If you're on a mission to track down as many special Shiny Pokémon as possible in Pokémon Sword and Shield, then boy do we have good news for you.
The Pokémon Company has revealed that it'll soon be giving players the chance to get their hands on Shiny versions of the Galarian versions of the famous Legendary bird trio – Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. They'll be given away as part of a series of free distribution events, but there are specific requirements to be met to receive each one.
All three will be sent out as rewards for players who compete in upcoming International Challenge events (more details on how to sign up for these events can be found further down the page). The events will be running from February to April, and we have all the details you need right here, with thanks to Serebii:
Shiny Galarian Articuno - 2022 International Challenge February
- Event Registration: 3rd February - 17th February
- Event Battle Period: 18th February - 20th February
Shiny Galarian Zapdos - 2022 International Challenge March
- Event Registration: 24th February - 10th March
- Event Battle Period: 11th March - 13th March
Shiny Galarian Moltres - 2022 International Challenge April
- Event Registration: 31st March - 14th April
- Event Battle Period: 15th April - 17th April
To qualify for each distribution, simply make sure you're registered for each event in time, and then compete in the competition during the battle period. If you've never competed in an International Challenge before, here's how to do it:
How To Sign Up For Pokémon International Challenge Events
To register for a Pokémon International Challenge event, start by booting up your copy of Pokémon Sword and Shield and head to your main menu, accessed by pressing the 'X' button in-game.
Choose 'VS', then 'Battle Stadium', and allow your game to connect to the internet.
When the option presents itself, choose 'Online Competitions', then 'Search Official Competitions', and choose the relevant competition to begin the registration process (make sure you access this menu during the event registration times noted above). From there, simply follow the on-screen instructions.
Enjoy!
[source serebii.net]
Comments 54
Just get my ass handed to me once? easy! (:
I really like how their shiny forms are based on the original (non-galarian) forms. Guess I'll get them although I personally don't really like shinies that are just gifted to you, I prefer if I find/get them by myself
Just coming back from my break to say this is so cool. THIS is the kind of stuff that should be given out to entice people to come back and keep playing: actual bragging rights. 'Yeah, I played in an official competition was able to get a legitimate, otherwise unavailable shiny legendary', that is something worth saying rather than 'I got ore and candies. Whoopie'. I love this. SwSh really just doesn't want to let go of me, does it? Every time I get bored, something like this happens. It's fantastic.
I've been inches away from buying the expansion pass to grab these fellas and boy am I excited they look like the originals. I've really appreciated how the new regional forms breathe new life into old favorites by making them relevant again.
@d-slice You don't even need the EP to get these shiny ones specifically! (Though I would personally highly recommend it). All you need to do is register and complete one match in each of these months, head over to Mystery Gift and the mon is yours .
So the shiny colour is just their original form colour.
I will still get these though, will be valuable trades in the next main game
I've recently gotten back into shiny hunting, so I may as well participate. However, I haven't been actively part of the competitive meta since Gen VI, and I do singles rather than doubles, so... Anyway, I'm down for some shinies! 😜
So I can register a bad team if I wanted and just battle once with them to get these shinies? Sweeet!
Can't wait to verse my terrible team of freshly caught level 5's against someone else doing the same just trying to speedily get the birds so we end up creating an actual pokemon battle.
That's way too much effort to pick up my shield.
@Fizza Oh god I just remembered I reset my profile to change my gender (Stupid I know) I have all my old pokemon tho, but do I need to finish the game to get these?
I have pretty much have all the shiny legendaries except for Kubfu, Urshifu, Calyrex, Spectrier, Glastrier and Eternatus. Hope they release shiny for them in the future too.
Shiny Regis next plz
@Snatcher I haven't done that myself so I wouldn't know but I would assume once you get access to online features and register, you are good to go. I don't think online comps are restricted to post game. Test out a few battles on the ladder to make sure though.
@Fizza I'm going to make sure to do that, better safe then sorry.
What!!! Nooooo!!! I don’t have online anymore! I cancelled it last month by accident! Will it work with the free trial? Help?
So I don’t need the DLC to get a shiny legendary? I’m right in the middle of Shining Pearl and will then be in Legends Arceus, but I will definitely think about hopping in if all I have to do is participate once.
@Zarudepie I would imagine if there is a free trial going on at that time, you could get it, but I don’t know if there is or will be one.
This game keeps giving and BD/SP still don't have the GWS working.
Easy enough providing you remember to do it.
I'm interested. 😁
@JakedaArbok you can get one trial for 7 days For free i think
@mariomaster96 I wouldn't say they're "just gifted" to you if you have to do something to get them. Besides, not all Shinies can be found on your own. Many Legendaries/Mythicals are Shiny-locked.
Oh great. Now I’ll have to join as cannon fodder.
@Zarudepie
Then you should hold off on the trial until then if you want the legendaries, but if you use it then, you’ll be able to get it and use it even if you don’t have NSO. I suppose you’d have to choose which one you want though, since they all open up at different times.
So if I understand this correctly, you just register for each tournament and battle at least one time in each tournament. Then win or lose, you receive that tournament's shiny Pokemon? Never done one of these tournaments before and I know I'll lose hard so I just want to make sure that I can just register and battle and still receive the Pokemon because that's all I really want.
So we have to enter the challenge to get the Pokémon??? Get my butte wiped on the floor. Man that just gives me a heartache to do this.
@DarthFoxMcCloud Same I'll do that just to loose and get one...if that's what it takes.
@Zarudepie Just buy online again?
I still hate that you can't reset for Mystery Gift Pokémon in SwSh & Let's Go. Yeah you can change their Natures in SwSh, but I want 0 Attack IVs, which is especially unlikely considering they're guaranteed to have 3 perfect IVs.
Hopefully I don't forget about these. I really like the shiny choices they went for with these.
Cool that they do it, but..... the non-shinys look much better, especially galarian Moltres
I didn't realize sword and shield didn't cloud save until I couldn't get jirachi in bdsp. When I switched over to an OLED I lost everything. It was too disheartening to start over so I sold sword. Now I'm upset I'm missing out on these lol
@Davzilla That wouldn't happen if you transferred all your data/file from previous Switch you would get them. There are instructions on migration from one Switch to another and how to transfer data over. Not following those instructions and loosing your data isn't a Nintendo or Switch device fault here. I migrated my data from v1 Switch to v2 Switch non-OLED and had not issues, took time to transfer over but when done I had no issues.
@SwitchForce I followed all the on screen instructions and it never mentioned it. Luckily I knew about the acnh island transfer. But it did not state any of that during the process.
@Davzilla I followed the online instructions for migration and used my PC to do the folder transfer and then did the game transfer. If you didn't do that then nothing much anyone else can help with.
What's the point of making mystery gift if you are never going to make use of it, gamefreak is dumb 🤦🏼♀
@DarthFoxMcCloud Yep, you can win or lose, doesn't matter, as long as you do one battle during the time.
@Snatcher I believe you need to participate in at least 3 battles
@Whisnant And how did you know this?
@SwitchForce Taken from Serebii: "The next online competition has been fully announced. This competition, the 2022 International Challenge February is a Double Battle competition with standard VGC rules. All players who enter and participate in at least 3 battles will receive a Shiny Galarian Articuno." Also, I have done many of these in the past, it has always been 3 battles
Don't get it it's Feb 17 in NA and I looked and 'Search Official Competitions' and found nothing?
@Whisnant ok
If I can't even search Official Competitions to join that makes this pointless for someone in Feb 17 North America. I get no competitions when I search...>????
February 17th at 23:59 UTC
what the heck....some of us just lost out....
Back to Acreus then...
@Snatcher Once huh? How did that work out for you?
@HyenaSnack Missed arcruno so I wouldn't know.
So it looks like you had to battle 3 times. My daughter battled twice, once against a hacked team and the other cancelled. She was in absolute tears this morning to read that the info on this page was incorrect.
Well, I missed out on Articuno due to the incorrect information in this page. It seems to have been removed, but this article definitely said that only one battle was required. Really poor work, guys.
@The_BAAD_Man @riChchestM
Yeah this got me too
Happened to play 2 matches but not the third FFS
Now unsure if I can be bothered to go for the other two as I can't get them all.
@Rosona It sucks. I was busy with other "real-life" things but remembered to do this and squeeze in one battle, thinking it would be okay
I'll still get the other two, but you'd imagine the correct information would have been here. I should have known better.
@The_BAAD_Man
I annoyingly had issues getting the zapdos also so think i may not bother with the moltres.
Done 5 battles this time, won 3, checked the other day and i couldn't get the prize, checked the end of the event weekend prior and still couldn't.
@Rosona I also missed Zapdos. I may try for Moltres just to serve as a reminder of missing the other two :')
Can't believe I actually remembered to get all three of these and I don't even play the game anymore. Grazie, Nintendolife!
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