With almost 900 Pokemon in existence (and well over that if all regional variants, Mega Evolutions, and alternate forms are included), there are bound to be some shinies that are just disappointing. Sure, there are outright bad shinies, like the infamous sickly green that many Pokemon adopt when shiny. But, less attention is given to the shinies that are just underwhelming.
There are some Pokemon that are so cool ordinarily that they must have cool shinies, but they just kind of...exist. Others have such obvious potential that they just don't meet. Here are some shinies that aren't necessarily bad, they're just disappointing.
10 Vanilluxe
This Generation V Ice-type is a Pokemon that has long been ridiculed for basically just being an ice cream cone with a face. Interestingly, the ice cream isn't actually part of its body, and it's secretly bald in actuality. However, despite the criticism that it's an inanimate object like many Gen V Pokemon, it's still an interesting and unique concept.
As a shiny, Vanilluxe has clear potential — make it a different flavor! It could be chocolate, or turn pink to be strawberry. Even a Neopolitan color scheme would be hilarious. But, it's just a slightly different shade of blue. Boo.
9 Necrozma
Out of the crazy number of Legendaries, Mythicals, and Ultra Beasts introduced in Generation VII, Necrozma is easily one of the most intimidating. This light-bending prism-like Pokemon is fierce, jet-black, and spiky, all hinting toward its evil and dark vibe.
Since it's a prism, it would be amazing to see some type of rainbow coloration or something that looks transparent or white. Even just changing it to a different solid color to look more evil like a deep red would be cool. However, it has the slightest possible change to a dark blue.
This is even more disappointing given how cool its other forms' shinies are.
8 Garchomp
Poor Garchomp. This fan-favorite pseudo-Legendary has long been ridiculed for how disappointing its shiny variant is. You almost need to squint to see it sometimes, depending on the background or the graphics, since it's such a subtle difference.
For those unaware, Garchomp is typically a dark blue with red and yellow detailing. In its shiny form, it does technically change to a slightly different shade of blue, but it's very hard to tell.
7 Leafeon and Glaceon
Garchomp isn't the only disappointing shiny in Generation IV. There are actually a few Pokemon in Sinnoh that hardly change when shiny, like Burmy, Wormadam, and Togekiss.
Two of the most disappointing, though, are Leafeon and Glaceon. As some of the most popular Pokemon ever made, the Eeveelutions should have fantastic shinies. These two, though, hardly change. Leafeon becomes about one shade darker, and Glaceon one shade lighter. Both are almost indiscernible.
6 Pikachu
Pikachu, unlike the past few entries on this list, does change more than a slight bit when shiny. Unfortunately, it's still disappointing, mostly because it's the series mascot and you could expect it to have a great shiny.
When shiny, Pikachu gets a bit darker to a more orange-yellow shade of its normal coloring. It's a nice color, but as the most important Pokemon in the series, it could have been so much better.
5 Gengar
Standing next to Garchomp on the podium of long-ridiculed shinies is Gengar, who also hardly changes. The difference between Gengar's normal and shiny palettes is even less noticeable than Garchomp's most of the time. The change is similar, though, fading the saturation of its purple coloring out the slightest bit.
Luckily, Gengar received a fantastic shiny for its Mega Evolution, which is arguably one of the best shiny forms in the series. Sadly, it's relegated to its Mega and regular Gengar still kind of sucks.
4 Blaziken
One of the most beloved Pokemon and definitely one of the fan-favorite Starter Pokemon is the Fire/Fighting-type Blaziken, final evolution of Torchic. Typically, this fiery chicken is red, white, and yellow to reflect its Fire-typing. Wouldn't it be great if its shiny form was blue or black to make its fiery kicks look epic with blue flames?
Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Blaziken becomes a darker red. It's a nice color, and the swap from slightly off-white to star white is pleasant. But, overall, it's disappointing.
3 Zekrom and Reshiram
This is the most obvious choice for a shiny palette swap of all time, yet it was tragically missed. Reshiram and Zekrom are black and white to represent the games, Black & White, they are the mascots for.
They're entirely themed around these colors, representing Yin and Yang. Reshiram is called the Vast White Pokemon and Zekrom is the Deep Black Pokemon. It would have been incredible for them to swap coloring, but, they hardly change at all.
2 Tyranitar
Tyranitar is a Pokemon that is clearly inspired by Godzilla, a large green armor-plated reptilian monster that is somewhat evil. As a shiny, Tyranitar would have been so cool in a dark, evil color like black or a dark purple. It would even be nice as a grey-green like Godzilla is frequently shown as.
Unfortunately, Tyranitar takes on a gross sickly green that is like the color of vomit. It would be nice if the face on its chest at least kept that ominous red coloring, but it changes to a light purple instead.
1 Nidoqueen
The coloring of the Nido families and their shiny palettes is like a runner tripping and eating dirt five steps from the finish line of the marathon. It came so close to being so cool, but was ruined at the final moment.
The Nidoran♂ family takes on the Nidoran♀ family's coloring perfectly. All three of the male version of this line become the shade of light blue that the female side is. Nidoran♀, Nidorina, and Nidoqueen take on the male side's coloring in return. Except, that's incorrect: Nidoqueen is green. This is the worst thing, maybe ever.