On the one hand, it represents purity, heroism, and simplicity. But it can also be seen as stark, cold, and isolated. Either way, changing a Pokémon’s color to white can create a completely different experience than what we saw before. And for this list we have the perfect representation of all those ideas, and even some others that are a little more off the wall (a wall painted with eggshell paint). And while there are many great shinies out there, I believe that these are the best white-colored shiny Pokémon ever made.
15. Staryu
I have always found Staryu and Starmie very interesting. They’re incredibly beautiful Pokémon, even though they don’t even have a face. But when it comes to shinies, I think that Staryu is much more effective. While Starmie gets darker and looks dead inside, Staryu looks completely pure. While changing of its limbs from brown to white helps, the real star (heh heh) of this show is its sky blue gem. This gives a completely different feeling from its original red gem. Instead of seeming lifeless and inhumane, suddenly Staryu seems innocent and untouched by the human world. And I think that’s a great place to start off this list.
14. Vikavolt
I mentioned earlier that white often symbolizes heroism and purity, but for the opposite side of the spectrum, let’s look at Vikavolt. Vikavolt somehow looks even scarier than before with its white coloring. And I believe it’s because its face is able to stand out even more. Instead of being hidden in a shell of dark blue, white allows Vikavolt’s red face and green eyes. Combine that with its neon green mandibles that literally point to its face, and you know what shiny Vikavolt is all about.
13. Ninetales
Ninetales has always been an incredibly popular Fire-type, being a bright yellow fox that can literally summon the sun! It’s beautiful. And I can completely understand why it got an Alolan form. In fact, it seems that its shiny predicted that. Shiny Ninetales is completely white with blue tips on its tails. While this not only shows the white and blue Alolan form we know today, I also think it still represents the original really well. Instead of yet another yellow and orange Fire-type, we have one that has a little bit of blue, representing the hottest part of the flame right at the source! While this shiny form may seem ice cold, it is also undeniably hot. That came out weird.
12. Magnemite
I will always love Magnemite because, other than Pikachu, it was the first Pokémon I had ever seen. My friend gave me its card in elementary school and I have been a fan ever since! Magnemite’s shiny form perfectly captures what the Pokémon is all about. While it’s not as metallic, shiny Magnemite has every color changed to either black or white. This gives it a much more mechanical feel, a little less life-like, and a lot more binary. Although it’s very much simplified for an already pretty simple design, I think this shiny captures Magnemite’s essence beautifully.
11. Zeraora
Zeraora already looked like what it was: an incredibly fast Pokémon that can hit like a truck. But it’s shiny form adds just a little bit more than that. Shiny Zeraora is the Thunderclap Pokémon, but it seems heavily inspired by lightning. And while we normally see lightning as bright yellow in cartoons and movies, lightning is usually mainly white with different colors highlighting it. This is exactly what we see with shiny Zeraora! Its white fur is surrounds a dark teal body, almost like a thunder cloud, and is accented by bits of yellow. Zeraora’s shiny looks great, while also demonstrating what the Pokémon is all about.
10. Komala
Shiny Komala is a lot simpler and sillier than any of the other Pokémon on this list. It’s a Pokémon that is always asleep with its log, and the color changes for the shiny don’t actually happen on Komala. Instead, the log is changed from brown to being mainly white with pink on either end. That’s right, it’s hard log was replaced by a soft, fluffy pillow. And I freaking love it. There really is nothing else to say about this. It was a hilarious choice, and I am in full support of it.
9. Aurorus
Aurorus is an Ice-type whose design I love. It absolutely captures the feeling of the aurora borealis perfectly, while also being a cool dinosaur. And its shiny form draws more attention to its awesome details! Its white belly and blue everything else are swapped, making Aurorus feel more like a creature from ancient Antarctica. This not only shows off its awesome sail even better, but I finally realized that there were light blue crystals all over it! This is a great design choice that becomes even more noticeable in the shiny form.
8. Mienfoo
Mienfoo is one of the cuter Fighting-types with what looks like an oversized sweater. Fortunately, its shiny form is just as cute! Its red arms and legs are changed to a bluish purple, and its yellow fur is changed to white. This makes shiny Mienfoo seem less like a young warrior trying to prove themselves, and more like it’s confident in its own abilities. It’s just as determined, but there’s a lot more control – something it’ll see more of in its evolution Mienshao. Also, swapping red for blue is never a bad choice.
7. Trevenant
From something cute to something scary! Trevenant has always had a really creepy design, since it is a ghost tree with jagged splintery teeth. But its shiny form captures this energy even better. Instead of just being a brown tree with green leaves, shiny Trevenant is a white tree with red leaves. This not only reminds of the Weirwood tree from Game of Thrones, but it also raises a lot of questions. Did the tree look like this beforehand? And are those leaves red from blood? It’s pretty freaky! Also, its singular red eye is changed to a dark purple, adding a lot more mystery into what this Pokémon is doing. It’s incredibly spooky. And I am all for it.
6. Bunnelby
And now we venture back into the world of adorability with Bunnelby! I love rabbits. And when it comes to rabbit Pokémon, Bunnelby and Diggersby are my favorites. While I like Diggersby for its hard working attitude, I like Bunnelby for completely different reasons. Bunnelby looks exactly like rabbits we had for pets in my elementary school, especially the shiny form. All of its brown tufts of fur are changed to white and its eyes are changed from black to red. This is representative of actual albino rabbits with their white fur and bright red eyes! While the white and gray color combo doesn’t work together perfectly here, I absolutely love whenever a Pokémon has real world connotations, especially in its shiny form.
5. Salazzle
Salazzle has always been an interesting Pokémon. It can only evolve from female Salandit, and they have a reverse harem full of male Salandit. But what I really like about it is its shiny form. The usual black combined with the purple and pink makes Salazzle already seem a little questionable. But I think changing that black to white makes it flat out evil! I believe the main reason for this is because now you can see its mouth. That huge grin cannot be trusted. This makes Salazzle almost feel like Circe from The Odyssey. She will lure you in, and when you least expect it, she’ll strike! It adds a whole other layer to the Pokémon, while also looking undeniably cool.
4. Golisopod
In researching some of these various shiny articles, Golisopod has recently become one of my favorites. In its regular form it looks intimidating, reclusive, and evil. But its shiny form gives it a complete redemption arc. Instead of a pale blue-green armor, shiny Golisopod’s scales are changed to white. Its dark green accents are changed to blue, and its purple antennae are turned to red. Suddenly, shiny Golisopod seems like a hero that will come in and save you, instead of a lone warrior who is just worried about themselves. We see this all the time with characters like Tommy from Power Rangers and The Hound from Game of Thrones. But in a simple redesign, Game Freak was able to tell this exact same story.
3. Cofagrigus
Cofagrigus is already one of the creepiest ideas for a Pokémon ever. A living sarcophagus that will swallow you whole if you come near it? That’s the stuff of nightmares! And its shiny form is even creepier. That’s because instead of looking like something that might be full of untold treasures, it just looks intimidating. All of the blue was changed to a bright purple, and its gold was changed to white. Not only does it seem more dead than before, but this color choice further emphasizes its scary red eyes. This isn’t a ghost waiting for you to approach it. Shiny Cofagrigus will hunt you down. And I’m not going to wait around for that. Onto the next entry!
2. Zygarde 10%
I have to admit, I chose this one for personal reasons. While each form of Zygarde looks great, I felt like I had to go with the 10% form on this one. That’s because it looks almost exactly like my dog growing up, Duke. He was a great dane that had similar markings all over him, except they were black and not green. He would even throw his blanket behind him just like Zygarde 10%’s scarf! Shiny Zygarde 10% not only looks really clean for a shiny form, but it also brings on massive feelings of nostalgia for me. And for that, it easily earns its place towards the top of this list. Good boy!
1. Mega Gengar
Gengar was already one of the coolest and most effective Pokémon ever created. And for some reason, Game Freak determined that it needed to get an even more powerful mega evolution. And it was better in every way, including its shiny. Regular Gengar has one of the worst shinies of all time, going from purple to a slightly different purple. On the other hand, Mega Gengar goes from purple to completely white. This is a fantastic homage to the classic view of ghosts as being essentially a white sheet over an invisible body. But that’s not all that happens with this shiny transition. Its red eyes change to be completely black, making this ghost seem even more dead than before. Combine this with the pink particles floating from where its limbs attach to the ground, and you have a genuinely scary shiny Ghost-type. This isn’t just an effective shiny either. It also gets the award for most improved shiny over the original form. And for that, I believe Mega Gengar’s shiny is the best white-colored shiny of all time.
