What is a shiny Pokémon?

A shiny is a rare alternate coloration of a Pokémon. It has no competitive stat advantage. It is purely cosmetic and prestigious, marked by a sparkle animation when it appears.

What are the odds of a shiny Pokémon?

The base rate in modern mainline games is 1 in 4,096. With the Shiny Charm it improves to about 1 in 1,365, and methods like the Masuda Method, mass outbreaks, and chaining stack further.

What is the Shiny Charm?

A key item awarded for completing the Pokédex. It triples the base shiny chance and stacks with other methods.

What is the Masuda Method?

Breeding two Pokémon from games of different languages raises the Egg’s shiny odds to ~1 in 683 (and better with the Shiny Charm). See the breeding guide for details.

How do shiny odds work in Pokémon GO?

GO uses much higher rates: roughly 1 in 500 for most species, around 1 in 64 for Community Day featured Pokémon, and varying boosted rates for raids and research encounters.

Pokédex · Reference

Shiny Pokémon.

The rare alternate colorations. No stat advantage, just prestige. Here’s how the odds work, every method to boost them, and a showcase of the best designs. Tip: every Pokédex page now has a Shiny toggle on its artwork, so you can flip any species to its shiny form.

Shiny odds at a glance

1 / 4096Base rate (Gen VI+)

1 / 1365With Shiny Charm

1 / 683Masuda Method

~1 / 500Pokémon GO (typical)

~1 / 64GO Community Day

1 / 8192Gen II–V (classic)

Ways to boost your odds

Shiny Charm

Complete the regional Pokédex to earn it. Triples the base chance and stacks with everything below.

Masuda Method

Breed two Pokémon from different-language games. See the breeding guide.

Mass outbreaks

Scarlet & Violet outbreaks plus the sandwich Sparkling Power encounter power stack to dramatically raise rates.

Chaining / SOS

Catch or defeat the same species repeatedly (DexNav, SOS battles, Dynamax Adventures) to ramp the odds.

Best shiny designs

A fan-favorite showcase. Tap any to open its dex page (and flip its shiny toggle).

Gyarados The original: the red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage.

Charizard Jet-black scales, the most iconic shiny.

Rayquaza A black serpent and a shiny hunter’s trophy.

Umbreon Blue rings instead of yellow.

Gardevoir Soft blue gown.

Tyranitar Forest green armor.

Garchomp Golden-yellow accents.

Dragonite Minty green hide.

Greninja Black-and-cyan ninja palette.

Metagross Silver-blue chrome finish.

Lapras Violet shell.

Magikarp Golden Magikarp, the meme made real.

FAQ

What is a shiny Pokémon?: A shiny is a rare alternate coloration of a Pokémon. It has no competitive stat advantage. It is purely cosmetic and prestigious, marked by a sparkle animation when it appears.
What are the odds of a shiny Pokémon?: The base rate in modern mainline games is 1 in 4,096. With the Shiny Charm it improves to about 1 in 1,365, and methods like the Masuda Method, mass outbreaks, and chaining stack further.
What is the Shiny Charm?: A key item awarded for completing the Pokédex. It triples the base shiny chance and stacks with other methods.
What is the Masuda Method?: Breeding two Pokémon from games of different languages raises the Egg’s shiny odds to ~1 in 683 (and better with the Shiny Charm). See the breeding guide for details.
How do shiny odds work in Pokémon GO?: GO uses much higher rates: roughly 1 in 500 for most species, around 1 in 64 for Community Day featured Pokémon, and varying boosted rates for raids and research encounters.