The Best Shiny Pokémon

The Pokémon series is loaded with countless adorable friends to collect and all of them have an ultra rare variant with different colors called a “shiny.” With over 898 Pokémon in total as of this writing, everyone has a favorite and likely a favorite shiny as well. Here are the 10 that most amplify the Pokémon’s design in some way.

10. Lopunny 

What isn’t to love about a fluffy pink bunny? The little extra touch of pink does a lot to make this Pokémon feel less like a generic rabbit and more like something that exists in the fantasy world. When you mega evolve it, having a pink powerhouse is a cool feeling of feminine strength that radiates from the Pokémon. 

9. Tsareena 

So many grass Pokémon are green, so this extra flavor gives this Pokémon the vibe of being a queen of plants. The soft purples adds to the feeling of royalty given that purple is a color commonly associated with nobility, wealth, and power. Overall, the color scheme makes the Pokémon fit its own lore and theme so much better. 

8. Aegislash 

The black sword adds to the idea that Aegislash is a cursed phantom blade and makes it that much more striking to use in battle. Normal Aegislash looks like a sword god possessed by a ghost, but when you make it shiny it feels like the sword itself is a big part of the story, like a legendary Muramasa sword. 

7. Rapidash 

The phantom horse vibes on shiny Rapidash are incredible. It’s easy to imagine a trainer fading into the night riding one of these after helping save a town and its people. Until Spectrier came out, shiny Rapidash was the only Pokémon to give this particular vibe, which will forever give it a special place in the shiny Pokémon canon.

6. Gardevoir

The blue and soft white on this Pokémon really brings out its elegance. The addition of the black wedding dress in the mega evolution makes shiny Gardevior shine and stand out among the crowd.

5. Kommo-o

This shiny golden warrior dragon feels like it’s giving everyone what they need. Shiny Kommo-o lends a Saint Seiya energy to the Pokémon that is incredibly fun. Being gold lets it fit into a lot of themed teams like rich trainers, which adds an element of role play fun that you can have with a shiny.

4. Alolan Ninetales

Shiny Alolan Nintales has a strange creature vibe like the kind you see in the frozen wild that you’re not quite sure is real. The slight color change shifts it from a majestic snow beast to a mysterious creature in an impressive way.

3. Roserade

There’s something about the subtle touch of changing the flowers that makes Roserade stand out. The purple and black communicate that the Pokémon is Grass Poison in a way that isn’t really communicated by its normal design. Shiny Roserade also has the perfect gothic feel, which is great for spooky season and any trainer trying to pull off that vibe. 

2. Charizard 

Charizard is the biggest bang for your shiny buck. Getting a shiny Charizard gets you two mega forms and a Gigantamax form to look at. Beyond that, basically all the forms look equally rad. The black dragon form of the base Charizard and Gigantamax form are awesome, the green on Mega X feels very “classic dragon,” and the Grey of Y makes it feel like it could be a thrilling nighttime predator.

1. Galarian Legendary Bird Trio 

While these three shinies aren’t currently legally obtainable, we know what they look like and honestly they’re the coolest in the game. Each of these shinies, rather than being a simple pallet swap, are actually set up to look like their original forms from Kanto. They make for a nice throwback and a cool use of shiny Pokémon and one can only hope that we’ll be able to catch them soon.

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