Pokémon fans are debating which Shinies are the rarest in the franchise’s 27-year history

In light of the recent The Teal Mask DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, fans have taken to Reddit in order to discuss which Shiny is the most difficult to obtain in the mainline series.

The thread was opened by user Julie_OwO and generated plenty of responses. With a few excellent suggestions up for debate, we thought it would be fun to take a look for ourselves and see if we can definitively answer the core question.

Gimmighoul 

Raised by farnfarn64, the Coin Chest & Hunter Pokémon is not a difficult one to find out on the road. Its Chest form can be found all over the region of Paldea and even its Roaming form can be acquired without too much fuss following a swift transfer from Pokémon GO. You see, the difficulty in acquiring a shiny Gimmighoul—and, by proxy, a barely shiny Gholdengo—is that it’s currently impossible.

Locked behind a 5-Star Tera Raid that lasted between June 21 and July 2, a Shiny Gimmighoul only had heightened chances of appearing, so there wasn’t even a guarantee of its capture. We can hope that it will show up again during a special event at some point in the future.

Three-Segment Form Dudunsparce & Family of Three Maushold

Offered up as options by Julie_OwO herself, for these two recent additions to the Pokédex we can rely purely on math to gauge how much of a trial is ahead in finding their Shiny variants. 

Three-Segment Form Dudunsparce is, relatively speaking, the easier of the two. The only way to obtain one in the first place is to evolve it from a Dunsparce, of which Shiny variants are a contextually common occurrence in Area Zero specifically. Then arrives the agonizing roulette of actually achieving said evolution. You have a 1/100 chance of netting the Three-Segment Form, so although it’s going to happen eventually, be prepared to put aside a significant amount of time. 

Family of Three Maushold runs almost exactly the challenge. Tandemaus is less frequent an encounter than Dunsparce and thus the initial task of finding a Shiny to evolve is typically extended. Mouse duo in hand, we are again greeted by 1/100 odds of actually evolving it into a Family of Three. There is an alternative method given this form’s presence in Tera Raid Battles which, in theory, could see you face a Shiny in the wild.

Trust us on this one, it’s faster to obtain the other way. 

Zygarde

Infamous for its Shiny lock, Zygarde has become obtainable all year round albeit at great cost. 

Another great suggestion by farnfarn64, Shiny Zygarde is only available in Pokémon Sword and Shield via Dynamax Adventures. You first need to find your way into a raid featuring the target. Then comes the challenge of beating the raid itself, widely recognized as one of the toughest in the Dynamax Adventures catalog. The final piece of the puzzle is overcoming the Shiny odds. At best—with a Shiny Charm—1/100 are the numbers you’ll be dealt with which means that, for those unlucky enough, a grueling road lays ahead. 

Manaphy

As See-Tye explains, however, Shiny Manaphy isn’t just a time sink but a money sink as well. 

Just looking at the inventory list makes our eyes water since one will require two Nintendo DS systems, two copies of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and/or Pokémon Platinum, and any copies of Pokémon Ranger that have not had their Manaphy Egg reward claimed. 

The torturous journey only gets worse from here. However many copies of Ranger you end up securing, you have to beat the main game in each of them. Once the egg is obtained, trade to a Gen IV title, hatch, reset, trade the egg to another Gen IV title, hatch again. If no Shiny has been discovered by this point, the arduous process of starting games afresh to secure a new trainer ID begins. Did we mention you then need to play the game up until the point you can trade?

Straight-up nightmare fuel and conclusively the hardest Shiny to obtain.