Pokemon: 10 Weirdest Ways To Shiny Hunt (2024)

One of the biggest parts of the Pokemon community, shiny hunting has taken a wide variety of different forms over the years, both for efficiency and for fun. While most methods for shiny hunting revolve around trying to get the desired shiny in the least amount of time possible, a few stranger methods have popped up, whether for an added challenge, a unique shiny, or that these methods are surprisingly the most effective.

Even just from all the Nintendo Switch Pokemon games, there are various weird ways for players to hunt down their ideal shiny. From least strange to downright perplexing, some shiny hunting methods seem like self-sabotage.

10 Dynamax Den Re-Rolling

Time Travel Power

The main gimmick of Generation 8, the various Dynamax dens scattered across the map in Pokemon Sword and Shield, are a somewhat viable shiny farming spot, especially for the top prize of Gigantamax Pokemon. Despite the threat of tampering with console time settings in the past, time-traveling allowed Sword and Shield players to quickly find shiny dens.

While the details of the method are somewhat tedious and highly repetitive, the main idea of Dynamax den rolling is based on how Pokemon within the dens are locked into their stats, including the shiny trait. For players willing to repeatedly time travel day-by-day, for a non-boosted shiny chance, the reward of essentially infinite shiny Pokemon is a fair tradeoff.

9 Mass And Massive Mass Outbreak Re-Rolling

Permutation Power

Thanks to how each region is handled in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, whenever a given Mass Outbreak or a slew of Massive Mass Outbreaks appear on the map, the player has a fair amount of control when trying to find a desired shiny. Because of the way Pokemon spawn during an Outbreak is handled, simply catching or knocking out Pokemon in a specific order can yield a shiny, and perhaps even a shiny alpha.

Since every Outbreak's Pokemon is determined once the icon appears on a region, it is possible to reorder the outcomes of the Outbreak to possibly find a shiny. By simply knocking out four Pokemon at once instead of individually, players can possibly find a shiny alpha Pokemon once the necessary second wave spawns.

8 Union Circle Exclusives

Find Lucky Friends

An odd element to the mechanics of the Union Circle in Scarlet and Violet, the hosting player is truly the only player affecting shiny odds when other players join their game. With that in mind, the discovery of Pokemon cloning was a wonderful addition, otherwise shiny Pokemon theft would skyrocket in Union Circles.

Once the host finds a shiny, they must avoid battling it at all costs and instead must save the game. The second player, as this only works with one additional player and not the max of three possible, is then free to encounter and catch the shiny. After that, the host reloads their game, and has their own chance at capture, effectively duplicating the Pokemon. It may be the only instance where another player has complete control over which players find shiny Pokemon.

7 Tree Shaking

Tedium And Time

A staple of various Pokemon games, the berry trees in Sword and Shield, while far less iconic than other trees in the game, offer something of a twist with this iteration of trees players can shake. As the player constantly shakes a tree for berries, eventually a Pokemon can also fall out of the tree for battle.

Since these Pokemon have the same 1/4096 base odds of being shiny, and since the berry trees have a limited variety of Pokemon in them, it can be an easy method to single out a specific Pokemon to shiny hunt, though not as convenient as egg hatching.

6 Forcing Pokemon Spawns

Benefitting From Oddities

With the open-world nature of Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon usually appear in the region of Paldea and beyond thanks to hidden spawners around the map. Along with that, the general spawn radius of the player affects how many Pokemon can appear in certain locations. For shiny hunters, these specific Pokemon or locations can easily be used to reveal plenty of shinies.

Aimed at more patient players, the tunnel system around the Titan Orthworm location offers a spot that can constantly spawn either Bagon or Larvitar with a corresponding sandwich, depending on the player's version. Resetting with only the use of the picnic table, players prepared to wait can be rewarded.

5 Sharpedo Hunt

Reverse Shiny Hunting

Perhaps one of the scariest Pokemon encounter methods, players in the Isle of Armor region of Pokemon Sword and Shield can sit upon the water and wait for Sharpedos to crash right into them. Certainly faster than chasing the sharks or trying to hatch eggs, this method is efficient, strange, and funny.

Since the encounter happens so long as the player is on the water, it is also a method that is extremely simple to do while multitasking, as the player only has to run from battle or catch a shiny Sharpedo should it appear.

4 Fossil Restoration

An Ancient Process

A staple thanks to the massive Sinnoh Underground, restoring fossils in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, or in Sword and Shield or Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, offers the standard base odds of finding a shiny Pokemon, but with the added benefit of soft-resetting with failed attempts for an ultimately faster, but less likely, way of shiny hunting.

While the Masuda Method still reigns supreme for the increased base odds, and since it produces an infinite amount of Pokemon, the quicker fossil revivals are still appealing to players who don't want to bother with eggs.

3 The Great Marsh Safari Zone

Gambling For The Shiny

One of the classic areas of older Pokemon games, the Safari Zone, seen most recently as the Great Marsh in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, is a great area for shiny hunters willing to gamble it all. For most players, the thought of shiny hunting in the Safari Zone seems completely backwards, since the main gimmick of the Safari is that Pokemon can run away.

Completely counterproductive for most, the Safari Zone shiny hunting method, which is popular enough in the community to have a dedicated week in the summer, is appealing for players who want shiny Pokemon with a story, and for those prepared to lose.

2 Kabu's Gym Hunts

A Mini-Gym Challenge

A surprising location to shiny hunt, and one that most players wouldn't even realize, the Motostoke gym in Sword and Shield, led by Kabu offers a challenge for players to catch or faint Pokemon found within the gym. For players with plenty of patience and no interest in progressing the story, it's entirely possible to shiny hunt the various fire types available.

Featuring Vulpix, Litwick, and Sizzlipede, players who haven't already defeated Kabu have a chance, a very small chance, at catching some Pokemon with a unique caught location.

1 Disguised Pokemon Hunts

Finding Not-Shiny Shinies

Fitting perfectly with the lore of Ditto, Zorua, and Zoroark, these Pokemon are disguised as other Pokemon in the overworld of Scarlet and Violet, with battles only revealing their true forms. However, the somewhat maddening aspect of shiny hunting these Pokemon outside of egg hatching is having to battle every single Pokemon that appears with the Let's Go feature, hoping that one reveals itself as shiny.

Since the three disguising Pokemon are all mono-type, whether normal or dark, it's often difficult to guarantee with sandwiches that the only Pokemon spawning in are actually in disguise. For players ready to fight each and every Pokemon in front of them, with zero indication of being shiny, hunting disguised Pokemon may be the ultimate shiny challenge.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

November 18, 2022

Developer(s)

Game Freak