What are Glowing Pokemon in Sword and Shield? Here's why you need to look out for Brilliant Pokemon

(Image credit: Nintendo)

As you walk around the British-themed locales of the Galar region, it's hard to miss the various glowing Pokemon in Sword and Shield. You know the ones. They walk with a weird yellow aura all around them? Well, these aren't radioactive, but rather Brilliant Pokemon, which are a rarity in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Not quite as rare as a shiny, but still quite the elusive beasts.

The alluring thing about these glowing, Brilliant Pokemon is that they offer a number of bonuses for catching or defeating them:

1) They'll be higher level than the average Pokemon in the area

2) They will usually know an unusual move, such as an Egg Move

3) They will have the highest possible score for at least two or three of their stats

4) You'll earn Watts for catching or defeating them (and more so if they're high level)

How to find glowing Brilliant Pokemon in Sword and Shield

The easiest way to encounter glowing Brilliant Pokemon in Sword and Shield is to simply walk through the long grass and keep your eyes peeled for one wandering about with the yellow aura. As you defeat or catch more of a specific Pokemon species, the more likely you are to encounter a Brilliant Pokemon (or even Shiny Pokemon) of that same species. Thankfully, that doesn't mean consecutively, and you can check how many times you've encountered each species by checking its entry in the Pokedex.

Number of battles	Effect on future encounters
At least one	Brilliant Pokemon may appear
At least 20	Brilliant Pokemon have 1.3x the likelihood of appearing
At least 50	Brilliant Pokemon have 1.6x the likelihood of appearing
At least 50	Shiny Pokemon have 2x the likelihood of appearing
At least 100	Brilliant Pokemon have 2x the likelihood of appearing
At least 100	Shiny Pokemon have 3x the likelihood of appearing
At least 200	Shiny Pokémon have 4× the likelihood of appearing
At least 300	Shiny Pokémon have 5× the likelihood of appearing
At least 500	Shiny Pokémon have 6× the likelihood of appearing

It's worth noting that after encountering 100 of each species, you'll max out your chance of finding a Brilliant Pokemon of that species – it'll be locked at double the original odds. Plus, every time you defeat a Pokemon in the wild, you'll be much more likely to see that same Pokemon species appear in the game for a while.

How to fish for Brilliant Pokemon in Sword and Shield

Unlike trying to find a Brilliant Pokemon in the grass, getting one via fishing is a little more complicated. Not only does the matter of times you've battled any one species not matter, but you will have to defeat as many underwater foes as possible, consecutively, in order to boost your odds. Thankfully it doesn't matter which Pokemon you battle, just a load from a single fishing area in one chain. Here's how the odds change:

Successful Hooks	Effects on future encounters
0-2	Brilliant Pokemon may appear
3-6	Brilliant Pokemon have 1.3x the likelihood of appearing
7-14	Brilliant Pokemon have 3.3x the likelihood of appearing
15-24	Brilliant Pokemon have 6.6x the likelihood of appearing
25+	Brilliant Pokemon have 16.6x the likelihood of appearing

However, there's a catch – literally. If you fail to reel a Pokemon in, catch a Pokemon, run away, leave the area, or turn off your game you'll break your chain. You have to keep defeating Pokemon in order to build up this 'successful hooks' and increase your chance of getting a Brilliant Pokemon spawn.

Sam Loveridge

I'm the lady in charge of GamesRadar, but also getting all the reviews up on the website, so you can thank me for all those shining stars – or blame me for a lack of them. I also spend my time working my SEO magic to try and coax the Google Juice to flow in our favour.

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