If I find a legendary, will the sprite show up shiny too, or do I have to battle to see?

Question

Shiny Hunting the verizion, and terrakion, and it would save a ton of time if the sprites showed up shiny before I have to start some long battle intro.

Answer 1

You have to engage in battle to see if it's shiny or not. You can save and soft-reset until it's shiny, but you have to engage in battle to see. The overworld sprite is static-- it will never appear shiny.

Source: I shiny hunt. Lots.