How to get Shiny Pokemon in Mystery Dungeon DX – Espeon, Gyarados, more

Meg Bethany Koepp

Many trainers are going gung-ho trying to recruit all the Pokemon to their camps in Mystery Dungeon DX on Nintendo Switch, but did you know that there are actually Shiny versions too? We’ve got everything you need to know.

The Mystery Dungeon series first came to the West in 2006 on Game Boy Advance as Red & Blue Rescue Team, and fans fell head over heels for its dungeon-crawler gameplay which saw them going out on relief missions to save lost Pokemon.

On March 6, The Pokemon Company and Nintendo released a remake onto the Switch titled Mystery Dungeon DX, and included new features such as autosave, mega evolutions, and the ability to catch Shiny versions of monsters – 27 of them, to be exact.

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How to recruit Shiny Pokemon in Mystery Dungeon DX

When setting out to explore a dungeon with your rescue team, you’ll sometimes see a yellow symbol on the map selection screen. This means that a strong foe can be encountered in that area – and it’ll sometimes be a Shiny. The yellow marker will also be over its head so you’ll know if it’s the right one.

If familiar with the MD games, you’ll know that finding and defeating a monster doesn’t automatically mean you can recruit it. Instead, there’s only a chance that it’ll become friendly and want to join you on your adventure, but even then, you need to make sure you’ve bought the correct camp to host it.

Because the foe isn’t always a Shiny, players will need to re-enter the dungeon multiple times in order to spawn one, and might even need to encounter it multiple times in order for it to turn friendly – though, the Friend Bow increases recruitment rate by 10%.

You’ll know it’s a Shiny Pokemon when it sparkles.

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There are two ways to obtain the Friend Bow if you’re set on grabbing one for yourself – and both require you to have finished the main story campaign.

Upon completing the game, a set of missions tasking players to locate Mirage Pokemon will open up. In the fourth quest, you’ll be asked to scale Mt. Faraday, and once on the dungeon’s 30th floor, a key can be used to open up a door with the coveted item behind it.

Another way is to head to the optional Joyous Tower dungeon where Kecleon has a chance of selling the item for 5000CP – so make sure your wallet is stocked up upon entering if you don’t have a Bank Orb in hand.

The Friend Bow boosts recruitment chances by 10% – yes, even for Shiny Pokemon.

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As stated earlier in the article, only 27 Shiny Pokemon are available in the game, and each one resides in a different dungeon – though not all locations are currently known.

Aipom – Solar Cave
Altaria
Ambipom – Great Canyon
Ampharos – Sinister Woods
Azumarill – Mt. Blaze
Butterfree – Howling Forest
Corsola – Far-Off Sea
Ditto – Buried Relic
Dragonite – Mt. Thunder
Electrode
Espeon
Exeggcute
Exeggutor – Pitfall Valley
Gyarados – Waterfall Pond
Hoothoot – Murky Cave
Lickilicky – Mt. Freeze
Magikarp
Metagross – Silent Chasm
Ninetales – Northern Range
Noctowl – Lapis Cave
Rapidash – Mt. Steel
Shuckle – Southern Cavern
Spinda – Frosty Forest
Starmie
Sudowoodo – Desert Region
Wobbuffet – Darknight Relic
Zangoose