Pokemon Go Just Released Shiny Pikachu Worldwide

Pokemon Go players around the world can now catch a new Shiny Pokemon. A player in Saskatoon, Canada has caught a Shiny Pikachu, confirming that it can now be caught outside of Japan. Shiny Pikachu could previously only be caught at the Pikachu Outbreak Festival in Yokohama, which ended today.

Shiny Pokemon are ultra-rare variants of normal Pokemon with alternate colorations. Shiny Pikachu has a slightly darker shade of yellow than its non-Shiny form, although players can tell the difference thanks to a "sparkly" animation that appears around Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Go. There's no in-game advantage to having a Shiny Pikachu, although that probably won't stop many players from wanting one for their collection.

Presumably, the appearance of Shiny Pikachu in the wild also means that Shiny Pichu and Shiny Raichu are also obtainable. Players can evolve their Shiny Pikachu into a Shiny Raichu, while Shiny Pichu can be hatched from eggs.

Pokemon Go first released Shiny Pikachu last week, making it the second Shiny Pokemon added to the game. Shiny Magikarp can also be caught in Pokemon Go, which can then be evolved into Shiny Gyarados.

Unfortunately, there's no "trick" to catching a Shiny Pikachu in the game. Shiny Pikachu are randomly generated and players won't know whether they've found a Shiny Pikachu until they're in the encounter screen.

Of course, Shiny Pikachu wasn't the only surprise added to Pokemon Go over the last few days. Pokemon Go also added Mewtwo as a special new Raid Boss that can only be battled in a new Exclusive Raid Battle feature. With the appearance of Shiny Pikachu around the world, will Mewtwo also start popping up outside Japan? We'll have to wait and see if more Pokemon Go news breaks later today.

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