Pokémon Go fans collaborate to pin down missing shiny Pokémon

Pokémon Go fans have been working together to confirm a few previously-released shiny Pokémon are, at present, mysteriously unavailable.

Fans are fairly certain this a bug. Usually, once a Pokémon's shiny version has been released, it should always be available.

But this bug has happened before, recently, with another different Pokémon (Krabby). When it was pointed out on Pokémon Go reddit Silph Road that no one, anywhere in the world had found a Krabby's shiny version in several months, it appeared to get fixed fairly quickly.

Finding a shiny Pokémon is meant to be a rare occurrence - typically around a 1/500 outside of special events, although developer Niantic has never published the official odds.

But this rarity means if no one in a local Discord or Facebook community catches a shiny version of something for a month or two - no one really notices.

It has fallen to Silph Road community members to investigate the matter - and hope Niantic take notice of their research.

Last night, a thread on the issue by user TheSorites received hundreds of responses from players worldwide reporting in with the shiny Pokémon they have found since 2019 began.

Some shiny Pokémon took longer than others to be reported - the hatch-only Azurill and Budew for example, and the pretty much raid-only Drifloon.

But after nearly a day of reports, no one has come forward with a shiny Magnemite or Misdreavus caught this year anywhere in the world. Now, fans want Niantic to look at the issue.

Hardcore players spend hours hunting shinies - I've known people to physically set up camp if a certain species they want is nesting nearby. If the shiny version of a Pokémon simply isn't available for some reason, players will want to know as soon as possible to avoid grinding unnecessarily.

We've contacted Niantic to see what's what.