Shiny Pokémon

Shiny Pokémon have been a staple in Pokémon since Pokémon Gold & Silver and returned once more in Pokémon Sword & Shield. However there are a few tweaks. First, the Shiny rate is the same as it has been at since Pokémon X & Y with it being 1 in 4096 as standard, or if you have the Shiny Charm you obtain for completing the Pokédex, the rates are 1 in 1365.33

The rates can be improved further by breeding with Pokémon from a game in another language. This changes it to 1 in 682.7 without a Shiny Charm or 1 in 512. with the Shiny Charm.

Pokémon Sword & Shield has a change where you can now encounter Pokémon at majorly higher levels than you and thus get restricted from capture until you have certain badges. For Pokémon that are restricted, they are set to prevent it from being shiny. You also cannot get given Shiny Pokémon including starters (although they can be bred), Type: Null and the Gigantamax Pikachu & Eevee gifts. You will also not see the Pokémon as shiny in the overworld until you encounter it.

In Pokémon Sword & Shield there are two kinds of shiny animation variety. There's the traditional stars and a new effect featuring spinning squares. To get the different effects is quite simply explained as random chance.

With breeding Pokémon, static encounters and Max Raid Battles, when you encounter a Shiny Pokémon it will have a 15/16 chance of being a Pokémon with the Stars sparkle and a 1/16 chance of having the Squares sparkle. However, due to a programming quirk, at time of writing when you encounter a shiny Pokémon as a standard wild encounter, this is essentially inverted with a 4095/4096 chance of the Pokémon having the Squares sparkle and a 0.9375/4096 chance of it having the stars one when encountering a Shiny Pokémon.

Star Sparkle	Square Sparkle

Shiny Hunting is a concept where you can improve the odds of a Shiny Pokémon by doing certain tasks. In previous games this included Catch Combos, SOS battles and DexNav, and with this Pokémon Sword & Shield takes it further by altering the DexNav method from Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. Here, you get a chance of an increased rate with the more Pokémon of the species you have captured. Essentially, the more of that species you have battled or captured, the higher the chance of getting a shiny, but with a catch.

When you do so, the chances of finding a Brilliant Aura Pokémon is increased. The Brilliant Aura Pokémon have the higher chance of being a Shiny Pokémon.

Shiny Pokémon are possible from Dynamax Adventures. However, they're decided right at the end when you're selecting the Pokémon to keep and so a Pokémon shiny for you may not be a Shiny for your friend. The odds are fairly flat and cannot be improved.