As a long-time Pokémon fan who has played since the days of Red and Blue, I live for hunting down rare alternate color variants known as shinies. From soft-resetting starters in Diamond to chain fishing golden Magikarp in Sun, I‘ve caught my fair share of sparkling Pokémon friends through patience and dedication.
So when new main series Pokémon titles release, I‘m always eager to jump back into shiny hunting. But unfortunately, Scarlet and Violet continue some anti-consumer measures started by Game Freak last decade that place more and more shiny Pokémon out of reach.
What Does It Mean for a Pokémon to Be Shiny Locked?
For those unfamiliar, a shiny locked Pokémon refers to one that has been intentionally prohibited from appearing in its rare alternate coloration by Game Freak themselves. They cannot be randomly encountered as shinies in normal gameplay nor can they be force bred to hatch shiny offspring.
This restrictive practice began in 2011‘s Black and White games when the Unova box legendaries Reshiram and Zekrom were locked. It quickly expanded from there to included major legendary trios, mythicals, event Pokémon, and even select monsters obtainable in-game.
By preventing players from finding certain shinies randomly, Game Freak can retain full control over which shiny Pokémon are available instead of allowing organic discovery. It‘s an extremely limiting decision seen by most fans as anti-consumer and against the spirit of shiny hunting.
The only current way around shiny locks is to hope for official distributions or events that specifically give the Pokémon to players as a shiny. But as you may know, events can be inconsistent and difficult to access.
The Paldea Region‘s Shiny Locked Victims
Now onto the disappointing scope of shiny locks present in Gen 9‘s Scarlet and Violet games. Unfortunately, the restrictions have only gotten worse with even staples like starter Pokémon now blocked off. Here‘s the full breakdown:
Starters/Evolutions
- Fuecoco Line
- Sprigatito Line
- Quaxly Line
Cutting off starter shiny odds ruins the thrill of resetting for a shiny right from the beginning of your journey. And their eventual evolutions are locked as well. Such a crushing blow for us collectors.
Legends/Mythicals
- Koraidon/Miraidon
- Wō-Chien/Chien-Pao/Ting-Lu/Chi-Yu
- Enamorus Forms
The main legendaries and sub-legendary quartet receiving locks is par for the course nowadays. Enamorus‘ shiny being locked to its Scarlet and Violet forms rather than only one is just salt in the wound.
Gift Pokémon
- Stonjourner/Eiscue
- Larvitar Line
- Bagon Line
- Gimmighoul Line
- Rotom Appliance Forms
- Dragonite
- Delibird
Pokémon directly rewarded to you through NPCs or events are also predetermined to be shiny locked. I painfully learned this lesson after hatching dozens of Eiscue eggs from my gifted one.
Traded Evolutions
- Haunter → Gengar
- Exeggcute → Exeggutor
- Nuzleaf → Shiftry
- Clefairy → Clefable
Even traded Pokémon that evolve are locked, killing the thrill and odds of unexpectedly receiving a traded shiny ‘mon. Just devastating for us collectors.
Titan Pokémon
- Klawf
- Bombirdier
- Orthworm
- Tatsugiri
- Iron Treads/Great Tusk
The epic Titan boss battles also cannot result in encountering shiny variants. This prevents obtaining extra rare shiny titans on top of their unique status.
Shiny Hunting Isn‘t Fully Dead…Just Mostly
Now I don‘t want to paint a picture of all shinies being impossible to obtain normally in Gen 9. Most regular wild and foreign Pokémon along with new Paldean forms can still be encountered or bred sparkling.
As a professional player, I generally calculate base shiny odds to be around 1/4096. Through manipulations like chaining, the Masuda method, or Shiny Charm, rates can reach up to 1/512 for certain species.
During my Scarlet playthrough, I did end up finding random shinies like Shinx, Sneasel, and Roselia out in Paldea‘s grasslands. So organic shiny chances still exist for certain Pokémon…just not the special locked ones I truly yearn for.
I‘m still determined to reclaim my collection of shiny starters and legendary beasts. But Game Freak arbitrarily deciding that I don‘t deserve the opportunity to randomly find them hurts the player-driven nature of shiny hunting. Especially for long-time experts like myself.
