If you've been looking for a reason to revisit Pokémon Legends: Z-A, this is your sign. Get ready to jump back into Hyperspace, as there's a shiny Volcanion on the line. You need to put in some serious work, though, as this luminous shiny has high demands.
For the first time since its release in the gen 7 Pokémon games, Volcanion's shiny form is available in a main series game, thanks to a special distribution via Pokémon Home. This isn't the first time that shiny mythical Pokémon have made their debuts via the cross-game storage system, with Meloetta featuring as a reward for players who completed all three gen nine Pokédexes - Paldea, Kitakami, and Blueberry Academy.
Volcanion's requirements follow a similar pattern, as you need to complete the Lumiose, Hyperspace, and Mega Evolution Pokédexes to claim this Pokémon Legends: Z-A mystery gift. That might sound relatively easy at first, as Z-A has a much smaller number of unique Pokémon than Scarlet and Violet, but some Hyperspace Lumiose spawns are notoriously rare. Plus, finding the other legendaries and mythicals requires tons of quest grinding to guarantee a single spawn.
However, if you're a hardcore collector, this is par for the course, and more than worth it to see Volcanion in its vibrant yellow and pink shiny glory. The Steam Pokémon is arguably one of the most forgotten about mythicals, so it's been surprising to see it get so much love, not just in Legends: Z-A, but as one of the Pokémon Pokopia legendary encounters. Its combined fire/water typing has always made it stand out to me, so I'm always rooting for Volcanion's success.
This distribution isn't just good news for Nintendo Switch players, either. If you didn't know, a Pokémon can't appear as a shiny in Pokémon Go until it debuts as one in a main series game. Now that we're getting shiny Volcanion on the Switch, it could appear in the free mobile game any day now. Shortly after the Meloetta distribution, its shiny form was the final reward for a set of Masterwork Research, so that's likely how Niantic will distribute Volcanion to its players.
What are you waiting for? Hop back into one of the best Pokémon games and get catching. If you're looking for trade partners for some of those pesky evolutions, join the Pocket Tactics Discord server and share your lobby code.