Every Pokémon has a shiny form: a different colour, and stronger than its species in health and damage. Shinies are the strongest Pokémon in the game.
How rare they are
Every Pokémon you defeat on a map rolls for its shiny. Stronger species have rarer shinies:
| Species | A shiny drops |
|---|---|
| Common species | 1 in 2,500 defeated |
| Uncommon species | 1 in 6,000 defeated |
| Rare species | 1 in 15,000 defeated |
| Mythic species | 1 in 40,000 defeated |
| Legendary species | 1 in 120,000 defeated |
| Legendary Pokémon (raids) | 1 in 600,000 defeated |
| Legendary Pokémon (legend maps) | 1 in 1,000,000 defeated |
Now and then a shiny even defends a map: much stronger than its kind, and worth beating.
Finding more shinies
- Hunting: focus your hunt on a species and win in a row against it: the chain makes its shiny up to 4× likelier.
- The Shiny Charm: the reward for completing the national Pokédex: every shiny chance ×1.5, for good.
- Balls: a Shining Ball catches a Pokémon with a 1 in 5 shiny chance; a Premier Ball always catches a shiny.
The Shiny Dex
Every species you've ever had shiny is registered in the Pokédex's Shiny Dex, even if you evolve or release it. Complete a region's shinies for a medal.
Evolving a shiny
A shiny evolves into the next form's shiny, which is rarer. So besides the usual level or item, it needs Glimmer Stones: one for each time the next form's shine is twice as rare (Charmander to Charmeleon takes 1; Charmeleon to Charizard takes 3).
Glimmer Stones drop from won battles on any map (more on the boosted map and in raids), come with the region shiny medals and the Battle Frontier's prizes, and are sold at the Poké Mart and in the coin store.
Shinies and the Nightmare World
Shinies don't get Nightmare forms: a shiny Ascends instead, keeping its shine and its name, and climbs the same ranks to level 999. See the Nightmare World.