Ethan encounters a Shiny Charizard.
Shiny Pokémon (光るポケモン Hikaru Pokemon or 色違いポケモン Irochigai Pokemon) are Pokémon with different coloration than the normal versions of the Pokémon although they have no stat differences at all. Shiny Pokémon have been included since Generation II in Gold and Silver in which the first shiny Pokémon that was introduced was a Red Gyarados. Shiny Pokémon are considered very rare. The term “shiny” is a reference to their difference in color and their sparkling animation and sound effect when they enter into battle. The term was originally a fan name prior to Generation V. However, it became so popular that the term became official and the Pokédex began cataloging shiny Pokémon and using the term itself.
Comparison
The color change can be anywhere from very noticeable, e.g. Charizard:
Normal Charizard
Shiny Charizard
Other shiny Pokémon are very similar to their normal versions, such as Clefable.
Normal Clefable
Shiny Clefable
Encountering
In Generation II, a Pokémon randomly assigned 5 integers between 0 and 15 to determine their base stats. (HP, Attack, Defense, Special, and Speed). If all 5 numbers are equal to 10, the Pokémon’s color scheme will be set to 0. The chance of seeing a shiny Pokémon is 1 in every 8192, or a probability of 0.01220703125% during each encounter. From Generation III onwards, shiny Pokémon are determined by other factors such as the Trainer ID number and the personality value of the Pokémon. Despite this change, the odds of randomly encountering a shiny Pokémon is still 1 in 8192. As of Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2, the Shiny Charm can be obtained to significantly increase chances of encountering a shiny Pokémon. In Pokémon Sword & Shield, there are two variants of Shiny Pokémon; one that sparkles stars and one that sparkles squares. These two different shines don’t give any effects to the Pokémon, but show how they were encountered. A Shiny Pokémon that shines stars was encountered in the overworld while a Shiny Pokémon that shines squares was encountered through a random encounter. This stacks with most methods listed below.
Shiny-locked
In every generation, there are some Pokémon that can’t be legally Shiny, Starting for Generation V, there is a coding in the games that prevent certain Pokémon from being found in the Shiny form in the wild though legitimate ways, they are always Legendary, Mythical and other event Pokémon, they are:
Methods
There are a few different methods to increase the chances of obtaining a shiny Pokémon.