Shiny hunting has become a key part of the Pokémon experience, and players will go to extreme lengths to add new Shinies to their collection. The thrill of finding these rare variants never gets old, whether you were intentionally searching for that Shiny or you just so happened to stumble upon it while making your way to the next city.
With the more recent feature of Pokémon spawning in the overworld, Shiny hunting is less about chain fishing or running into wild encounters and more about spotting that one Pokémon in the crowd with a different hue to it. This is the case in Let’s Go, Pikachu!, Let’s Go, Eevee!, Legends: Arceus, and of course Scarlet and Violet.
And as with other Pokémon games, Scarlet and Violet has certain Shiny Pokémon that are rarer than others. In some cases, this has to do with the rarity of the Pokémon itself in the Paldea region or the circumstances it takes to get a hold of one. In other cases, a few Pokémon naturally have rarer forms, and you’ll have to be extra lucky to find one that is both Shiny and in its rarer form.
Shiny Mew, for example, can only be obtained through a long and tedious process that requires access to other Pokémon games, but it’s currently unavailable in Scarlet and Violet until Pokémon Home becomes compatible.
Here are 10 Shiny Pokémon you’ll need extra luck to find in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Rarest Shiny Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet
10) Johto Wooper and Quagsire
Wooper is a fairly common Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet, but the brown ones you see running around everywhere are the Paldean forms that evolve into Clodsire. To get the original blue Wooper native to the Johto region, you must trade over a Paldean one to a fellow trainer in Cascarrafa. This is currently the only way to get ahold of Johto Wooper in the game, and the traded ‘mon is unfortunately Shiny-locked.
The good news is the traded Johto Wooper can still be bred during a picnic, and it’s possible to hatch a Shiny variant. However, you’ll need to make sure the Wooper is holding an Everstone while breeding it with a Ditto so its babies inherit its original form and don’t get stuck in its Paldean form.
Once you hatch a Shiny Johto Wooper, you can choose to evolve it into a purply pink Quagsire starting at level 20.
9) Galarian Meowth and Perrserker
As another Pokémon you can only get once by interacting with an NPC, Galarian Meowth is pretty much in the same boat as Johtonian Wooper with some extra steps involved. Rather than simply trading a normal Meowth found in the Paldea region, you must take language classes from Salvatore at the academy.
After completing all of his classes, you will be rewarded with a Galarian Meowth that evolves into Perrserker. Again, this gift Pokémon will be Shiny-locked, so you’ll have to take the steps to breed it with an Everstone and Ditto until you hatch a Shiny.
8) Spiritomb
In Scarlet and Violet, Shiny hunting for Spiritomb can be as tedious as soft resetting for Shiny Legendary Pokémon in older games. This is because Spiritomb only appears as fixed encounters in the Paldea region, meaning you’ll only ever find one single Spiritomb at a time.
In other words, you’ll never have the luxury of standing in a Spiritomb hoard or outbreak, which would normally speed up the process since multiple Pokémon pop up on your screen all at once.
In fact, YouTuber Austin John Plays has a whole video on Shiny hunting Spiritomb and warns players it might not be worth their time. If you really want to get your hands on a Shiny Spiritomb, you can just catch a normal one and breed it until you hatch a Shiny. Alternatively, Austin John mentions it would be easier to find a Shiny Spiritomb in Legends: Arceus and transfer it to Scarlet and Violet later when Home is compatible.
7) Blaze Breed and Aqua Breed Tauros
Unlike the original Tauros, Paldean Tauros comes in three different breeds—Blaze in Scarlet, Aqua in Violet, and Combat in both versions. If you’ve played through all of Scarlet and Violet without running into a single Blaze Breed or Aqua Breed Tauros, it’s because they’re much less common than the Combat Breed and can be easily missed.
Their Shiny variants can also be quite hard to notice unless you’re really on the hunt for one. While all Breeds of Paldean Tauros are black, the Shiny variants have slightly darker bodies and lighter manes.
It’s quite possible you’ve zoomed right past a Shiny Paldean Tauros at some point in your adventure because it just blended in with the rest of its herd.
6) Seven-star Tera Raid starters
Every so often, Scarlet and Violet has special Tera Raid events to give players an exclusive opportunity to catch Pokémon found outside of the Paldea region. The seven-star Tera Raids so far have featured starter Pokémon from past generations including Charizard, Cinderace, Greninja, and Decidueye.
These limited Tera Raid events are currently the only way to get these Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet, and they aren’t easy either. You’ll need fully trained level 100 Pokémon with a strategic game plan if you want to succeed. And even if you do succeed, the seven-star Tera Raid Pokémon are usually Shiny-locked. You can still breed them and hopefully get a Shiny that way, but only after putting in the work to clear the most difficult Tera Raids.
5) Hisuian Zorua and Zoroak
Hisuian Pokémon are normally exclusive to Legends: Arceus, but players can receive a Hisuian Zoroak via Mystery Gift as an Early Purchase bonus for the upcoming Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC. This of course means that Hisuian Zoroak and its pre-evolution Zorua are locked behind paid content for the time being, and you’ll have to place your preorder before October 31, 2023, to snag the Mystery Gift code.
Once you’ve preordered the DLC, you need to input your Mystery Gift code before it expires on February 29, 2024, or else you’ll lose out on the Hisuian Zoroak. From there, you can breed the gift Pokémon while holding an Everstone until a Shiny hatches.
4) Ditto
One of the most unique Pokémon in the franchise, Ditto is a very special case when it comes to Shiny hunting. Ditto’s whole existence centers around its ability to transform and disguise itself as other Pokémon, so it naturally appears in the wild as other Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet.
This already makes Ditto a more annoying Pokémon to catch, but its Shiny is even more complex. Rather than transforming into the Shiny version of whatever Pokémon it’s pretending to be, a Shiny Ditto will still take on the appearance of a non-Shiny Pokémon in the overworld until you enter battle with it. Once the battle begins, it will reveal its true form and you’ll know right away if it’s a Shiny blue Ditto or just the standard pink blob.
On top of being difficult to spot in the wild, Ditto cannot be bred to hatch more Ditto. It can only be used to breed other Pokémon species, meaning you’ll have one less way to get a Shiny Ditto.
3) Family of Three Maushold
When Tandemaus evolves into Maushold, it will likely have two kids and become a Family of Four. However, there’s a one-percent chance that the mouse couple will only have one child, making them a Family of Three. Shiny Pokémon are already very rare as it is, and adding a one-percent chance on top of those low odds easily makes Shiny Family of Three Maushold one of the rarest Shinies in the game.
To put it in perspective, you might come across a Shiny Tandemaus after hours of hunting, but then it still needs to have that one-percent luck to evolve into the Family of Three Maushold. If it evolves into a Family of Four (which it probably will), you’ll have to restart your Shiny hunt from the beginning.
The good news is that Family of Three Maushold can actually be found in Tera Raids, and there’s a chance for it to be Shiny. Either way, it’ll be tough to get a Shiny Family of Three, but at least you have multiple methods to work with.
2) Antique Form Sinistea and Polteageist
For every 100 Phony Form Sinistea or Polteageist, there’s one rare Antique Form floating around. The design difference is very small—a barely noticeable seal of authenticity at the bottom of the cup—but it’s definitely something that might appeal to collectors.
The most dedicated collectors might even go a step further and search for a Shiny Antique Form Sinistea or Polteageist.
If you want any chance of finding the Shiny Antique Ghost-type, you cannot rely on breeding because that will only result in creating more Phony Forms.
Instead, you have to go out and hunt the tiny teacups, find a Shiny pink one, and hope it also has the seal of authenticity on the bottom. If you choose to evolve the Antique Form Sinistea, it will retain that special seal and form as a Polteageist.
1) Three-Segment Form Dudunsparce
Like Maushold and Sinistea, Dudunsparce comes with a rarer form to make its Shiny variant that much more valuable. While most Dudunsparce are Two-Segment Form, there’s a one-percent chance for a Three-Segment Form. But unlike Family of Three Maushold, Three-Segment Form Dudunsparce cannot be found in Tera Raids. You’ll also never find a Three-Segment Form roaming around in the wild.
This means the only way to get a Shiny Dudunsparce is to catch or hatch a Shiny Dunsparce and then cross your fingers for the one-percent chance of evolving it into the Three-Segment Form. The frustrating part is you won’t know until after you evolve it, unlike Sinistea and Polteageist. With all these limitations and low odds, Shiny Three-Segment Form Dudunsparce is currently the rarest Shiny in Scarlet and Violet.
