By Emily
Despite the second generation having the fewest Pokemon of any era past and present, it seems to have a lot of shiny Pokemon associated with it. With Gold and Silver being the first games to actually feature these unique Pokemon, it makes some sense for so many Pokemon from this era being turned into shiny events.
Events aside, many of the Pokemon are stuck with a combination of pink, purple, and blue for their shiny colors. Some Pokemon were lucky enough to have a rather good shiny form.
Starting with events, the first shiny Pokemon from this era is Pichu with the 12th movie. The Pikachu-Colored Pichu wasn’t there just for looks; the notched-ear Pichu from the movie could be obtained only if this event Pokemon was brought to the Ilex Shrine. In addition to the in-game event, the shiny Pichu also had an exclusive attack, Endeavor, which made this Pokemon even more unusual. The gold color of this Pokemon is actually a very good choice since the red of its cheeks and black of its ears and tail have a much nicer contrast.
Following with even more shiny events, the 13th movie had three shiny Pokemon distributions and all were legendary Pokemon, which made things even better than the Pikachu-Colored Pichu event. All three Pokemon were very popular in Japan as the 13th movie neared, and the amount of products of these three were plentiful. Although Raikou and Entei had many fans, the most popular of the group was most likely Suicune, and for good reason. A metallic blue mane makes it look more like a water type than the default purple mane, and the light blue body gave a slight impression that Suicune has a hint of ice type in it. Since it can learn three or four ice-type attacks through normal level-up depending on the game it’s on and the event Suicune knows the event-exclusive Sheer Cold attack, it indeed does have more than a hint of ice in it.
Moving on to other good shinies, Ho-oh has one of the best colorations of any other Pokemon from this generation. The fiery colors and silver accents make it look like a phoenix rising from the ashes. They also bring Ho-oh’s primary typing to the forefront since the green wings have been re-colored to something more fitting. Thanks to Heart Gold and Soul Silver, obtaining this shiny Pokemon is relatively easy as it is available in both games.
Another unusually good shiny is Miltank, even though it is a victim of the three generic color choices. Blue and brown are surprisingly good derivations from the pink and black of regular Miltanks, and many methods of obtaining this Pokemon exist. Wild encounter, breeding, and Poke radar chaining are all viable ways to get this shiny.
Even though pink, purple, and blue color a majority of shiny Pokemon from this generation, some have had the luck of getting the perfect combination of these colors and should get an honorable mention. Ariados and Slowking are almost all purple and blue, but the accents on Ariados stand out thanks to these colors, and the same is true for Slowking. Even Mareep benefits from having pink fur – it seems so reminiscent of the cotton candy venders sell at fairs and carnivals. Plus the blue face and feet contrast well with this color, more so than with the regular yellow color.
So many other Pokemon from this era deserve at least an honorable mention for their shiny forms, but listing every single one would take away from their uniqueness. Being lumped together in one long list is no way to review so many shinies from any generation, especially the one that introduced us to shiny Pokemon.
From the boring to the bizarre, and every category in-between, these ninety-nine Pokemon have shiny forms that fit them all. Not to mention four exclusive shiny events and a prominent role in the latest movie. For one little generation, it certainly has given us a lot, including the Lake of Rage Red Gyarados.
Tags: Ho-oh, Pichu, Pikachu, Shiny Entei, Shiny Raikou, Shiny Suicune