The most attention-drawing aspect of Pokémon Colosseum is the existence of shadow Pokémon. These unique Pokémon are found during the playthrough, in some specific trainer battles. The objective during these fights is to “steal” them from their original trainer, to purify them. During their shadow state, they know a move exclusive to this game (shadow rush), which is lost after purification and replaced with a new one. The purification process consists on opening a Pokémon’s heart, by depleting their heart gauge. Pokémon Colosseum has a total of 51 shadow Pokémon.

Just like in the main games, shiny Pokémon also make an appearance. Due to the lack of wild encounters, shadow Pokémon are the protagonists of all available shiny hunts in this game. The odds for one to be shiny is 1 in 8192. Shiny shadow Pokémon are not easy to come by, but this guide will help you on making their hunts more straightforward.

1. Before choosing a hunt.

Looking at the amount of shadow Pokémon available in the game, one may think that it’s not an exciting number, but on a generation starved from johto Pokémon, it’s a diverse variety of targets that doesn’t leave anyone indifferent. If you have taken a look at a list and want to dive in directly into hunting your favourite target, I definitely encourage you to! But there are some things you should take into consideration to prepare yourself, both mentally and in-game, before tackling one of these hunts. First, let’s talk about mechanics.

1.1. Rematches.

During a normal playthrough you may have noticed that if you don’t catch a shadow Pokémon the first time you encounter it, you can rematch that trainer to have a second chance. You should never try to shiny hunt a Pokémon during a rematch (althought there’s one exceptiont that will be explained later).

Contrary to popular belief, the Pokémon is shiny locked for your opponent during the first battle, but it can be shiny for you after catching it. It’s during this first battle that the stats and shininess of the Pokémon is determined for you. Why is this important? If you were to hunt it during the rematch, the Pokémon can be shiny for the opponent. This also means that if the Pokémon was originally determined non-shiny for you during the first battle, it will never be shiny for you in the rematch.

One easy way to know if you have already battled a shadow Pokémon or not, is using the PDA. This will only show you the shadow Pokémon that you have already fought.

There are some shadow Pokémon you will be able to skip. This means that you can postpone their first battle until a much later point in the game, where you have better pokeballs to catch it or a set strategy to get it on a special pokéball.

1.2. Japanese bonus disc Master Ball.

During the release of Colosseum, there was a time in Japan and the United States where you could get a bonus disc if you preordered the game. These discs came with additional bonuses, but we will focus on the Japanese one.

Through the Japanese bonus disc (and if you have a Japanese Colosseum game) you can obtain a Celebi and a Pikachu, along with a Master Ball. Celebi by itself is a decent enough reward, but the thing we are interested in is this special Master Ball.

After connecting your save with the bonus disc, you will be able to purchase a Master Ball for 30,000 coupons which you can obtain in Mt. Battle. Catch rates can make shiny hunting in this game very tedious, but, with this extra bonus, you can efficiently reduce the time each reset takes for a lot of targets pretty early in the game’s story. I will expand more on this later on, but for now, it’s enough to know the existence of this.

1.3. Infinite Poké Ball glitch.

There’s a glitch in Colosseum that lets you use any poké ball as many times as you want, just by following some easy steps.

1. In a battle, have at least 2 Pokémon in your party.
2. During the turn of the first Pokémon, use the ball normally to catch the shadow.
3. During the turn of the second Pokémon, go to the inventory again and switch the position of the ball you just used with any other you have.
4. The turn will play normally, throwing the ball into the shadow Pokémon, but you will not lose it from your inventory.

As you can see, this trick goes well along with the Japanese bonus disc Master Ball, letting you use it in multiple hunts.

1.4. Party size.

You can slightly speed up the hunts by only having one party member in your team, as this will make the shadow Pokémon be sent out immediately on the second spot after it’s caught. With 2 or more Pokémon in the team, you would have to open the menu and check the icon to see if it’s shiny or not, which takes more inputs than just letting it go out by itself. You would also sadly miss out on seeing the shiny sparkles as it appears for the first time.

1.5. Shiny icons.

“Check the icon to see if it’s shiny?” Yes, in this game, each Pokémon gets a different icon in the team and battle menus, meaning that you don’t have to go all the way to its data screen to check whether it’s shiny or not. This feature is also a nice, refreshing change that makes these shinies more attractive to the eyes, as well as easier to spot due to the colour and pose differences. Here are some examples:

1.6. The walks.

Saving is highly limited in this game, as it only lets you do so by using the PC storage machines, which are located in some specific spots. Hence, each time at the beginning of the reset, you will have to walk a small path from the saving spot to the trainer’s location, varying the length on each hunt. This is one of the features that Colosseum’s successor, Gale of Darkness, improved.

1.7. Sleep vs paralyze.

During the game we get access to two crucial moves, sleep powder and thunder wave. Sleep powder has a 75% accuracy, but puts the opponent to sleep (multiplies catch rate by 2). In the other hand, thunder wave boasts a 100% accuracy, in exchange of paralyzing, which only boosts the catch rate by 1.5.

In some situations paralyzing will be more important than sleeping (which will be mentioned later), but, in general, this choice comes down to your preference.

1.8. Send out order.

All trainers who own a shadow Pokémon will have a few more regular ones in their team. The order in which these Pokémon are sent out sometimes is set in specific ways. For example, shadow Skiploom will aways be sent out as one of the leading Pokémon of this trainer. In the other hand, shadow Sudowoodo will always be sent out last during Miror B.’s fight. This is an important variable that highly affects the length of each reset for some hunts.

2. The targets.

Now is the moment we go on about each shadow Pokémon in the order in which they appear during the story, and discuss different approaches for each of them. Each section will also include how long each reset takes (aproximately) if the Pokémon can be skipped, and if they are eligible either for the bonus disc Master Ball or the in-game one.

2.1. Makuhita.

Shadow Makuhita is the first shadow Pokémon we will encounter. This is a really straightforward hunt, as you only have to go through the cutscenes until you battle Miror B.’s assistant Trudly. Makuhita is a special target when it comes to its catch rate, having a 100% chance to be captured. You don’t need any type of special setup.

Average time per reset: 4 minutes.

Can’t be skipped. Gets sent out last.

2.2. Johto starters.

The three Johto starters are first found in Phenac city. The reason I group these three targets in the same section is because, during the early parts of the story, you’re given the choice to fight only one of the three trainers that use them in their team, Verde (Bayleef), Rosso (Quilava) or Bluno (Croconaw). These trainers are easy to differentiate, as their clothing colour matches the three starter’s types.

After you catch one of them, the other two will go away. But that doesn’t mean that everything is lost. You don’t have to make a new save file if you want to hunt all three. The other two starters that you don’t choose will be waiting for you after beating the game in other two random locations. These places are the Snagem Hideout and the Shadow PKMN Lab. Only one starter will appear on each of them.

“But this X page says that it’s not random, you can know where each starter will appear depending on the one you caught first” – This is false. No matter the starter you choose, the other two will appear randomly in these locations. If you want to know more about this or want further proof, you can check this video. Credits to Klockpit.

At this point in the story we can only count with the two eeveelutions from the start of the game and Makuhita, so the setup for this in Phenac is limited, but simple. If you like the idea of the shiny being thrown out immediately, using Espeon at level 30 holding a white herb would be enough. The white herb lets you reset your stats incase Grimer decides to use screech on you, which would put the survivability of Espeon on risk. You can obtain this item in the Prestige Precept Center (also known as “Pre Gym”).

If you’re worried about their catch rate, you can rest assured that they’re not as bad as they would be in the main games. In Colosseum, the rates are modified in a way that makes early-appearing shadow Pokémon easier to catch, while increasingly elevating the difficulty to do so as the game progresses.

Average time per reset (Phenac): 2-4 minutes.

Average time per reset (post-game): 4 minutes.

Can be skipped. Gets sent out last. In-game Master Ball (post-game).

2.3. Duel square.

The next targets are all in the same location, in Pyrite town, more specifically, the Duel Square. These are Flaaffy, Misdreavus, Noctowl, Quagsire, Skiploom and Slugma. Neither of their battles are mandatory, so you can skip them until any point you want. This means that, even tho they appear pretty early in the game, they can be hunted with the in-game Master Ball. I recommend following this approach instead of hunting them as soon as you get access to them, as the best ball available in the game by then is the Great Ball.

Skiploom knows sleep powder, and Flaaffy has access to thunder wave, so keep them in mind for hunting setups. Another Pokémon you should always consider is Quagsire, one of the best (if not the best) to beat the story with, as well as shiny hunting.

Average time per reset: 2 minutes.

Can be skipped. Gets sent out first. In-game Master Ball (post-game).

2.4. Furret.

First one in the group of longer hunts. At some point during your stay in Pyrite town you will have to fight a guy called Cail in the entrance of the city. His shadow Pokémon will be, as you may have guessed already, Furret. It won’t let itself caught without putting up a fight, but we have some tricks up our sleeve by now.

Espeon and Skiploom make for a perfect duo for this hunt with their combination of power and sleep status. Normally you should play around with confusion to bring furret’s HP down while making use of sleep powder. But this wouldn’t be Pokémon without its merciless RNG, so keep in mind that sleep powder will miss sometimes, confusion has a small chance to confuse (10%) and Furret can hurt itself with shadow rush. There’s roughly an 80% chance to catch it at 50% HP and asleep (Great Ball).

Average time per reset: 5 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out first.

2.5. Yanma.

Yanma likes to spice things up a bit. Contrary to Furret’s setup, sleep is not the best choice this time. This is because Yanma knows uproar, which prevents it from falling asleep for a few turns. Luckily, we have access to thunder-wave thanks to Flaaffy. Paralyzing Yanma won’t be as effective as sleeping it, but you have to make do with what you have. The final lineup will be Espeon and Flaaffy.

There’s a 50% chance to catch Yanma with paralysis at half HP (Great Ball is still the best choice). You will also have to go through an unskippable cutscene.

Average time per reset: 5 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out first.

2.6. Remoraid.

While making your way through the Pyrite building, you will find shadow Remoraid. It doesn’t have any moves you need to plan your strategy around, so this one should be an easy catch. Some catch calculatios:

• Almost guaranteed catch at 50% HP and asleep (Poké Ball / Premier Ball).
• Roughly 80% chance at full HP and asleep (Great Ball).
• Guaranteed catch around 80% HP or less and asleep (Great Ball).

Average time per reset: 3 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out first.

2.7. Mantine.

This one comes right after Remoraid. It’s not that the trainer is some steps away from the Remoraid one, I’m talking about happening immediately after finishing that fight. The cutscene forces you into the battle no matter what. This means that in order to hunt Mantine, you are required to go through Remoraid first.

The long walk and having Remoraid in the front can make for an arduous and dull hunt. This is why I definitely recommend hunting Remoraid along with this target, as it only adds one or two minutes per reset.

Mantine’s catch rate calls for a more specific strategy to make things as consistent as possible. Espeon around levels 36-38 (depending on how high its special attack is), its main attacking move being psybeam. On the side, there will be Skiploom to throw sleep powder. In this case, you should train Espeon, so it will be dealing enough damage to leave Mantine close to half HP, while still being able to survive a critical hit. You will have around 80% chance to catch it at half HP and asleep (60% if paralysed).

Average time per reset: 5-8 minutes.

Average time per reset (adding Remoraid): 6-10 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out first.

2.8. Qwilfish.

Even though this one isn’t tied to the last two battles, you still have to go through the maze, since it takes place in the same location. Qwilfish is potentially one of the longest hunts in this game, so keep it in mind if you decide to go with it.

The setup for this can be a bit tedious. Espeon around level 95 will be the main attacker here, using swift. Your goal is to leave Qwilfish around 30% of its HP, while knocking out the Goldeen that this trainer also sends out. This is because Goldeen knows confuse ray, which can damage the strategy. On the side, you can have either Flaaffy or Skiploom, depending on the altered status that you prefer.

Qwilfish’ catch rate can burn through your Great Balls quickly. At 30% HP, it will have around 35% chance to be captured, while being paralysed (50% if it’s asleep).

Average time per reset: 7-14 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out first.

2.9. Meditite.

In the way into the cave, you can find 3 Ultra Balls, which aren’t much, but with the glitch, they will be the upgrade from the Great Ball that was needed. Meditite already has around 80% chance to be captured at full HP using the Ultra Ball and paralysed. It becomes a 100% with sleep. Dealing around 10% of damage will boost it to a guaranteed catch if it’s paralysed.

Average time per reset: 3 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out first.

2.10. Dunsparce.

Dunsparce rocks one of the longest walks in the game. A specific setup isn’t needed, due to having a similar catch rate to Meditite’s. At full HP, you will have a 50% chance to catch it. So if we were to paralyse it, this number would increase to 80%. You can still add a small bit of damage if you wish, anything below 90% HP will be a guaranteed catch, or you can opt for sleep instead.

Average time per reset: 3 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out first.

2.11. Swablu.

Among the targets found in the Pyrite cave, Swablu is, by far, the easiest. At full HP, and using one of the Ultraballs found in this cave, there’s an 80% chance to catch it. Hence, you can have only one Pokémon in your party, letting Swablu be sent out immediately on each reset. If you still want to guarantee the catch, paralysing does the work.

Average time per reset: 2 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out first.

2.12. Sudowoodo.

The last target in the Pyrite cave. The setup for this one is laborious, and there’s a few things to explain. First, in the beginning of the game, you will need to reset for an Espeon with an attack-favorable nature (naughty, lonely, brave or adamant). High IVs on attack are also beneficial, but prioritize the nature. As soon as you get access to the PC storage, put Espeon in there. The reason for this is so it doesn’t gain any more additional EVs. After that, catch the shadow Noctowl from the trainer located in the Duel Square, in Pyrite town, as this trainer will replace it in subsequent rematches with a Doduo, which yields 1 EV in attack. Now Espeon can go out of the box, and start training its attack, following this pattern:

1. Defeat Doduo with Espeon.
2. Use Umbreon to knockout your own Espeon (in the same turn as Doduo gets defeated, or before knocking out any other Pokémon). A high level Umbreon will come in handy for this.
3. After winning the fight, heal Espeon.
4. Rematch.

Espeon will only receive EVs in attack with this method. You will have to repeat this process 252 times, until it reaches the maximum amount.

After getting all the EVs needed, the next objective is the Phenac Stadium. Here you will train Espeon to level 100. Catch Flaaffy and lower its heart gauge until it gets access to all of its available moves as a shadow Pokémon (mainly thunder wave and thundershock).

After your team is set up, make your way into Pyrite cave. Don’t forget to pick up the Ultra Balls there. There’s only 3, but that won’t be a problem thanks to the duplication glitch mentioned earlier. For the next step, you will need to battle Miror B. with the weakest Pokémon you have, and lose the battle before he sends out Sudowoodo. After that, save. This will let you skip a long cutscene, while still keeping Sudowoodo’s stats and shininess random as if it was the first battle, since it was never sent out.

Miror B.’s team is fully composed by Ludicolos, except the shadow Sudowoodo, which always gets sent out last. Your move of choice here will be swift, which will target both opponents. It still has a low amount of power, hence all the training for Espeon. If you want a more visual explanation of this whole process, you can check this video. Credits to Klockpit.

Around 60% chance to catch at half HP and paralysed, with Ultra Ball. 80% if you decide to put it to sleep.

Average time per reset: 6-10 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out last.

2.13. Hitmontop.

Here we have a special case. While making your way through the cave path in Agate village and reaching the Relic Stone, you will meet a gray Cipher peon. A cutscene and a battle start between him and Eagun, which you will have to sit through on each reset. Eagun will lose the battle, and then the peon will want to fight you. As a side note, there’s a tiny chance for Eagun’s Pikachu to pick up a knock out on the Hitmontop, although the following cutscene remains the same.

You will want to have Espeon with a nature that boosts its special attack (modest, mild, rash or quiet) and train it until it’s around level 51. IVs and EVs are not completely required, as long as you can defeat Clamperl and Geodude in one hit with psychic (never Wynaut). The second team member will be Plusle, with a beneficial nature to special attack, just like Espeon. The goal is for it to deal 50 to 70 percent of Hitmontop’s HP with spark, so play around with Plusle’s level until you reach that desired amount. You can also wear its HP down afterwards with quick attack or Espeon’s swift. Spark has a chance to paralyse (30%), but if it doesn’t, you can follow up with thunder wave. With all of this, plus the 5 Ultra Balls that you can find up to this point in the story, you will have around 50% chance to capture Hitmontop at 25% HP.

This battle doesn’t have any specific spot in where Hitmontop comes out, so keep in mind that you won’t always get the same order of Pokémon in the field, and that your target will come out randomly. Another thing to note is that you can force Hitmontop to use triple kick instead of shadow rush, as long as you have a Pokémon weak or neutral to fighting you can switch into, to avoid Hitmontop from hitting itself.

But I haven’t mentioned yet what I meant about “special case”. By the time that we get to fight the Cipher grunt, Hitmontop has already come out once while facing Eagun. This makes for an interesting case due to the game mechanics. While Hitmontop can be shiny during your capture, this battle sort of works like a rematch, where your opponent’s Hitmontop also has a chance to be shiny. It’s the only case in the entire game where we can’t avoid the possibility of getting an uncatchable shiny, adding to the difficulty of this hunt.

Average time per reset: 7-14 minutes.

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out randomly.

2.14. Entei.

One of the three legendary beasts available in the game. It’s no secret to anyone that Entei’s catch rate is low, just like most legendaries. Finally, and as long we are using the Japanese version of the game, we get access to the early Master Ball from the bonus disc, which makes the hunt much easier.

You will only need a high level Quagsire (recommended level 100) with earthquake and surf, to sweep through Dakim’s team easily, leaving an empty spot on the side so Entei gets sent out after being caught. If you don’t have access to the bonus disc ball, you can check this video and its pinned comment on how to do it with an Ultra Ball. Credits to Cabbage61.

Average time per reset: 3 minutes (Master Ball).

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out last. Bonus disc Master Ball.

2.15. Ledian.

You will normally find Ledian in The Under during the story, but this time it can be skipped. It may happen that you don’t even find and battle this trainer while beating the game. This trainer will appear again during post-game in the Snaged Hideout. The path you will have to walk is almost non-existent, and you will also have access to the in-game Master Ball. Ledian will appear in a random slot so bring something you can use to handle the rest of the team.

Average time per reset: 2 minutes (Master Ball).

Can be skipped. Gets sent out randomly. Bonus disc Master Ball.

2.16. Suicune.

Second of the legendary beasts. All three work similarly, including being able to use the Japanese bonus disc Master Ball, so it shouldn’t differ much from Entei’s strategy. You can use the same high level Quagsire mentioned before.

If you don’t have access to the Japanese bonus disc, or just want to catch it on a different ball, you can check this video with an alternative setup. Credits to S133pr.

Average time per reset: 3 minutes (Master Ball).

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out last. Bonus disc Master Ball.

2.17. The Under.

The next few trainers will be encountered in The Under. Gligar appears as the first one, with a low difficulty in general. Also eligible for the bonus disc Master Ball, just like all the other targets. Hence, you can use the Quagsire strategy from now on. Remember that this is the most efficient setup, so the time per reset will be calculated with this approach.

If you don’t have access to this disc: Gligar is immune to thunder wave, so your best bet will be sleep powder. It knows sand attack and will make sleep powder more unlikely to hit. When it reaches yellow HP, you will have around 80% chance to catch with an Ultra Ball, but just 40% if it avoids falling asleep.

Stantler knowns hypnosis. Both of these two targets attacks can be countered with Noctowl (keen eye against Gligar, and insomnia against Stantler) and hypnosis. Stantler’s catch rate is harder than Gligar’s, so there will be a 60% chance with an Ultra Ball and asleep at 25% HP, and around 35% if it’s awake. Stantler also knows take down along with shadow rush, so it will be a bit more complicated to lower its HP, while keeping it from defeating itself.

Piloswine knows dig, and it’s also immune to thunder wave, which can increase the time of the reset a lot. It’s almost guaranteed to catch at 25% HP with an Ultra Ball and asleep. There’s also around 80% if it’s at half HP under the same conditions.

Sneasel will be slightly harder to catch than Piloswine, but there isn’t any move to be aware of. 70% chance to capture at half HP with an Ultra Ball and asleep. Around 50% chance if it’s paralysed.

(Gligar) Average time per reset: 2 minutes (Master Ball).

(Stantler, Piloswine, Sneasel) Average time per reset: 3 minutes (Master Ball).

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out randomly. Bonus disc Master Ball.

2.18. Shadow Lab.

Making our way into the third and last legendary beast, but first there are some shadow Pokémon to take care of. These are Aipom, Murkrow, Forretress, Ariados, Granbull and Vibrava. They aren’t problematic at all assuming the use of the bonus Master Ball.

Here are some calculations in case you don’t have access to the bonus disc:

• Aipom: around 50% chance to catch at half HP using an Ultra Ball and asleep, 40% chance if it’s paralysed. Around 60% at 25% HP under the same conditions (asleep, Ultra Ball), 50% if it’s paralysed.
• Murkrow: around 35% chance to catch at half HP using an Ultra Ball and asleep, 25% chance if it’s paralysed. Around 40% at 25% HP under the same conditions (asleep, Ultra Ball), 35% if it’s paralysed. Knows fly.
• Forretress: around 80% chance to catch at half HP using an Ultra Ball and asleep, 60% chance if it’s paralysed. Close to 100% at 25% HP under the same conditions (asleep, Ultra Ball), 80% if it’s paralysed.
• Ariados: close to 100% chance to catch at half HP using an Ultra Ball and asleep, 80% chance if it’s paralysed. Close to 100% at 25% HP under the same conditions (either asleep or paralysed, Ultra Ball).
• Granbull: around 80% chance to catch at half HP using an Ultra Ball and asleep, 60% chance if it’s paralysed. Close to 100% at 25% HP under the same conditions (asleep, Ultra Ball), 80% if it’s paralysed. Knows roar, but it shouldn’t be a problem if you don’t use more than two Pokémon.
• Vibrava: close to 100% chance to catch at half HP using an Ultra Ball and either asleep or paralysed.

(Aipom) Average time per reset: 2 minutes (Master Ball).

(All others) Average time per reset: 3 minutes (Master Ball).

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out randomly. Bonus disc Master Ball.

2.19. Raikou.

The last legendary beast of the game. This trainer's Pokémon can be quite dangerous, they all have confuse ray, except Raikou. Quagsire may not be the best option here, as depending on your IVs and those of the opponent, they may be able to outspeed it, and proceed to confuse it. One optimal setup for this, is using Forretress with explosion, and Misdreavus with shadow ball. This will let you always get Raikou sent out in the second turn. The path you will have to walk is the longest in the game, specially with the repetitive alarm sound in the background.

Average time per reset: 4 minutes (Master Ball).

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out last. Bonus disc Master Ball.

2.20. Sunflora and Delibird.

The reason why I group these two Pokémon together is because they are the last targets before finally having access to the in-game Master Ball. So you will still need the bonus Master Ball if you want to make these hunts as fast as possible.

If you don’t have access to the bonus disc, Sunflora already has around 80% chance to be captured at full HP using an Ultra Ball and being asleep, 50% if it’s paralysed. You can lower its HP a bit to make it an almost guaranteed catch while sleeping, but needing to be close to half HP if you decide to paralyse it.

Delibird is a bit tougher than Sunflora, having an 80% chance with its HP down to red, using an Ultra Ball and asleep. Around 50% under the same conditions, but paralysed. Knows two problematic moves: attract and fly.

Average time per reset: 2 minutes (Master Ball).

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out randomly. Bonus disc Master Ball.

2.21. Realgam Tower – Part 1.

At this point of the game you will have access to the in-game Master Ball. Keep in mind that any shadow Pokémon you find after Delibird can be caught using it, you will receive a mail that tells you to go back to the Agate village to pick it up.

The first two targets you can encounter here are shadow Heracross and shadow Skarmory.

• Heracross: this one won’t be a problem at all, as the trainer only uses two other Pokémon in their team. Should be an easy catch with the Master Ball.
• Skarmory: owned by the old boss of the protagonist, which uses a few more in his team. You will have to break through his team first, although it shouldn’t be too hard. This does make Skarmory slightly slower than Heracross, but not by much.

Quagsire will be enough, but you can still use other strong Pokémon as long as they get access to a spread move (like Altaria).

(Heracross) Average time per reset: 2 minutes (Master Ball).

(Skarmory) Average time per reset: 3 minutes (Master Ball).

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out last. In-game Master Ball.

2.22. Realgam Tower – Part 2.

After beating Gonzap, you will head to the roof of the tower. The next targets are lined up in a row of battles you won’t be able to skip. These are Miltank, Absol, Houndoom, Tropius and Metagross. In order to hunt them as fast as possible, you will have to previously follow some steps.

• Miltank: the first battle, so there’s nothing to worry about. The trainer only has two other Pokémon which will go down easily with Quagsire’s earthquake.
• Absol: second battle. You will notice that on each reset for Absol, you will have to go through the shadow animation of Miltank in the previous fight, but this can be easily skipped. First, you will need to catch the shadow Miltank. When you reach Absol’s trainer, lose in purpose before Absol gets sent out. You will be sent back to the entrance (save here). Now you can do resets normally, but this time, you won’t have to go through Miltank’s small shadow cutscene, as it will be replaced by other Pokémon during that fight. This will also keep Absol’s shininess and stats random, as it still counts as the first battle against it.
• Houndoom: You will have to follow the same steps as with the previous setup, catching Miltank and Absol, but losing before Houndoom gets sent out in the third battle.
• Tropius: fourth in line. Catch Miltank, Absol and Houndoom first, then lose before Tropius is sent out.
• Metagross: considered by most one of the hardest hunt in the entire game, Metagross will come with other five Pokémon to beat before it gets sent out. Follow the same steps as before, catching Miltank, Absol, Hound and Tropius this time, then losing before Metagross appears.

For this group of battles you will need strong spread moves like Quagsire’s and Altaria’s earthquake. Altaria is also immune to the teammate’s earthquake. Be careful and plan your attacks well, so you don’t accidently knock out your target while hunting, specially against Nascour (Metagross’ trainer).

(Miltank) Average time per reset: 2 minutes (Master Ball).

(Absol) Average time per reset: 3 minutes (Master Ball).

(Houndoom) Average time per reset: 4 minutes (Master Ball).

(Tropius) Average time per reset: 6-10 minutes (Master Ball).

(Metagross) Average time per reset: 10-15 minutes (Master Ball).

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out last. In-game Master Ball.

2.23. Tyranitar.

Although in a different section, Tyranitar is still part of the Realgam tower final row of trainers. The difference is that you can lose in purpose before Tyranitar gets sent out, save, and you won’t have to go through all the previous battles. Evice still rocks a strong team, so be prepared with your strongest earthquake users, keeping an eye on his Salamence’s immunity, and being careful not knocking out Tyranitar. This is the final battle before finishing the main story.

Average time per reset: 5 minutes (Master Ball).

Can't be skipped. Gets sent out last. In-game Master Ball.

2.24. Post-game Snagem Hideout.

After beating the story, you can go back to the Snagem hideout, where you will find two new trainers that weren’t there before. Each of them will have one shadow Pokémon, Smeargle and Ursaring. Their teams won’t be a big problem, and the in-game Master Ball makes these hunts decently quick.

Average time per reset: 3 minutes (Master Ball).

Post-game. Gets sent out last. In-game Master Ball.

2.25. Shuckle.

After beating Gonzap once again in the Snagem hideout, you will receive a D-Disk. This item will give you access to the Deep Colosseum when you use it in the UFO located in The Under. Here you can do five different tournaments, but our focus is on the last one. This is where shadow Shuckle makes its appearance.

Buckle up, because the setup for this one is quite specific. In your team you only need two Pokémon:

• Exploud: level 100 with a +attack nature that doesn’t hinder the speed (lonely, adamant or naughty). EVs must be 252 on attack and 252 on speed. IVs don’t need to be great, but decently high ones definitely help. It will be holding a choice band. Moves needed: hyper voice and brick break.
• Camerupt: level 100 with a +special attack nature that doesn’t hinder the speed (modest, mild or rash). EVs must be 252 on special attack and 252 on speed. Again, IVs don’t need to be great, but make sure that at least speed is high. It will be holding a charcoal. Moves needed: eruption, toxic (optional) and rock smash.

The battles will go as follows:

• Battles 1 and 2: these won’t give any problems, and you can spam hyper voice and eruption easily.
• Battle 3: this trainer will have a Relicanth, which will resist both hyper voice and eruption, so this is where brick break comes in. The Pokémon get sent out randomly, so you can just spam brick break with Exploud until Relicant comes out, so you don’t lock yourself with hyper voice.

• Battle 4: this is where the entire strategy revolves around. This trainer’s team consists of Shedinja, Kingdra, Skarmory, Sableye, Girafarig and the shadow Shuckle. He sends all of them in a random order, except the Shuckle, which will always be sent out last.

  Eruption and hyper voice can easily break through most of the team, but you will need rock smash to defeat Kingdra in some specific scenarios. You can use the Master Ball to catch Shuckle, but if you want to use any other ball, this is where toxic comes into place. The status “badly poisoned” gives the same boost to the catch rate as burned and paralysed, so it will make the capture easier. Around 60% HP, almost all balls will have a 100% catch rate under these conditions.

  Please make sure to check this video that expands more into the different scenarios you can find during the battle and which are the best moves to use in each of them. Credits to Klockpit for the video. Also credits to him and Spike Oriundo for most of the initial planning for this hunt’s setup.

Average time per reset: 9-10 minutes (Master Ball).

Average time per reset: 10-15 minutes (other balls).

Post-game. Gets sent out last. In-game Master Ball.

2.26. Togetic.

After you have caught all the 47 previous shadow Pokémon, you will receive multiple e-mails about a shady trainer. He will be waiting for you in the Outskirt Stand. This trainer has six high-level Pokémon, but nothing that a good setup can’t take care of.

Togetic will be sent out randomly, sometimes it will be nice and appear first, but if it doesn’t you need to prepare to get rid of the rest of the team. Metagross and Regirock (level 100) both with earthquake and explosion can take care of this easily. Make sure their stats are high enough to be able to tank each other’s attacks. Their ability will protect them from Gyarados’ intimidate.

If you are concerned about Regirock’s speed against Gyarados, always use explosion on Metagross if Gyarados was sent out first. If not, use explosion on Regirock. This ensures that Gyarados won’t outspeed your Regirock in case its speed is very low. Please check this video to see the setup on action. Credits to TwistedMotive for the video and strategy.

Average time per reset: 2 minutes (Master Ball).

Post-game. Gets sent out randomly. In-game Master Ball.

2.27. E-Reader.

The e-reader was a device released for the Game Boy Advance that incorporated a scanner to read a set of special cards made specifically for this purpose. These cards would unlock different functionalities or extra content to different games.

For Pokémon Colosseum, they created a total of 26 cards that were only compatible with the Japanese e-reader+. These include 20 trainer cards, 4 stadiums and 2 bonus ones. These trainer cards are grouped in four colours (red, green, blue and yellow), 5 battles for each of them, and an extra boss when you defeat all the trainers from one colour. After all 24 are defeated, you will get access to a special battle with a trainer that owns a shadow Pokémon. Each card has three difficulties, and you will get one of these shadow battles after each difficulty is cleared. This means that you get three shadow Pokémon not available in any other versions of the game.

These exclusive shadow Pokémon are Togepi, Mareep and Scizor. The IVs (0/0/0/0/0/0), nature (sassy for Togepi, mild for Mareep and hasty for Scizor) and gender (all female except Scizor) of all three are locked, but not the other things like the OT and shininess. Their hunts are really fast and can be done with the Master Ball.

This e-reader feature is still in the code of the non-Japanese versions, so they can still be accessed through cheats if you want to hunt these targets, as getting the original cards can be a troublesome and expensive task.

Average time per reset: 2 minutes (Master Ball).

Post-game. Gets sent out randomly. In-game Master Ball.

3. Additional information.

3.1. Other strategies.

I also want to mention a useful strategy I haven’t talked about yet. The protagonist of this is Dunsparce. By leveling, Dunsparce learns the move endeavor. This move makes the opponent’s HP go down to the same number as your current HP. You will be able to enter the battle at level 100 with low HP and using endeavor on the shadow Pokémon to increase the chance to capture it. You may also mix this with yawn. You may have to be careful with shadow rush if you decide to go with 1 HP. This can bring tough targets to their highest catch chance.

3.2. Recommended hunts.

The targets that require a small amount of setup and have short resets are obviously the best for a beginner. Through the years I’ve seen how the Johto starters have become some of the most common shinies, specially Quilava, thanks to their low level entry difficulty and reset length.

Makuhita or the Duel Square shadow Pokémon have also been hunted among first timers. If you can manage to get the e-reader content working in your game, those three are also decently easy to hunt, Scizor being the fan favourite of them.

4. Final thoughts.

Hunting in Colosseum puts your patience to the test quickly, and even though some people may say it’s not made for everyone, it’s still something I recommend trying at least once. Whether you like a challenge, Colosseum was one of your childhood games, or you simply like the way shinies look, hunting here is very rewarding, as it puts other hunts into a different perspective, and makes you appreciate the effort more.

I encourage you to make your own strategies, specially if you want your shiny on a special ball. Planning is half of the fun.