For the last three years, we’ve had Kanto Tour, Johto Tour, and Hoenn Tour in the early months of the new year. If 2024 is set to follow the pattern, that means we should see a Sinnoh Tour, with a release of all the remaining shinies that aren’t currently obtainable in Pokémon GO.
However, with Sinnoh Tour comes quite a big problem… there just really aren’t many Pokémon that aren’t yet shiny, and many of those that aren’t shiny, are Mythical Pokémon! GO Fest Global 2023 will see the release of both forms of Shellos, and in recent months we’ve also seen some of few other Sinnoh shinies we were previously missing debut in GO. Let’s take a look at the shinies we are missing for Sinnoh, and what other options we might have for a Tour event in 2024.
Unreleased Sinnoh Shinies
Baby Pokémon
| Shiny Chingling |
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When I last took a look at which Pokémon didn’t have their shiny released yet but probably would for Sinnoh Tour, we had two other babies in this list, Munchlax and Mantyke. They’ve both been released in 2023, meaning we only have Chingling that is currently egg locked. Munchlax and Mantyke are both rare shinies, but neither would be new for the event.
Regional Pokémon
| Shiny Carnivine | Shiny Chatot | Shiny Pachirisu |
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These regional shinies are likely to be held back for Sinnoh Tour, because regional shinies have become a huge part of the hunt during Tour events. While they have been featured at other events previously in Safari Zones, Carnivine and Pachirisu will both feature this summer for Global GO Fest! It seems unlikely they will have a surprise shiny release, but it will be the first time these two regional exclusives will be widely available.
Other Pokémon
| Shiny Stunky | Shiny Skuntank |
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In terms of ‘other’ Pokémon, ie. those that aren’t regional, babies or mythicals, we have two Pokémon with unreleased shinies. Stunky, and therefore Skuntank, and all the many forms of Rotom. Stunky will almost certainly not see a release before Sinnoh Tour because it is the only ‘common’ Pokémon that hasn’t been released shiny so far.
| Shiny Rotom | Shiny Fan Rotom | Shiny Wash Rotom |
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| Shiny Mow Rotom | Shiny Heat Rotom | Shiny Frost Rotom |
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We’ve so far only seem Wash, Frost and Mow Rotom released, with Mow Rotom so far exclusive to the in-person 2022 GO Fests, and Frost in-person 2023 GO Fests. Potentially we’ll see more different Rotom forms released during events before a full release of the shinies, but it seems a bit much to release all of these different forms, and their shinies, in one event. Maybe we will see Rotom be featured more in the rest of 2023 with new forms being released, or maybe with so few shinies unreleased for the Sinnoh region, we need these held back to make Sinnoh Tour more fun!
Rotom definitely presents an unusual situation for Sinnoh Tour, because so many forms of the Pokémon haven’t even had a wide release, and for many trainers, they won’t have been able to encounter a Rotom at all!
Mythical Pokémon
Sinnoh has a whole host of mythical Pokémon, including some that have never been released, so let’s take a look at them!
| Manaphy | Shiny Manaphy |
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| Phione | Shiny Phione |
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Manaphy and Phione are still completely unreleased in GO, so expect their non-shiny forms to make an appearance before a potential Sinnoh Tour. As Mythical Pokémon this is likely to be through a Special Research quest, but with Diancie announced as the Mythical for GO Fest 2023, perhaps we’ll have a different dedicated event introducing this pair? With the other Mythical Pokémon we’ve had shiny releases of for a Tour, we’ve had their non-shiny counterparts for a good length of time before, but we’ve had not a whisper of these two.
| Shiny Land Shaymin | Shiny Sky Shaymin |
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Having made their debut at GO Fests in 2022, and then made available via global Special Research, these seem almost certain to be set to wait for a shiny release till Sinnoh Tour.
Now for a really tricky Pokémon, Arceus has a whopping 18 different forms, so I’m not going to share sprites for them all. Each form has a different colour for the wheel-like portion on its body.
| Arceus | Shiny Arceus |
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Arceus is when it gets really tricky for Sinnoh Tour. Would they release all 18 different forms? It seems unlikely, but with no hint of Arceus in GO so far, it’ll be intriguing to see how it is released full stop. It is a Mythical Pokémon, so may be part of a quest line, but we have seen Darkrai, another Sinnoh Mythical, released into raids. Without any tease of a release yet in GO, any Arceus release seems a way off, never mind the shiny.
Other Options
With few options to actually release as shinies that would likely be wild spawns, there are some other options for things we could see happen to spice up those event spawns.
Cherrim
| Shiny Overcast Cherrim | Shiny Sunny Cherrim |
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With so many baby Pokémon typically relegated to eggs in the Sinnoh region, an easy way to boost up those ‘new’ shiny numbers, would be to have both forms of Cherrim get a shiny release. While Cherubi can be shiny, Cherrim cannot, and has to be evolved via a random evolution. A pesky evolution method with no guarantee! Having them spawn wild and potentially be shiny would definitely be something people would like.
The Lake Trio
| Shiny Azelf | Shiny Mesprit | Shiny Uxie |
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As the Lake Trio can already spawn in the wild, it would be incredible to see them spawn in the wild for Sinnoh Tour! They could be a dedicated rare spawn from incense, or a photobomb encounter, and with decent shiny odds, it could be a great way to give more wild shinies to chase.
Mega Pokémon
| Shiny Lopunny | Shiny Garchomp | Shiny Gallade | Shiny Abomasnow | Shiny Lucario |
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It’s possible that Niantic hopes that more of the above Pokémon will have seen their Mega Pokémon form released by the time of Sinnoh Tour. Their evolved forms could be in the wild and are available shiny because they are Mega Pokemon, giving more different shinies to hunt for. Lucario is featuring for GO Fest 2023 without a Mega release, so it is possible!
It is also potentially viable that we may see some other evolved forms in the wild with their shiny available. Just like for Johto Tour, for Pokémon with evolutions in Sinnoh, that are from earlier generations. We’ve seen Poliwhirl and Onix in the wild, so we could see Togetic, Roselia, Misdrevous, Murkrow, Sneasel, Magnemite/Magneton, Lickitung, Rhyhorn/Rhydon, Tangela, Magmar, Electabuzz, Yanma, Eevee, Gligar, Swinub/Piloswine, Porygon/Porygon-2, Nosepass, Ralts/Kirlia, Snorunt, and Duskull/Dusclops with shiny wild spawns. I can’t see people being quite as excited by these as they would new shinies, but it is an option.
Alternative Events
With so many of the new releases focused on Mythical Pokémon that we don’t have in GO, there is a risk that Sinnoh Tour may need to be delayed, so that the Mythicals can get their time to shine before any shiny release. If 2024 isn’t realistic for Sinnoh Tour, could we instead see some sort of revisit to Kanto, Johto and Hoenn as a sort of group tour instead?
Many people will still be missing plenty of shinies from these regions, and a return trip to all three regions wouldn’t go amiss for many people. With regionals locked to eggs in earlier events, they could spawn in the wild for this one, or maybe even the babies could be wild! This option does feel less likely than a Sinnoh Tour unfortunately, but you never know.
Conclusion
Sinnoh Tour is the first of these potential tour events that really presents an issue for Niantic, to figure out how to make it exciting, and how to optimise wild spawns. What do you think could potentially happen for Sinnoh Tour, or do you think we’ll see instead?
As a Turtwig fan, I of course would love to see Sinnoh Tour happen in early 2024, but right now, I am not sure how it would work!
