What better way to start off the Year of the Dragon than with some sparkle? This is our list of the ten best shiny Dragon type Pokemon.
The Ten Best Shiny Dragon Type Pokemon
Dragon-type Pokemon are popular, and for good reason. These ferocious but often cute Pokemon are both strong, and worth having on your team. Their usual rarity only makes them more desirable, especially the case when shiny.
Honorary Mention: Miraidon and Koraidon
Koraidon is one of the best black colored shiny Pokemon out there, with its brilliant red, yellow, and white plumage. Miraidon is similarly beautiful, with soft yellow and blue accents that still convey a sense of powerful electricity. The only thing holding back these two captivating dragons is how their shiny colorations haven’t been made available yet. But make no mistake, the day they’re finally made obtainable will be one to remember, and it’s one that we eagerly await.
Honorary Mention: Poipole
Poipole’s bright white and gold shiny color scheme is fantastic, and works well under any criteria. Its evolution Naganadel’s wasp-like black and yellow is also great in its own right, but Poipole stands out as more appealing. Unfortunately for Poipole, it won’t become a full-fledged Dragon-type until it evolves and changes its color scheme.
Honorary Mention: Dragonair
Dragonite is already in a weird spot where the only thing it keeps from Dragonair’s design is the horn on its head and maybe its face shape. The same goes for its shiny form: the kelp green isn’t awful, but it is sad to see after Dratini and Dragonair set the stage for a pleasant pink. That said, Dragonair’s pink scales and orange gems make for an adorable color scheme—if only it continued into Dragonite’s.
#10: Goodra (Kalosian and Hisuian Forms)
Goodra has two lovely shiny colorations. Its original Kalosian shiny colors are a gentle combination of pastel gold and pink. Shiny Hisuian Goodra doesn’t change its body color, but its shell darkens, and its slime changes color to match. It isn’t quite as striking as the original, but it’s nice for Goodra’s shinies to be different from each other rather than the exact same both times.
#9: Mega Charizard X and Y
According to the dragon master Lance in Pokemon Masters EX, not all “Dragon Pokemon” are Dragon-types. The Pokemon that embodies this idea the most is undoubtedly Charizard. As cool as its black-colored shiny is, plenty of other dragons do it better. Mega Charizard X drops the black for an appealing green with bright red wings, which really stands out compared to yet another black-colored shiny. Mega Charizard Y may not be a Dragon-type, but the slight purple shade is a fun reference to Charizard’s original shiny color from generation two, making both forms fetching and unique.
#8: Flygon
Depending on the game, Flygon’s shiny colors come across as a bit on the garish side. But the blues and oranges look bright and appealing in the sprite-based Pokemon titles where they’re more saturated. The orange eyes and wing outlines work well as replacements to the original color scheme’s red. Shiny Flygon isn’t afraid to stand out, and we love it for that.
#7: Dracozolt
One of Sword and Shield’s numerous fossil Pokemon, Dracozolt does the monochromatic shiny look very well. The darker grays of its legs stand out from the lighter upper body, giving the entire color scheme some visual interest. The lavender streaks across its upper body are a subtle but fantastic detail that solidifies shiny Dracozolt’s appeal while granting it a splash of uniqueness.
#6: Haxorus
Black and red are a fantastic, timeless combination, and Haxorus pulls it off flawlessly. The splashes of red are accompanied by a black belly and slightly lighter back, giving the coloration a sense of uniformity without being entirely one shade of black. When you think of Pokemon with cool, black-colored shinies, Haxorus should always come to mind.
#5: Giratina (Altered and Origin Formes)
Dialga and Palkia pull off the “same general colors but slightly different” shiny approach well, but Giratina’s colors are as stunning as they are spine-chilling. Silver and gold with bright blue looks downright menacing on Giratina, and really amps up its fright factor. It’s always a delight to see Pokémon with shiny color schemes that still feel like they match their designs, even if that Pokémon is as scary as Giratina.
#4: Reshiram
Reshiram’s shiny coloration doesn’t look too different from the usual at first, but this color scheme is all about the small details. The most obvious change is the golden rings, which are a nice touch compared to the typical white ones. The best part, though, has to be its flames: Reshiram’s tail and the tips of its head feathers glow red, but as a shiny, they are purple. This is more obvious in the fifth generation where Reshiram’s sprite moves around more than its 3D model, and so its body glows more often. While it’s easy to wish that Reshiram’s shiny had been black instead (and for Zekrom’s shiny to be white), the shiny Reshiram we did get is still sleek and majestic.
#3: Rayquaza and Mega Rayquaza
Shiny Rayquaza is iconic, and it’s easy to see why. It has more going for it than just its black scales: keeping its red and yellow details was great as it gives the shiny a sense of consistency with its original color scheme while matching very well with the new black coloration. Mega Rayquaza follows suit, and for good reason. It honestly wouldn’t be surprising if Rayquaza’s shiny influenced Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre’s outstanding shinies, and if that’s the case, we should definitely be thanking it.
#2: Applin
Applin is a great little guy, with a shiny just as great to match. It’s a simple concept—it goes from a red apple to a green apple as a shiny—but sometimes simple works best. It’s also thematically appropriate when not all shiny Pokémon are guaranteed to be (we’re looking at you, shiny Nidoqueen). As if this all wasn’t enough apple goodness, the shiny also has the benefit of being visually distinct from the original coloration, a trait shared with its lovely evolutions like the caramel apple Dipplin. We wouldn’t be opposed to getting an apple a day to keep the doctors away if they were all shiny Applin.
#1: Tatsugiri (Curly, Droopy, and Stretchy Forms)
What makes Tatsugiri the best shiny dragon Pokémon? First, each shiny coloration looks notably different from its original. The Stretchy form even gets a different pattern, with bright yellow stripes on an orange body compared to its usual plain yellow color. There’s also the fact that each of Tatsugiri’s three forms has its own unique shiny, and they’re each great in their own right, giving fans more to love and collectors more to collect. Tatsugiri’s top-tier sushi-inspired design already makes it a phenomenal dragon Pokémon—its great shiny colors are the cherry on top, or in this case, the wasabi.
