Shiny Pikachu and More Found in Pokemon Go's Code

More Shiny Pokemon could soon be coming to Pokemon Go. Assets for Shiny Pikachu, Shiny Raichu, and Shiny Pichu were all recently added to the game's code, which means they could go live within the game at any moment. You can check out all three Shiny Pokemon in the photo gallery above.

Shiny Pokemon are ultra-rare variant Pokemon with different coloration than normal Pokemon. While some Shiny Pokemon look radically different than their normal forms, other Shiny Pokemon (like Pikachu, for instance) look almost identical to their non-Shiny counterparts.

It's likely that Pokemon Go will add Shiny Pikachu and its pre-evolved and evolved forms to celebrate the upcoming Pikachu Outbreak Festival in Japan. Every year, thousands of Pikachu invade the city of Yokohama, dancing and parading and attracting tons of tourists. This year's Pikachu Outbreak Festival begins tomorrow, August 9, so the addition of Shiny Pikachu and friends is particularly suspicious.

Pokemon Go will have a presence at this year's Pikachu Outbreak Festival, with a Pokemon Go Park and a Pokemon Go Stadium. The Park will feature sections for Pokemon from the Kanto and Johto regions, as well as special 2 KM eggs and the opportunity to catch Mr. Mime outside of Europe. The Pokemon Go Stadium is a bit more mysterious, but many believe it could be an early opportunity to catch the Legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh before its wider release.

Our best guess is that Shiny Pichu will hatch from the Pokemon Go Park's special 2 KM eggs and then will be rolled out to the rest of the world later this month.

Of course, it's possible that the Shiny Pokemon won't be utilized at all. Last month, Pokemon Go added sprites for Shiny versions of the Legendary Birds. No Shiny Legendary Pokemon have been caught so far, although it appears that Pokemon Go accidentally used the sprite for Shiny Zapdos instead of its non-Shiny form when they added that Pokemon to the game yesterday.

We'll report more on any new Shiny Pokemon when they get added to Pokemon Go.

UPDATE: Shiny Pikachu has appeared at Yokohama's Pikachu Outbreak Festival.