PokeBonk shiny Pokémon: odds, catching and rewards

A PokeBonk shiny is a rare, recoloured wild Pokémon that can appear once per zone during a run, and sometimes during an eclipse event. When one shows up, a banner says it is extremely rare: weaken it, then throw a Poké Ball with E before it flees, which happens after 120 seconds by default. Catching a PokeBonk shiny gives you Stardust, a shiny partner that fights beside you for the rest of the run, the shiny look for that Pokémon and its evolutions and progress in your Shiny Collection. A shiny from a zone or an eclipse does not add the Pokémon to your League. Everything below comes from the game’s code and text in version 0.8.18.

When a PokeBonk shiny appears

In version 0.8.18, the game rolls once for a shiny at the start of each zone:

• Base chance: 8% per zone.
• Luck adds to it. Your luck stat divided by 1,000 is added, up to another 8 points. At 80 luck or more, the chance is 16% per zone.
• The Shiny Charm multiplies it by 1.5, so 12% at no luck and up to 24% with full luck.
• Timing: if the roll hits, the shiny appears at a random moment between 40 seconds and 7 minutes into the zone.

Eclipse events give a second chance at a PokeBonk shiny. The eclipse roll starts at 20%, adds the same luck bonus and also gets the Shiny Charm multiplier. It does not happen in Survival mode, or while another capture is already under way.

Two more sources:

• Dawn Stone. This Bag item guarantees a shiny in zone 1 (between 40 and 150 seconds in). You can take 2 Bag items into each run, or 3 after an upgrade.
• Legendary encounters. When a legendary League Pokémon appears for capture, it has a 3% chance to be shiny (times 1.5 with the Shiny Charm), outside Survival. Catching that PokeBonk shiny legendary still adds it to your League.

The game also prefers families you do not already own a shiny of, so each new PokeBonk shiny tends to come from a new line.

How to catch a PokeBonk shiny

1. Spot the banner. “A shiny {name}!” appears with a flash. Follow it before the timer runs out: 120 seconds, or 150 with the Shiny Charm. If you miss it, you get “The shiny has vanished”.
2. Weaken it. A PokeBonk shiny has more HP than a normal wild Pokémon (2.5 times the zone’s HP multiplier), so focus it.
3. Throw while it is fainted. When its HP runs out it faints for 10 seconds. Get close (you need to be within throwing range) and press E, the interact key.
4. Expect misses. The throw chance starts at 55%, plus up to 35% from that species’ catch rate, plus 20% for every throw that already failed, capped at 97%. If the shiny is paralyzed, asleep or frozen, add another 15% (the 97% cap still applies).
5. Keep it down. After a failed throw you get another 6 seconds. Three failed throws and it runs away. If the fainted window ends without a throw, it recovers to 40% HP and runs.

Status moves help here: paralysis, sleep or freeze on the target adds 15% to each throw.

What a PokeBonk shiny gives you

• Stardust: 120 the first time you catch that species as a shiny, 50 for a repeat. Stardust is the Lab’s currency.
• A shiny partner: your PokeBonk shiny fights at your side for the rest of the run. Only one shiny can come along; if you catch a second, you choose which stays. You keep the Pokédex entry and the Stardust either way.
• A shiny look: catching a shiny unlocks the shiny look for its whole line. It is cosmetic only, and you can use it once that Pokémon is in your League. The Pokédex opens on the shiny if you have it.
• Achievements: catch 1, 10 and 50 shiny Pokémon.
• Shiny Collection rewards for every account, by the number of different species you have caught as a shiny. Catching the same species again pays repeat Stardust but does not move the collection forward:

Why most PokeBonk shiny catches do not unlock the Pokémon

A PokeBonk shiny counts for your Shiny Collection, not as a normal catch, and it does not make the Pokémon playable. To add it to your League you must complete its challenge and capture it normally, as our unlock guide explains. The exception is a legendary League encounter that rolls shiny: it is a League capture, so it joins your League and also counts as a shiny. Once a Pokémon has joined, you can dress it in the shiny look you already earned.

PokeBonk shiny hunting tips

• Bring a Dawn Stone when you want a guaranteed PokeBonk shiny in zone 1.
• Stack luck. Up to 80 luck, every point raises the per-zone roll. The first Shiny Collection reward adds 3 luck to every run.
• Play Classic for eclipses. The eclipse roll never happens in Survival.

To see which lines your next PokeBonk shiny could come from, check the Pokédex.