--- Shiny / Alternate Color Pokemon ---

   An alternate color pokemon is something really special! You can only find them in the newer games since the G/S/C series (i.o.w. not in Blue, Red, Green, or Yellow). Alternate color pokemon (also called shiny) are just like regular pokemon, but they are of a totally different color than the usual pokemon, and they are extremely rare.

   The guide books will tell you you'll probably never run into any alternate color pokemon aside from the red Gyarados. Well, I have to say, they are actually quite wrong! I myself have obtained six alternate color pokemon (all in under 100 hours of game play).

   First, I was extremely lucky and got a light-pink Smoochum from the Odd Egg at the day care in Goldenrod (you only get an odd egg in the Crystal version). I like my Smoochum more than a Jynx, so I saved, evolved the Smoochum into a Jynx to see the new color, and then reset. Then of course I captured the red Gyarados. After almost 100 hours of game play, I ran into a yellow Caterpie in the national park. I evolved it into a yellow Metapod, which then evolved into a pink Butterfree.

   I think the pink Butterfree might be the most easy alternate color pokemon to catch (since along the way a trainer actually mentions seeing one), so if you want one right away, hang out in the park a lot and avoid the bug catching contests (because pokemon are much harder to catch during them).

   That's a total of six alternate color pokemon in under 100 hours! If I can get this many, you can too!

--- How to Find Shiny / Alternate Color Pokemon ---

   The key to running into alternate color pokemon is to try and see the same pokemon as many times as possible. If the pokemon you want an alternate color for is a rare pokemon, you might never see one.

   For example... if you want an alternate color Ratatta, go hang out in an area that is mostly, or only Rattata and run into as many as you can. Eventually you might run into an alternate color one.

   When you encounter an alternate color pokemon, the screen will flash black for a second, then the wild pokemon will make a strange sharp 'bling bling bling bling' noise and you'll see sparkles appear on it (this happens when you face the red Gyarados too), this is followed by the pokemon's usual cry.

   If you headbutt a sleeping alternate color pokemon out of a tree, it might not make a noise, so make sure you look carefully at EVERY pokemon you encounter.

   It's a good idea to look through your pokedex and get familiar with the usual colors of all the pokemon. Also, some of the 'usual' colors of the pokemon are different in the gold and silver versions -for example: Tangela from G/S appear a lighter shade of blue than in Crystal- but they are not alternate color pokemon.

   If you're not sure the pokemon you're facing is an alternate color, simply catch it and look at it's stats. If it is an alternate color pokemon it will have three stars next to it's 'gender' symbol (the symbol that indicates if it is a male or female pokemon). For example, on the stats page for my female alternate color Smoochum, the symbol appears like this:

Note: alternate color baby pokemon are even harder to get, but I have a solution for that too!

--- What are the Shiny / Alternate Colors? ---

   I'm always searching for alternate color pokemon. The one's I've caught are listed below (you can also look online for other sites that contain complete pokedex with the shiny / alt. color versions included).

GYARADOS - usual : blue - alternate : RED
CATERPIE - usual : green - alternate : YELLOW
METAPOD - usual : green - alternate : YELLOW
BUTTERFREE - usual : blue - alternate : PINK
SMOOCHUM - usual : magenta - alternate : PINK
JYNX - usual : magenta - alternate : PINK

example:
pokemon : SMOOCHUM
-->
 [original color] --> [shiny / alternate color]
[magenta] --> [pink]