Pink's Peaks and Plummets: The Best and Worst of Pink Shiny Pokémon
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Art by Cretacerus.
Introduction
Ever notice how there's oddly a lot of shiny Pokémon that are pink? Within that large amount, however, there are many shiny forms that are very pleasant to the eye, up to par with its regular form and sometimes even better than it. Others, though, show that "pretty in pink" really only applies to some. Here, I will be looking at a handful of pink shiny Pokémon to either praise their pink or, um, "pink-shame" them, if you will. Keep in mind, though, that you're welcomed to disagree, but this is my list, so don't act like I'm breaking the law by writing my own. Instead, write your own laws for others to disagree on. Anyways, these are the best and worst of pink shiny Pokémon!
The Best
Virizion
We're all going to collectively agree that the Swords of Justice's battle theme is one of the best themes in Pokémon, okay? Virizion's shiny inverses the green and pink parts of its regular form, and it ends up looking really good, and in my opinion better, than its regular form. It really helps that its design and shade of pink work almost flawlessly together, with the soft, cool pink colliding with its elegant design. With it now having green where the pink used to be, it looks like a watermelon, and who doesn't love watermelon? Overall, I feel Virizion's shiny is one of the rare occurrences where the shiny form gives off the same feeling the regular form does, but my statement that its shiny form is better still stands.
Toxapex
I'm sure that most of you reading this get a headache playing against Toxapex in OU, almost as if you're actually wearing it on your head; although, if it's shiny, at least you'll look stylish with it on. Toxapex's shiny form is a chilled, soft, and almost fleshy pink, and with that color complementing its starfish design really well, it's no wonder it'll be calming to look at as it flawlessly tanks all of your Pokémon's attacks. Furthermore, I could argue that Toxapex can look good with other shades of pink and even red. Bubblegum, magenta, rouge, lipstick, scarlet, crimson, and more; you name it, and Toxapex can flaunt it. Overall, however, pink suits Toxapex well enough to be one of the best pink shiny Pokémon out there.
Crobat
Though Crobat's shiny form carries a rather popular shade of light pink, it's actually one of the only shiny Pokémon to have it, with really no other pink carried by a shiny coming close to being this bright. The light olive green on its wings surprisingly pairs well with the blush pink, but I believe the real combo here is the color and its design. Design-wise, Crobat is supposed to look intimidating with its original dark purple color scheme; however, with its shiny form, it becomes a very cute Pokémon you'd probably want to snuggle with, though it'll most likely be annoyed at that. Designs like Crobat that can have their tone changed with a color swap are always appreciated, and it so happens that Crobat's unique and bright pink shiny form is a good example of that.
Oranguru
When Sun and Moon was the buzz, many of the comments about the games were mostly towards the Pokémon. With Oranguru, while it could be said its reception was mixed, it has quite an interesting design further bolstered by its shiny form. When it comes to the color changes, it's fairly simple; the former white is replaced by a generic but pleasing purplish pink touched with accents of dark green instead of orange. Personally, I think the colors of Oranguru's shiny form are better than those of its normal form. Though the white originally looked good with its purple "cloak," or whatever it is, the shade of pink as a replacement looks better in my opinion due to how extremely well it compliments the purple. Plus, the small details in green twins with the color of its leaves, and color coordination is always welcomed.
Lopunny / Mega Lopunny
When Game Freak introduced Mega Evolution, some were curious as to how their shiny forms would look. Some look wildly different, while others like Mega Lopunny kept the same palette. There's nothing wrong with that, though; in fact, I think that both shiny forms look very pleasant with their design and are easily transferable between the regular design's and Mega design's different moods. Both Lopunny and Mega Lopunny replace their bushy features' color in a rose pink with a slightly altered brown for the rest of its body. While it's a simple change, it suits both forms very well; Lopunny's shiny form gives off a more timid, feminine vibe, and Mega Lopunny still has that femininity but will still kick your ass. All in all, Lopunny and Mega Lopunny might have the same color changes, but both are still able to rock that pink in their own ways.
Honorable Mentions
All of these Pokémon have really good shinies because the chosen pinks fit with the Pokémon's original tone. Funnily enough, most of these Pokémon originated in GSC, which was when shinies were first introduced, with Farfetch'd being from RBY. Therefore, it's no surprise that Game Freak's creative juices were flowing a lot then, creating new color palettes for Pokémon and all. However, an odd handful of Pokémon introduced then have pink shinies, so perhaps Game Freak was also confused on what to do.
The Worst
Weavile
Weavile may be a fairly popular Pokémon, but it would be hard to believe someone if they said they liked looking at its shiny form. The color choice is horrid and doesn't fit together at all. Now, I would've given it the benefit of the doubt because it's kind of hard to pair a color with this hot pink, but of course Game Freak had to choose this sharp lemon-like yellow. Considering both of these colors are often disliked by many, it's no doubt that Weavile's shiny is quite the eyesore. It's unfortunate too that this shiny actually looked better pre-XY. Then again, sometimes two dimensions is better than three (in more ways than this, of course). Perhaps it could've looked better with different shades of yellow and pink, but most people will probably agree that Weavile's shiny could've been executed better. Sadly, it's stuck with this odd combination of colors that looks as if someone attempted to combine two Starburst together.
Kommo-o
Just when you thought Weavile's shiny was an outlier, Kommo-o barges in with this noisy choice of color nearly identical to Weavile's shiny. I will agree that design-wise it's a cool and unique Pokémon, but when combined with these colors, it just looks flat out ugly. At least Weavile's design with those colors is smooth, albeit still ugly; the fact that the repetitive pink highlights on Kommo-o's scales clashes with one of the most disgusting versions of yellow I've seen in my life makes it a nightmare to even think about. Like Weavile, I feel like this shiny could've been executed better, but I guess it's too late for changes. To whoever at Game Freak designed Weavile's and Kommo-o's shinies: just because you like certain pinks and yellows, doesn't mean that they should go together.
Magmortar
The different shades of hot pink really don't look good on Magmortar, despite being a Pokémon made of...fire? Is that what its skin is? Furthermore, Magmortar is just an ugly Pokémon in general. Awkward posture, crappy fashion sense, dumb haircut, and a beer belly. Sounds like a dad that conceived a child just to embarrass them on the day of their middle school dance. My apologies, I'm getting off track. Anyways, I actually find the shades of pink really slick for their ability to really stand out; however, that fact that it's on Magmortar out of all Pokémon doesn't help for the colors' reputation. I'm sorry, Magmortar lovers, but Magmortar is one the top ugliest Pokémon out there, and, unfortunately, no alternative color scheme can save it, especially its shiny form's pinks.
Gumshoos
Let's see if I can joke about Gumshoos without getting political. While I can say that Gumshoos's regular form has a nice design and color choice, I can't really say the same thing for its shiny. The fact that the change to pink was practically the only color change on its shiny makes it look terrible. The yellow tint it had before went pretty well with the brown, but that same brown doesn't have many colors that can go with it, and this pink used is no exception. It also kind of looks like a dad with no fashion sense, but it would ruin its daughter's middle school dance by forcing her to wear a dress at ankle's length. It would probably like its steak blue rare, too, just by looking at it. Hey, at least the insides of the steak would match Gumshoos's shiny.
Mega Garchomp
These lists always have at least one extremely hot take that may lead to some language sent towards me, right? I believe Mega Garchomp has one of the most badass designs in Pokémon. I mean look at it, it's so badass that it doesn't even need functioning hands (not like it had them before Mega Evolving). The color palette of its shiny form is very good too: an extremely expressive pink with a soft but vibrant purple complimented with hints of yellow. Despite both its design and color pallet being good in their own developments, their chemistry together isn't good due to the fact that they're practically on the opposite sides of the spectrum. It ends up being a weird ugly abomination that looks like a high school student that's going through a goth phase but only listens to K-Pop. From an ironic and memey standpoint, though, Mega Garchomp's shiny is the best out there, scaring the hell out of people while looking FABULOUS. Plus, at least it's better than regular Garchomp's shiny, with that being literally only a slight hue change and all.
Dishonorable Mentions
In contrast to the Honorable Mentions, these shinies experience such a jarring change in color that they barely feel like the same Pokémon, not to mention that they look as if someone just slapped pink on their shinies so they can get out of work quicker. Honchkrow's is probably the worst offender; its slick design that enjoyed the dark blue of its regular form is ruined by the shiny's hot pink. As for the others, Swampert's and Heracross's Mega formes funnily enough are also the same shade of pink of their respective pre-Mega formes and thus the same amount of ugly. It's odd how a lot of Mega Pokémon are pink; furthermore, they end up looking mega ugly, as their usually complex designs clash poorly with the simplicity of pink.
Conclusion
There you have it: some of the best and worst pink shiny Pokémon. Now, you may be asking yourself, "why pink shiny Pokémon and not shiny Pokémon in general?," and, frankly speaking, it does seem weird. Though, it's always nice to mix it up now and then, right? Like, come on, what other list would have Magmortar, Gumshoos, and Mega Garchomp in the same category? Don't answer that question. Also, pink is just a really nice color. It's just so calming to look at, along with blue. But that's subjective, just like this list!
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