After the release of shiny Gengar with its own exclusive raid day. It has come apparent that there are patterns to how Niantic will implement new shiny Pokemon going forward. Now part of this analysis will bear truth, while the rest will still have speculative insights. So let’s go over what we know. Then go over what we could possible expect in the future as more shiny Pokemon roll out.
Community Day
Every month on either a Saturday or Sunday (or both like Eevee), we get a Community Day featuring a brand new shiny variant never seen before. Anywhere from the starter Pokemon, 10k egg hatches or complete random Pokemon like Eevee. We can guarantee at LEAST one shiny family release every month for the next several years. This we know as fact. As far as any speculation goes, there’s a pattern to which Pokemon will be featured every month. Yet, at this point in time, it is still inconclusive. Niantic can throw us a curve ball at any moment. We must be aware of that. I’m looking at you Eevee…
Monthly Events
Since the beginning of 2018, Niantic has been giving us our fair share of events each month. These events ranged anywhere from 48 hour specials (the Solstice event for example), 2 week long holiday bonanzas (Halloween) to the Research Breakthrough boxes given every month since last April. Also, waves of newer generation Pokemon bring a shiny or two along with it as well. This was introduced when Gen 3 was rolling out slowly in waves. Regardless, these events bring at least ONE new shiny Pokemon along with it. This is known to be fact. Even though it may seem we’ve had quite a few new shinnies added to the game. There are still a TON more not introduced yet. This opens the door for more future releases of shiny Pokemon. Niantic can implement these any way they see fit. That’s where the speculation comes in. For example, shiny Nidoran female for celebrating Women in the Workplace Day came out of nowhere. Anything can trigger a reason for Niantic to pull the plug on a shiny they deem fit to release.
Exclusive Raid Days
Now this concept is relatively “new”. So this section will be entirely speculative. It wasn’t until shiny Gengar raid day, that I saw something going on. We had our first shiny raid day with Articuno back in July due to unlocking rewards from Dortmund. Soon thereafter Zapdos was released, then Moltres. It is safe to assume that every Legendary will get its own shiny raid day. Yes, that does include Lugia. Even though it has been released a few times already. Anyways, Gengar broke this “Legendary” shiny pattern and it got me thinking. Why Gengar? Was it tying in with the Halloween theme? Perhaps. We can dive a little deeper though. Gengar was the first tier 3 raid to have it’s shiny form released in this manner. Which begs the question. Will other tier 3 Pokemon get their shiny forms released on an exclusive raid day? I believe so! Pokemon such as Machamp, Tangela, Porygon, Scyther and Alakazam could possibly have their own exclusive raid day. Obviously there are more tier 3 raid Pokemon than I just listed, but these seem to be the most likely candidates. The other tier 3 Pokemon are deemed fit to be released in an event, rather than having their own raid day. You may be asking yourself – Okay, what about tier 4 Pokemon? The majority of them have already had their shiny forms released through other events. We could see, however, a shiny Snorlax or Lapras raid day. The rest, just like the tier 3 Pokemon, seem more of event based type releases. Whatever Niantic plans on doing going forward, don’t be alarmed by another non-legendary shiny raid day.
Final Thoughts
Without a doubt, these are the three primary methods Niantic is using to determine future shiny releases. Dictating which method and which Pokemon is extremely random. We can only speculate what Pokemon will have its shiny form released and in which way. With that being said, which ways do you see future shiny Pokemon being released trainers? Gives us your thoughts on which Pokemon and in what way in the comments below!
