5 most unpleasant-looking Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon GO, ranked

While Shiny Pokemon are among the most valuable aspects of Pokemon GO, it is unfortunate that not every rare design improves on the original. With a lot of the designs for Shiny Pokemon being automatically generated, a variant's visual aesthetic is not always considered when one is released to the public.

With how rare these shiny variants can be, it can be crushing to find one that looks more unappealing than its original color scheme, making many players wish they never found it. However, some go above and beyond in terms of the lousy shiny variant.

With many shiny designs being generated automatically, some make such minute differences that it can be hard to tell if a Pokemon is shiny at all.

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Pokemon GO's Shiny Pokemon that are not good in appearance

5) Event Pikachu

A Mimikyu Costume Pikachu (Image via Niantic)

While shiny variants of event Pikachus are rare and extremely valuable, they do not provide much in the design department. Almost two-thirds of every costumed Pikachu in-game cannot evolve, so there is not much of a reason to go out of the way to collect them aside from their face value.

As many Pokemon fans know and commonly joke about, the franchise's mascot has one of the worst shiny forms available. Rather than a special or different color, a Shiny Pikachu goes from a light yellow to a slightly deeper yellow.

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4) Poliwag

Shiny members of the Poliwag evolutionary line as they appear in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

If looked at carefully, readers may be able to tell the difference between the shiny variant and the standard Poliwag. For those who cannot tell right away, a Shiny Poliwag is slightly lighter in shade than the standard variant. However, it is very easy to miss if users are not paying attention when encountering it.

With the shine of each evolution getting progressively better as it develops, there are much worse Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon GO.

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3) Gengar

Shiny Gengar as it appears in Pokemon BDSP (Image via Gamefreak)

The only thing worse than a Pokemon that starts as a bad shiny is a Pokemon that gets worse as it evolves. While Gastly begins as one of the best Shiny Ghost types, it gets progressively worse as it evolves.

The Haunter's only noticeable change is that its tongue goes blue. However, Shiny Gengar's one saving grace is its Mega Evolution.

While Gengar is infamous for being one of the worst Shiny Pokemon in the franchise, it has one of the best Shiny Mega Evolutions. Rather than keeping its purple color, Mega Gengar becomes pure white.

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2) Plusle

Whereas the previous Pokemon get better as they evolve, Plusle sadly does not have that luxury. While its lackluster shiny variant is more noticeable than others, the Pokemon does not have many usages outside of taking up a place in someone's Pokemon GO collection.

Plusle is one of the weakest Pokemon to use in battle, and if gamers do not have a way to show off their Shiny Pokemon, most commonly in the Battle League, why even hunt it? However, one day, a special cup in the league may give Plusle a place to shine.

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1) Zapdos

One of the biggest punches in the gut is investing the time and resources to hunt a Shiny Legendary Pokemon, only for it to end up being identical to its standard variant. With Shiny Zapdos being one of the newest Shiny Pokemon to come to Pokemon GO, many individuals may have it at the top of their wishlist.

Sadly, the differences between Zapdos' standard and shiny are virtually nonexistent. A Shiny Zapdos is only slightly darker than the standard variant.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinion.