I just realized how ingenious shiny Pokemon are.

[Saturnidae]

In real life, there are certain animals born with a lack of any sort of pigment. These are known as "albinos," albinos often have a drastically different appearance from the rest of their species, generally having white skin and red or pinkish eyes. In the wild Albinos are extremely rare, however they are found more often in captivity, where they are sometimes bred as exotics in the pet trade.

Sound familiar?

The concept of a shiny Pokemon mirrors this natural phenomenon almost perfectly. Shinies are extremely rare alternate colorations of a species. They can be found in the wild.... but the most common way to get them is by breeding, which is the same way albinos are found in real life. Just like with albinos, shinies are more valuable than others of their species, and are as valuable as gold in to most trainers.

I think it's amazing how they adapted the concept of albinos into one of the most powerful mechanics in pokemon

 

[Stratelier]

Actually the comparison's been made for quite some time, so . . . welcome to the club.

 

[Tsareena]

Yeah, shiny = albinism is a pretty good comparison. Though it makes me think, for the other oddly colored Pokemon- pink Butterfree, purple Kecleon, is there an equivalent? They're not in the main games and they seem to be much rarer. Maybe melanism?

 

[Saturnidae]

Yeah, shiny = albinism is a pretty good comparison. Though it makes me think, for the other oddly colored Pokemon- pink Butterfree, purple Kecleon, is there an equivalent? They're not in the main games and they seem to be much rarer. Maybe melanism?

Maybe. But of course within species there are often large differences in color, usually based on habitat. Coincidentally (perhaps) lizards and butterflies are some of the prime examples of this. I've always thought it was simply that; a somewhat rare geographical color mutation. Though of course kecleon can actually change color on a whim. O_O

 

[Silverwynde]

My only problem with this idea is: what about the man-made Pokemon? How exactly does a shiny Porygon exist? Was it a glitch in the programming? Or how about a shiny Golurk? Was a different sort of clay used in its construction?

It's a thought.

 

[Peaceful Giraffe]

Porygon and Golurk can still be bred.

 

[Achrom25tic]

Albinism isn't the only color mutation in animals; there's also melanism, which is the opposite, the development of a darker colored pigmentation than the norm. This could explain alternate coloration different from the normal shiny versions, such as pink Butterfree.

 

[Muur]

Never thought of it like that, you insane genius.

 

[Silverwynde]

Porygon and Golurk can still be bred.

True, but what about those found in the wild? I managed--after two weeks of cursing, crying and a lot of doubting, mind you--to find a shiny Golurk in a Friend Safari. It's a man-made creation but it's also a wild Pokemon and it's in a completely different color scheme. With Porygon, I could imagine that since it's known for glitching, the shiny coloration could simply be a programming error. I mean hey, it's a digital critter so that makes sense. But wild Golett and Golurk puzzle me to the point where I came up with a headcannon for it*.

And don't get me started on shiny Mewtwo. Because that still breaks my poor brain. You know, if there's only one Mewtwo in the world, how can it be shiny unless there are more of them but there's only supposed to be one....?! <insert sound of brain shattering in half here>



*My personal take? A wild shiny Golett or Golurk was among the last of its kind created, thus it looks different from the others. They also know that they're different, so they don't often appear before Trainers because of this. They see themselves as freaks and only appear to those who they believe actually will accept them.