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Whether you’re new to shiny hunting or just started your adventure for the color-swapped creatures in Pokemon Violet and Scarlet, you know it’s a pretty long task to handle. In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, shiny hunting is a little different than in the games from any previous era of Pokemon. For one thing, now that Pokemon appear in the overworld, you have to identify whether or not they’re shiny using just your own perception. No sparkle, sound, or any other indicator besides the swapped color palette can tip you off to the rare Pokemon in your field of view. In this article, we’ll review some of the hardest Pokemon to find shiny forms of, why, and how you can combat these obstacles to catch them. Get your Shiny Charm ready, prep some Sandwich powers, and let’s get to shiny hunting.
1. Wattrel
Wattrel is the newest bird of the bunch that appears in Pokemon Violet and Scarlet. As an electric/flying type, this little bird is an excellent addition to any team, shiny or not. However, if you’re looking around for this shiny, it may be a little hard to spot because of the coloring. Many Pokemon have this problem, where their shiny forms don’t look all that much different from their base forms. Pikachu is a great example of this. In Wattrel’s case, it is simply a different shade, being brown instead of the bluish-black that it is typically.
So if you happen to see one of these in a different shade of light, you might mistake it for a shiny, or perhaps the other way around. It can help to focus on what time of day it is while shiny hunting, just so you don’t accidentally miss one. The best times would be when it’s the brightest and clearest it can get to prevent the colors from tricking you.
2. Tatsugiri
Tatsugiri is a fan-favorite Pokemon. The little shrimp is probably on many teams, so it’s no surprise that people would also want the guy’s shiny form. Unfortunately, like a cluster of other Pokemon, the shiny isn’t all that significant of a difference. Both forms of the shiny are orange, which isn’t all too different from the base color palette. If you aren’t looking too hard, you may mistake them for one another. Another element that makes Tatsugiri a harder shiny hunt is that it knows Memento in the wild.
If you aren’t familiar with that move, it can have devastating effects, especially when trying to secure a shiny. One wrong roll with Memento and the Pokemon might use an attack that causes it to faint. So if you’re going to hunt for a shiny Tatsugiri, use some caution and keep the potential move pool in mind. Consolidating your shiny hunting to a particular time of day can help with the color problem, and making sure that you have a Pokemon with the Damp ability can help ensure that your shrimp friend doesn’t accidentally explode himself.
3. The New Tauros
While the new Tauros design is pretty cool looking, unfortunately, its shiny isn’t all that great. The only difference between the original and the shiny is one minor color on the mane and a slightly different shade of black on the coat. Shiny hunting this form of Tauros is a long task, mostly because the only way you find these forms of the bull in the first place is by perusing herds of them in the wild. The Aqua and Blaze forms of these Pokemon only appear rarely within herds. So that gives you a bit of a double threat concerning shiny hunting the bovine: not only are they rare normally, but shiny hunting places a second layer of rarity on top of that.
4. The Zorua Line
The next Pokemon that may take quite a long time to properly shiny hunt is the Zorua line. As you know, Zorua and the evolution that comes after both have the ability to create illusions over themselves. Because of that, they can effectively transform into any Pokemon they want until they are struck during battle. The problem is that Zorua does this in the overworld, even when shiny. You could be looking at a non-shiny Weedle, which might actually be a shiny Zorua. Any Pokemon with the ability to change forms never shows their shiny palette in the overworld, making them a difficult find for any shiny hunter.
5. Dusk Form Lycanroc
Another tough shiny Pokemon to find is the Dusk Form of Lycanroc. The dusk form, in particular, is a special case. Outside of Pokemon Violet and Scarlet, the only way players could get their hands on even just the base form of Dusk was to obtain it during an event. However, now with these games, you can find them exclusively during Dusk hours. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good, that you can even find the Pokemon in the first place. Bad: it only is obtainable during dusk. That’s an extremely small window to hurdle for shiny hunting, no matter how efficient you are.
6. Ditto
Ditto is the next Pokemon on our list that may be best obtained without that shiny sparkle. Like Zorua and their line, Ditto transforms into another Pokemon in the overworld. When it does, even if the Ditto itself is shiny, the overworld display of it is not. Similarly to our dark-type foxy friend, the Ditto is an elusive Pokemon in the normal and shiny form. The only way to reliably hunt one of them is by sending out your Pokemon on auto-battle. Since Pokemon participating in auto-battle won’t fight shiny Pokemon, you can bet that if your Pokemon is hesitating to tackle a seemingly normal Pokemon, it’s worth at least an encounter to investigate.
7. Tynamo
Tynamo’s case for shiny hunting difficulty is pretty standard. It’s hard to identify a shiny Tynamo in more ways than one. For example, the color palette for the Pokemon is not very much different from its base look. Instead of being white, the shiny form is a pale blue. In addition to this, you’ll find the Pokemon in aquatic areas, which are also blue. To add a little more difficulty to the matter, Tynamo is tiny. As the name implies, the tiny Pokemon is hard to see when wandering about in the overworld, making it a challenge to study when looking for a shiny encounter in Pokemon Violet.
8. Three-Segment Dundunsparce
While shiny hunting for Dunspace isn’t so hard, Dudunsparce is a completely different story. It evolving into the three-segmented form is just a game of chance. So while you may be able to get a shiny Dunsparce, hoping it’ll evolve into its three-segment evolution is a hope based on luck. And because the Dunsparce evolution is determined from the moment the Pokemon spawns, resetting your game can’t change that outcome. The odds of getting a shiny Dunsparce that is able to become a Three-Segment one are just under 1 out of 69,000.
Do you agree with our picks? Are you trying to catch any of these elusive shiny Pokemon, or are they simply not in the cards for you? What methods have you employed to try to make things easier for yourself? We’d love to hear them with a comment below.
