Why are people so fascinated with shiny pokemon?

[Alfieri]

People seem to go out of their way for a palette-swap. It doesn't add anything to their stats so is it just the rareness factor that drives people insane over traveling across the land, searching far and wide?

I mean yeah a Shiny Haxorus looks sweet but it doesn't amount to anything for me but bragging rights if I ever end up with a shiny.

 

[PlatinumDude]

The main draw of shiny Pokemon is their rarity. Either that, or some Pokemon look better in their shiny forms.

 

[SumGai]

They are basically like foils in a trading card game.

They look a little... well shinier. People like that.

Or I should say certain kinds of people like that. The more competitive players usually don't care. They'd happily play a cheese sandwich if the stats on it are good.

I know that if I had to choose between a Charizard and a cheese sandwich the first thing I'd check are their stats. Not that don't think Charizard is awesome, but I want to WIN. You know.

But many players would rather the Charizard because it looks cooler. And that brings us back to shiny POKeMON. Many players just want the one they think looks better.

 

[Aeroblast]

Because they're very rare, even with the ratios being lowered in Gen VI.

 

[Bounsweet]

Just the novelty of it. Coming across a Pokémon with a 1/8192 chance of appearing can be pretty exciting. Even after encountering 20+ shinies, I still get really excited whenever I run into one or hatch one, lol. It's like a hitting a little mini-lottery, kinda.

I think they increased the chances to 1/~4000, though.

 

[Hiatus]

Shiny Pokémon tend to fascinate me mainly due to their rarity value and whatnot; whenever running into them unexpectedly, they never cease to catch my attention (and I'm sure same could be said for many other players out there). Had they been more common, I likely wouldn't have felt the same, to be honest.

Of all shinies out there, I would say one of my most favorites would be Ninetales. Its furs are entirely white, which, I believe, makes its shiny form stand out by a mile. Due to similar reasons, I also like shiny Metagross; its body-color seems to help stand out from the crowd. Another of my favorites is shiny Charizard; if you ask me, its black color-scheme seems to go along with its body structure without any trouble at all.

Currently, out of all games I own, I have about seven to eight shinies in total. One I've captured most recently would be Litleo, which is currently in Y.

 

[Pendraflare]

There are a lot of shiny Pokémon that, aside from being overly rare, just look really cool, so some people want them for the heck of it and that very reason. I found quite a few shiny Pokémon in X back in October (hopefully I could get one this month, though), and they were not ones I expected. That's the thing.

 

[Guardian]

Why are people fascinated with diamonds and other gems?

It's basically useless (at least as jewelery), but it's rare, looks odd and extraordinary, which makes it more worthy, which then adds to the effect of fascination.
Also some POkemon actually look better in their shiny form. Yeah, Im looking at you, Blue-ringed Umbreon.

 

[Sydian]

I personally like to collect shinies that have a pallette swap that I really like, and maybe even prefer to the original. For example, I prefer shiny Latios over a regular one because I love the seafoam green color for that Pokemon. It looks amazing.

I just really enjoy collecting shinies altogether. I hoard Pokemon in general, so hoarding some shinies just gives me a little extra to work with.

Also Sven, I'm not even gonna tell you how many shiny Umbreon I have hoarded up. lol

 

[morrison]

I like shiny pokemon generally, but what I dont like is if they get a really ugly pallette. Surely 80% of pokemon happen to be pink at some point in their evo and thus be ugly . I Was happy about having a shiny zubat but goodness it was so fugly as an crobat. (green pink, imo one of the worst colour combinations ever) also ampahros, one of my fav is pink...and makuhita. also evolved totally fugly. sigh. it puts me off shinys . Other shinys just turn black or sepia, meh. Or have a hardly recognisable colour change

Shinys i like are zubat , gyarados, bulbasaur evos (also it just a slight change), electrode/voltorb, totdile evos(although their shinies look like the used to look in gsc anyway kinda)
espeon/umbreon, skarmory, aron evos, manectric, shinx evos, bronzor evo, boldore/gigalith

 

[The ???]

I have to agree, Shinies are extremely overrated!
MOST of the shiny color palette looks horrible and hurts eyes.

The only Shiny I think looks cool is Rapidash (and Ponyta) and Pidgeot (coz GOLDEN)!

 

[Guardian]

I personally like to collect shinies that have a pallette swap that I really like, and maybe even prefer to the original. For example, I prefer shiny Latios over a regular one because I love the seafoam green color for that Pokemon. It looks amazing.

I just really enjoy collecting shinies altogether. I hoard Pokemon in general, so hoarding some shinies just gives me a little extra to work with.

Also Sven, I'm not even gonna tell you how many shiny Umbreon I have hoarded up. lol

pssshhh dont give me any ideas yet, you have no idea how much I want to shiny chain for it in Platinum. I'm doing it as soon as I finish main SoulSilver storyline.

I can already see it, I wont even be able to stop myself, mmmyeah, one boxful of shiny Eevees and one just for Umbreons lol. (probably wont happen cos I'll do it till 2 AM and break the chain carelessly at some point)

Also to what you said before, I too like different palettes, but some of them are really irritating, starting with a pink Dragonair and lime green Dragonite. Why so many pink and lime shinies too.

Luckily, best Legendary has the best Shiny color as well. Black Rayquaza, Gamefreak's best decision ever. lol

 

[Sydian]

pssshhh dont give me any ideas yet, you have no idea how much I want to shiny chain for it in Platinum. I'm doing it as soon as I finish main SoulSilver storyline.

I can already see it, I wont even be able to stop myself, mmmyeah, one boxful of shiny Eevees and one just for Umbreons lol. (probably wont happen cos I'll do it till 2 AM and break the chain carelessly at some point)

Also to what you said before, I too like different palettes, but some of them are really irritating, starting with a pink Dragonair and lime green Dragonite. Why so many pink and lime shinies too.

Luckily, best Legendary has the best Shiny color as well. Black Rayquaza, Gamefreak's best decision ever. lol

WHOA pink shinies are what I live for. But I agree with lime, I don't get their fascination with it, lmao. :( Shiny Espeon should be a seafoam green imo, not a BRIGHT LIME GREEN. It looks like a jello mold.

 

[Guardian]

WHOA pink shinies are what I live for. But I agree with lime, I don't get their fascination with it, lmao. :( Shiny Espeon should be a seafoam green imo, not a BRIGHT LIME GREEN. It looks like a jello mold.

You really like pink shinies? Heracross, Sneasel, Hypno, Dragonair, KYOGRE. I mean come on, Kyogre. You really love those?
Well, to each it's own.

I love Blue shades of shiny. Ponyta, Rapidash, Gligar, Haunter and its evo line, Ninetails, Houndoom, Umbreon etc. :D

 

[Sydian]

You really like pink shinies? Heracross, Sneasel, Hypno, Dragonair, KYOGRE. I mean come on, Kyogre. You really love those?
Well, to each it's own.

I love Blue shades of shiny. Ponyta, Rapidash, Gligar, Haunter and its evo line, Ninetails, Houndoom, Umbreon etc. :D

YES. I love those. :) I have three of those...lol. I want a shiny Heracross in a Love Ball so badly. :(

I like the blue ones a lot too and have all of those you listed. I mainly like pink, blue, seafoam green, and black shinies. I'm not keen on anything that comes out orange, yellow, dark green, or lime green. I'm also not a huge fan of shinies that are barely different than their normal counterparts, like shiny Bidoof or Garchomp.

 

[Guardian]

YES. I love those. :) I have three of those...lol. I want a shiny Heracross in a Love Ball so badly. :(

I like the blue ones a lot too and have all of those you listed. I mainly like pink, blue, seafoam green, and black shinies. I'm not keen on anything that comes out orange, yellow, dark green, or lime green. I'm also not a huge fan of shinies that are barely different than their normal counterparts, like shiny Bidoof or Garchomp.

Ugh, Garchomp, or Golduck. Ik, I dont get it either.
Honestly, some goldens are alright. Like Arcanine or Pidgeot. Better gold then pink or lime green :D

You got so much stuff, cant wait to experience the charm of trading in a Pokemon game :L

That's right, I've never actually traded a Pokemon (aside from few I got just for the sake of having a team I wanted in Soulsilver)

 

[Megan]

People just like shiny stuff, that's all there is.

Or if you want a more (pseudo-) scientific approach:
Back when civilizations didn't exist, in order to survive in the wild, people had to find water. Looking out for it, the only indicator for water was some shiny sparkle created by the light from the sun that was reflected from watersources/oasis.
Basically shiny=water=good

That trait to look out for shiny stuff still exists in humankind and is one of the reasons why gold never loses it's value, although there's not much you can do with it besides jewelry or some electronics stuff.


Putting it short: people like shinies, because they're shiny. :P

 

[Auticorn]

I don't care much for shinies. Then again, I have to admit... if I get one, it becomes a huge deal for me. I don't make it an effort to hunt for them and all that though. It's much to challenging for me.

Also, I agree with the ones who said it's because they are very rare. I think that's what makes them a priority for others.

 

[Galmar]

I afree that shinies are overatted, cuz all they are are pokémon that are different in colouring to the others and are very rare.

 

[Dedenne1]

You can sell thm on ebay! XD
No theyre rare and people will give u anything for them i get my teams bred for me and the easiest way to do that is to say ill give u a shiny for them :)
I love collecting them though its fun i can say im accomplished and idk i guess a lot of shiny hunters look up to other shiny hunters and want to be the best!