Summary

A fan-favorite subgroup of Pokemon, theFossil Pokemonhave been around since the very beginning of the series. While the recent ancientParadox Pokemonfeel similar to the Fossil group, they are completely separate with no overlap. Unique from most other Pokemon in requiring an item to then turn into a member of the player’s team, the wide variety of different ancient Fossil Pokemon also offers a wide array of different shiny palettes.

With so many Pokemon to pick through, the range of quality forshiny Fossil Pokemonreaches mountainous highs and cavernous lows. From the usual victims of bad color swaps and barely changing from the base color, to perfect and drastic variants, the bestshiny Fossil Pokemonstand far above the worst.

Shiny Carracosta Pokemon

25Carracosta

Deeper Watery Depths

One of the more forgettable Fossil Pokemon,Carracosta’sshiny does nothing to help with its often ignored status. Falling into the category of bad shinies that most players dislike, this alternate variant only changes the saturation of the original’s colors.

Turning only ever so slightly darker, the shiny Carracosta certainly does not appear at the top of any shiny hunter’s list.

Shiny Tirtouga Pokemon

24Tirtouga

Coastal Teal

Perhaps one of the more forgotten Fossil Pokemon,Tirtougafrom Generation 5 offers a shiny swap that often appears with Water-types. Typically turning the watery shades to a new color of blue, Tirtouga’s somewhat tropical teal fits right in.

While not a bad shiny by any means, the swap to a slightly lighter blue isn’t as eye-catching as other options.

Shiny Archeops Pokemon

23Archeops

Slight Saturation

The other half of the Tirtouga line,Archeopshas many problems, even beyond it’s middling shiny colors. Infamous for perhaps the worst ability in the entirePokemonfranchise, the completely subtle color swaps for its shiny form are like a cherry on top.

Simply shifting some saturation and the feather colors around, Archeop’s shiny feels perfect given everything else it doesn’t have going on.

Shiny Shieldon Pokemon

22Shieldon

Polished Metal

Found in the original Sinnoh games, as well as the remakes and reimagining,Shieldonis, unfortunately, the lesser of the Generation’s two Fossil linesin the shiny department.

Barely noticeable, Shieldon’s metal plate and body slightly change hues, with the top becoming more blue and the body becoming a brighter yellow. Compared to the options seen even within the Sinnoh fossils, this shiny is best left in the past.

Shiny Bastiodon Pokemon

21Bastiodon

Steel Blue

Following in its first stage’s steed,Bastiodonhas effectively the same shiny as Shieldon, albeit tweaked ever so slightly to better fit this ancient steel monster.

In certain lighting, the color scheme for shiny Bastiodon gives its headplate a blue-black metallic look, and its yellow body is not quite as neon as Shieldon’s, so the contrast works a bit better.

Shiny Lileep Pokemon

20Lileep

Capturing The Grass Type

While not a terrible shiny in general,Lileepswapping the intriguing purple for a standard green, fitting the Grass-type, is not a bad swap, but it doesn’t do much to catch they eye either.

The green works well for the slightly alien, deep sea look of Lileep, but it’s not a particularly special shiny fossil compared to others.

Shiny Cradily Pokemon

19Cradily

Wild Tone Shift

Unlike Lileep,Cradily’salready green body makes a colorful and bright swap to pink, completely betraying the Grass-type theme with its shiny design.

While the intense and unexpected shift is appreciated, the choice of pink, especially when accounting for Cradily’s distinct head details, is certainly a choice.

Pokemon Let’s Go Flying Aerodactyl

18Aerodactyl

Bright Pink Pterodactyl

One of the original five Fossil Pokemon,Aerodactyl’sshiny form wasn’t revealed until Generation 2, where this stony gray pteranodon monster turned pink.

Definitely a more unique color among Rock-types, shiny Aerodactyl may not reign supreme among the Kanto fossils, but the new palette intriguescasual players and shiny hunters alike.

Shiny Anorith Pokemon

17Anorith

From Silver To Gold

Taking apparent inspiration from its partial Rock-typing, shinyAnorith’snow brown-gold tones, instead of muddled gray, certainly improve this slightly odd ancient bug.

The shiny palette may be simple, but its effectiveness gives Anorith an edge over it’s Hoenn competitor.

Shiny Armaldo Pokemon

16Armaldo

From Blue To Red

Much like its pre-evolution,Armaldo’stone shift is a logical flip between typically paired colors. Instead of silver to gold, Armaldo swaps its muddied blue for a light red.

For both a Rock-type and a Bug-type, the change to red is appreciated and makes for a fairly unique palette.