One of the most fascinating phenomena in the Pokémon world surrounds the mystery of shiny Pokémon. As opposed to the common members of a species, shiny Pokémon are extremely rare beings with a distinct color palette to differentiate them from the rest.
Every single Pokémon species has its own shiny variant, though some are more noticeable than others. For example, Gengar’s shiny form is near identical to the normal one, while Charizard’s is black rather than its usual orange. Likewise, the twenty-four starters from each generation have shiny forms that can be ranked from worst to best.
24 Snivy
Snivy is one of those unfortunate Pokémon whose shiny variant is very similar to its regular form. The shiny form has a slightly cooler tone, though it’s very easy to mistaken it for a normal one.
23 Piplup
A shiny Piplup is basically a lighter, washed-out version of the original. Like Snivy, it can be difficult to tell the shiny apart from the standard variant.
22 Oshawott
The biggest difference between a normal Oshawott and a shiny one is its nose. While a normal Oshawott has a brown nose, the shiny version has a brighter magenta one.
21 Bulbasaur
As a Grass-type Pokémon, Bulbasaur is already green as it is. Its shiny version takes it up a notch with a more of a yellowish lime green hue.
20 Cyndaquil
A normal Cyndaquil has a bold teal stripe from the tip of its nose to the end of its back, while the shiny form’s stripe is brown. This gives the shiny form a more faded appearance overall.
19 Popplio
The most notable difference between a shiny Popplio and a normal one is the color of its collar. A normal Popplio’s collar is sky blue, while the shiny one has a pale pink collar.
18 Turtwig
Rather than becoming more washed out like many of the other shiny starters, Turtwig’s base color becomes a bolder green to help it stand out more.
17 Chimchar
Chimchar is usually an orange little monkey.
However, its shiny form takes on a redder tone to match the red accents around its eyes and inside its ears.
16 Totodile
Normally, Totodile is a very bright sky blue color with red spikes on its back. Its shiny form is closer to a green-blue shade with blue spikes instead of red.
15 Grookey
The bright green monkey, Grookey, becomes even brighter in its shiny form. With yellowish-green hue, shiny Grookey matches well with the rest of its evolution line.
14 Litten
Of all the starters, Litten has one of the most dramatic changes as a shiny. Rather than being black with red stripes, its black fur is replaced with white fur.
13 Froakie
Froakie’s skin is normally a bright blue but becomes very pale blue as a shiny. This gives it a softer vibe overall.
12 Squirtle
From the front, Squirtle’s shiny form might not look super different from its regular form. But upon further review, a shiny Squirtle has a unique green shell on its back as opposed to a brown one.
11 Torchic
The two main colors of a shiny Torchic are close to the same color palette of a regular Torchic, but there’s one big difference. While a regular Torchic is mostly orange with gold accents, the shiny variant is mostly gold with orange accents.
10 Chespin
Based on a chestnut, a normal Chespin is a combination of bright green and brown. Meanwhile, its shiny form replaces the bright green with a deep reddish-brown to more closely resemble a chestnut.
9 Scorbunny
Scorbunny is usually white with red and yellow accents, but its shiny variant has a bright golden glow overall.
All of its red accents are swapped out for a vibrant golden color.
8 Chikorita
As a Grass-type, Chikorita is naturally a very green Pokémon all around. However, its shiny has a brown hue to cleverly mimic fallen autumn leaves.
7 Charmander
The original Fire starter, Charmander, is a bold orange color to match its flame. Its shiny form is much lighter and brighter with the appearance of a golden lizard.
6 Tepig
Like Charmander, the Fire-type Tepig is primarily orange while its shiny is more golden. To top it off, the shiny has a pretty pink nose and tail.
5 Mudkip
In a drastic shiny change, Mudkip goes from blue to fuchsia. The rest of its evolutionary line also follows the bright fuchsia trend.
