Yes, they may be tied for having the most weaknesses of any type. But they also have some of the bulkiest Pokémon ever, and an awesome tough exterior. Legitimately, I think every Rock Pokémon has a great design. Yes, even Barbaracle. However, these designs have a lot of similarities – mainly the fact that they’re mostly brown, black, or gray. What Rock-types really need is some more color variety. So thank goodness for a ton of awesome shinies!
15. Rampardos
Rampardos is one of the coolest looking fossil Pokémon in the series, mostly because the dinosaur it’s based on is awesome. And it looks even cooler when it’s shiny! All of Rampardos’ blue highlights are changed to red, which makes it seem that much more aggressive. That’s especially appropriate since Rampardos has the highest Attack in all of Pokémon (excluding legendaries, Ultra Beasts, and Mega evolutions). Rampardos looked cool before. But with all of the red coloring, shiny Rampardos now looks downright fierce.
14. Sudowoodo
Sudowoodo is the Imitation Pokémon – and it would make sense to me that it could look like different kinds of trees. For example, it looks kind of funky seeing Sudowoodo in Sword and Shield because it’s most often seen in the Dusty Bowl, an area with only dead trees. Its shiny form kind of represents the idea of different trees by making the leaves look more autumnal. Which raises the question: what does Sudowoodo look like in winter? Or even summer? What would a pine tree Sudowoodo look like? I think it’d be cool to explore that.
13. Pupitar
Tyranitar is easily the strongest Rock-type Pokémon, and it looks terrifying as well! However, it does have one thing going against it: It has a truly terrible shiny that basically just makes it less green. This is where its pre-evolution, Pupitar, shines. Pupitar usually is a light bluish-gray, which makes sense. It’s a big rock cocoon. But its shiny form does what a shiny is supposed to do: make it look different and better. And Game Freak did that here by making shiny Pupitar a dark purple, which is a great way to improve any Pokémon design. Overall, Pupitar does one thing that Tyranitar can’t do – and that’s look good in its shiny form.
12. Tirtouga
Here, we have yet another fossil Pokémon. And it won’t be the last in this list! Tirtouga is one of the more interesting ones because of its bulk and access to Shell Smash. But design-wise, it was just another Water/Rock-type that was black and dark blue. Fortunately, the shiny form changes that, albeit slightly. The deep blue skin is changed to more of a turquoise. This makes its rocky features stand out even more, since the dark coloring now contrasts with the new brighter colors. And I always love when a shiny gets you to notice more about the Pokémon’s actual design.
11. Corsola
Corsola is one of the rare Rock-types that not only doesn’t have dark colors, but is also unbelievably cute. And it looks just as cute in its shiny form! This is mainly because the designers didn’t make it a dark color. Instead, Corsola has its pink coloring changed to a bright blue. This works just as well, and makes me think that any bright colored design would work great here. Corsola has an incredibly simple and effective design that really lends itself to a good shiny.
10. Alolan Golem
When Golem got an Alolan form, I was excited. I love this weird boulder turtle – and I wanted more people to love it too! Then I looked at it and… they essentially just gave it a beard. Yes, it got some other minor changes and an additional Electric typing, but I at least wanted to see some different colors. That’s where the shiny comes in! Its gray limbs were turned brown, and its rock shell gets changed from gray to yellow. Not only does this actually make Alolan Golem look like an Electric-type, but it makes all the details stand out more. Otherwise, Alolan Golem just seems to be Golem with a beard.
9. Omanyte
Fans of Twitch Plays Pokémon are already familiar with the great Lord Helix, but Omanyte isn’t just great for the memes. It also has a great shiny. Once again, this is just a simple color change of blue to purple – a classic shiny Pokémon move. So what makes shiny Omanyte stand out more to me, then? Well, it’s got to be those little arms. It looks like they’re flexing. And the idea of a purple flexing snail is delightful to me.
8. Carbink
Carbink is one of the rare Rock-types that doesn’t look tough and bulky, even though it is actually very tough and bulky. This is due to its gems and adorable blue eyes. Unfortunately, these details are kind of lost inside its light gray rocky exterior and white fluff. The shiny form fixes this issue by making the skin darker, and the fluff was made the same color as the blue eyes. This not only makes the diamonds stand out even more, but somehow Carbink’s blue eyes seem to have become a deeper blue – even though that color hasn’t changed. It’s a much nicer design that makes sense for a Pokémon forged underground.
7. Dreadnaw
I have to admit that when Dreadnaw was introduced, I was a little underwhelmed. Another Pokémon based on a mainly blue turtle/tortoise? It’s been done before. Then I saw its shiny and it clicked for me. That dark green against the orange-ish shell makes Dreadnaw actually seem intimidating. The powerful jaw stands out even more. But it’s even better when it’s Gigantamaxed. Suddenly, Dreadnaw has become a terrifying kaiju that’s a sight to behold. Seriously, I could see it putting up a fight against Godzilla. Dreadnaw is usually just another blue reptile with a shell. But its shiny form makes it a completely different beast.
6. Lileep
I always love when a Pokémon’s shiny form represents something in real life, or something in the Pokémon world – and Lileep is a perfect example of the latter. Normally having purple with pink appendages coming out the top, Lileep is now green with orange appendages. This is the exact same color combo as its evolution Cradily, and serves as a great tribute. It’s just a shame that that isn’t reciprocated. Cradily’s shiny essentially just makes the whole Pokémon a reddish-pink and orange, which really doesn’t work well together. Fortunately Lileep is here to show its evolution how it’s done.
5. Geodude
Geodude’s shiny form is a simple choice that makes a lot of sense. After all, it’s literally a floating rock with arms. Why not just make it gold? Literally, Geodude goes from being a rock to being a gold nugget. And that is honestly exactly what I wanted. This is the perfect example of how to make a great shiny Pokémon without going crazy. And there really isn’t anything else to say about it.
4. Relicanth
Relicanth is based on a coelacanth, a fish that’s commonly referred to as a living fossil. But what‘s really cool about Relicanth is that both its regular and shiny forms are based on different kinds of coelacanth. Normal Relicanth is based off of the Indonesian coelacanth, known for its brownish coloring. Meanwhile, the shiny form is based on the West Indian Ocean coelacanth which is much more blue with yellow flecks. Like I mentioned earlier, I just love to see the real world represented in design choices. And Relicanth is the perfect example of that.
3. Boldore
Every member of the Roggenrola line has an awesome shiny form. Roggenrola gets the awesome color combo of purple and orange. Gigalith, the final form, is still purple – but with awesome blue shards coming off of it. The middle evolution, Boldore, gets the best of both worlds. This weird combination of these 3 colors actually makes Boldore look really scary! Since the blue shards are around the outside of Boldore, the focal point is now those angry orange eyes. It makes the Pokémon look intimidating and exciting – and I’m all for it.
2. Minior
Minior is another one of those rare cute Rock-types with a really cool gimmick. Underneath its outer shell is a smiling star with one of 7 colors. So how do you take this even further? Shiny Minior is turned completely black. Not only does this make its face jump out more, but the subtle triangles were changed to represent one of the other 7 colors. This is a great tribute to the original form, and is a perfect example of the designers paying homage to a cool visual gimmick. However, that isn’t quite enough for it to take #1 on my list. No, to be #1, you have to be a bit bolder.
1. Magcargo
Magcargo is one of the most forgettable Pokémon of all time. While I like the idea of a magma snail, the look of a rock on lava is not that exciting. Also, Magcargo is terrible competitively due to its awful dual-typing and mediocre stats. Then you see the shiny form. And let me tell you, you’ll remember it. Magcargo’s red lava body is changed to bright purple, which is a crazy choice. Also crazy is how the black rock shell is changed to bright orange. Now you have these two bright and contrasting colors that really make Magcargo stand out. If it always looked like this, I would always try and catch it! Some shinies are great because of their connection to the real world. Others are great for simple color changes. But then there are some that are gloriously ridiculous. That’s where Magcargo lies – and that’s why I think it deserves to be crowned the #1 shiny Rock-type of them all.
