Shiny Pokémon were first introduced in March 2017 with the surprise reveal of Shiny Magikarp and its evolution, the red Shiny Gyarados.
Over years we've seen a variety of shiny Pokémon released into Pokémon Go, including Shiny Pikachu, Shiny Blitzle and legendary Pokémon like Shiny Tapu Koko. It will be interesting to see which unique variants come next!
Shinies are notoriously rare, as any veteran of the main series will gladly tell you, so what do we know about Pokémon Go Shinies, and how do you catch them?
On this page:
Battling and catching Guzzlord in Pokémon Go Shinies are found by simply trying to catch Pokémon and seeing if they display as an alternate colour in the battle and post-battle screens.
They won't appear as a different colour in the field, so you have to attempt to catch them first.
They of course can also appear in anywhere you'd find a Pokémon, not just the wild - so that includes hatching Eggs, Research task rewards and Raid bonus challenges.
A Shiny creature is extremely rare, so it's simply a case of checking every one you are looking for - such as Magikarp - in the hope it will be a different colour.
Often, the variation is somewhat subtle. You can see the difference in Magikarp in the above comparison image, courtesy of Silph Road subreddit user skinnysnorlaz.
Around five months after Shiny Magikarp was first sighted, we started to see the first sign of other shinies.
Though the list has expanded greatly since the arrival of Magikarp and Red Gyarados, the number is small compared to the number of non-shiny creatures in the game.
At a glance, here is every possible shiny creature you can get in the game right now (aside from additions since early February - you can see a more up-to-date list in chronological order later in the article) and their rarity according to a user survey (thanks to AirbenderProdigy on reddit for the research and image):
Magikarp and Gyarados: The first Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Go were Magikarp and Gyarados in March 2017 which were a callback to what was, for most players, the first Shiny they ever caught: the Red Gyarados at Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal's Lake of Rage.
Evolving a Shiny Magikarp into Red Gyarados in Pokémon Go Watch on YouTubeShiny Pikachu: August 2017's Pokémon Go Park event in Japan revealed the second set of Shinies.
Those within the event radius had a chance of catching a Shiny Pikachu, which much like the Red Gyarados, could also be evolved into a shiny Raichu.
These have since been made available around the world, and was expanded on with a shiny hatted Pikachu as part of the 2018 Pokémon Day.
Shiny Gen 3 Ghosts: As the Halloween event in 2018 - which introduced the first Gen 3 creatures - rolled on, shiny variations of all five new creatures (Duskull, Dusclops, Shuppet, Sableye and Banette) started to appear.
Here is a video of shiny Duskull in action:
Shiny Duskull Watch on YouTubeShiny Gen 3 Raids: With the arrival of 50 Gen 3 creatures in December 2017 came two Raid-specific catches, both of which offering Shiny versions. The remaining 48 also have Shiny models in the game code, though none have been found so far.
NEW GENERATION 3 SHINY POKEMON RELEASED IN POKEMON GO! 50 GEN 3 SHINIES ADDED! - POKEMON GO Watch on YouTubeShiny Gen 3 Desert update: The Aron family of creatures all have shiny variants as part of their release in the Janary 2018 Gen 3 Desert update.
SHINY ARON & EVOLVED TO SHINY AGGRON IN POKEMON GO | NEW GEN 3 POKEMON WORLD'S FIRST SHINY AGGRON Watch on YouTubeShiny Gen 3 Dragon update: Swablu is one of the few creatures available as a shiny Pokémon, changing its blue body colour into yellow.
Evolving into Altaria will keep that same yellow colour scheme, as shown in this video by Cychreus Gaming:
Pokemon Go 3rd Gen - Shiny Swablu Catch & Shiny Altaria Evolution Watch on YouTubeValentine's Day 2018: Alongside increased Luvdisc spawns came a shiny version:
Otherwise, there are no other signs more Shinies will be added. The main games had shinies for every single creature, so there's a chance every one in Pokémon Go will offer them at some point, but it makes sense Niantic would want to drip feed them for special occasions and make them more of an event.
Lunar New Year event 2018: The increase in dog and dog-like spawns saw the introduction of a shiny Poochyena:
Shiny poochyena catch Watch on YouTubeCommunity Day: The creature a Community Day focuses on will release a shiny version at the same time. So far we've had:
2018 Shinies came thick and fast, including:
Meanwhile in 2019, we've seen:
2020 saw the introduction of these shiny Pokémon:
In 2021, the following shiny Pokémon were released:
During 2022, the following shiny Pokémon were released:
The following shiny Pokémon made their debut in Pokémon Go throughout 2023:
Throughout 2024, the following shiny Pokémon were released in Pokémon Go:
The Max Out Season is here and includes a new global event, Wild Area, and the current 2024 Halloween event brings us Morpeko and the Halloween cup.You can now catch Dynamax Pokémon through Max Battles. First, however, you need to visit Power Spots to collect Max Particles and complete the To the Max! quest.Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.
Aside the from the basics, there are a few other important points to note about Shiny Pokémon and the way they operate:
That's all the important info you need - the rest of it is down to good old fashioned luck, so it's time get searching!
