon that will always be tossing out Tailwinds and Encores before the opponent even gets a chance to move.
Shiny Whimsicott is an especially worthwhile Pokémon to have in your party. Its yellow dandelion fluff becomes pure white cotton, and its green horns become a brilliant blue. Add in the dark brown body and bright yellow eyes and you have a winning color combination that almost any Pokémon would love to have for their shiny form—and that any Trainer would want on their team.
7: Alolan Raichu
The shiny colors of Kantonian Raichu aren’t bad at all, although they’ve definitely lost some of their luster in the Pokémon series’s transition from 2D into 3D. Shiny Raichu’s shocking orange may have mellowed out over time, but Alolan Raichu’s shiny coloration hasn’t shown any signs of lessening its impact. Alolan Raichu is cute and strong, with a fun Electric and Psychic type combination.
In its shiny colors, the fun is amped up even more: its darker orange fur becomes a delicious chocolate brown, and its yellow cheeks, ears, and tail become a lovely burnt orange. Even the fur on Alolan Raichu’s paws change color—a small detail to be sure, but a welcome one. It’s always helpful to have Electric- and Psychic-type coverage on your team. A shiny Alolan Raichu would fill in those roles perfectly.
6: Ninetales (Kantonian or Alolan)
Ninetales earns its rank because it has two fantastic shiny colors. Whether you use a classic Kantonian Ninetales or a newer Alolan Ninetales, your team will be decked out with a Pokémon that has both great use and a fantastic appearance. Whichever you choose will come down to preference, your team’s needs, or even just the game you’re playing. Ninetales isn’t common, but it’s not especially rare, either, making it a solid choice to shiny hunt when seeking new sparkly additions to your team.
5: Metagross
All that sparkles isn’t gold—it can be silver, too. Shiny Metagross is an iconic shiny Pokémon for a reason: its silver body is the epitome of sleek and helps its staggering red eyes stand out even more than when they’re beside its normal blue coloration.
Its golden talons and cross on its face add just the right amount of contrast to this color scheme and make Metagross appear even more grandiose. And if you’re playing one of the Pokémon games that includes Mega Evolution, you’ll have the added bonus of Mega Metagross, whose shiny color has a blue cross on its face in comparison to its normal coloration, which references the shiny by having a golden cross. And I haven’t even gotten to how great Metagross is just as a team member! This Pokémon packs a punch both in battle and when it comes to shiny colors.
4: Sylveon
Offensive or bulky, you can’t go wrong with Sylveon. You also can’t go wrong with its brilliant shiny, which swaps around the placement of its usual pink and blue colors. This results in a shiny that still feels fitting for Sylveon while also looking noticeably different from the original. Part of the appeal of a shiny Eevee is that you can evolve it into whatever evolution best fits your team’s needs or simply based on your personal preference. Sylveon’s versatility, however, along with its fantastic shiny colors, make it one evolution worth putting on your team no matter what.
3: Haxorus
What’s cooler than a sleek, black dragon? A sleek, black dragon with axes on its face. Haxorus really has it all: its design is great, it’s strong in battle, and its shiny coloration is phenomenal. More than just an appealing black-colored shiny, it’s a clever series of decisions of what to change and what to keep the same. The regular coloration’s yellow scales are turned black, a shiny color you just can’t go wrong with. Its dark belly color, however, doesn’t change, which gives shiny Haxorus an entirely black look, which is even more appealing.
The belly is slightly darker than the rest of its scales, though, so it’s not so uniform as to be boring. But the best part has to be its red talons and axe blades, which remain the same from its normal color scheme. Red and black is a timeless combination, and it looks fantastic on Haxorus. This is one dragon that’s worth adding to any team as a shiny.
2: Luxray
Be honest: you used a Luxray when playing through the Sinnoh games, didn’t you? It’s alright if you did, because Luxray is both very cool and very useful. It’s definitely a Pokémon worth keeping around from the game’s start to its end, and that’s especially the case when it’s shiny. The stark golden yellows and oranges next to its black mane are absolutely stunning, and perfectly befitting this Electric-type lion.
If you take a little longer to leave the beginning areas of any of the gen 4 games because you’re trying to add a shiny Shinx to your team to later become a Luxray, no one would blame you.
1: Zoroark (Unovan or Hisuian)
Simply put, Zoroark is just plain cool. Its sneaky and menacing exterior gives it an appeal for tougher Trainers, while its adorable pre-evolution Zorua combined with their fox-like qualities gives Zoroark a place on the teams of Trainers who prioritize cuter Pokémon. And while its Illusion Ability may not be the most helpful in combat, especially online where opponents can see the gimmick coming thanks to Team Preview, Zoroark still has respectable enough stats and moves to be a helpful party member.
Where Zoroark really gets to shine is, well, its shiny colors. And Zoroark gets two outstanding ones: the amazing black and purple Unovan Zoroark and the unearthly white and purple Hisuian Zoroark. The shiny colors’ gray fur is even more pronounced on the Hisuian variant, which also has the added bonus of allowing the mysterious markings on its fur to appear more clearly than on its regular coloration.
Either of these fantastic shiny Pokémon make for phenomenal team additions. In fact, since Unovan Zoroark is Dark-type and Hisuian Zoroark is Normal- and Ghost-type, there’s even the possibility of adding them both to your team, since their type coverage doesn’t entirely overlap.
If you prefer the rarer the better when it comes to shiny Pokémon, check out the rarest shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Go.
