Pokemon Go's New Glitch Hides Shiny Pokemon in Catch Screen

A new Pokemon Go glitch is making Shiny Pokemon look like normal Pokemon on the catch screen.

Earlier this week, Pokemon Go added five new Shiny Pokemon to the game as part of its new Adventure Week event. Shiny Pokemon have alternate coloration than their non-Shiny counterparts and are typically very rare. In most cases, events are the best time to get a new Shiny Pokemon as certain Pokemon species spawn in much greater quantities than they usually do.

However, players have discovered a frustrating new glitch than impacts how Shiny Pokemon appear in the game. Multiple players have reported incidents in which a they've caught what appears to be a normal non-Shiny Pokemon. However, Pokemon Go identifies the Pokemon as Shiny after players go into their Pokemon list, even though it still has its non-Shiny coloration on the Pokemon screen. By restarting their game, Pokemon Go players should be able to fix the glitch, causing the Shiny Pokemon to appear to their full alternate colored glory.

Players can still identify a Shiny Pokemon by the sparkle animation that appears when the catch screen opens. In addition, Pokemon Go will still identify the Pokemon as Shiny by giving it a Shiny icon and giving players an extra warning before they mass transfer it.

The glitch is mainly a problem for Pokemon Go players who tap on a Pokemon on the overworld map and then look away instead of keeping their eyes on the screen.

The glitch appears to be related to how Pokemon Go stores the 3D models that it uses in the catch screen. While Pokemon Go typically updates the 3D models before rolling out a new batch of Shiny Pokemon, players who have seen this glitch have taken screenshots showing with their Pokemon using the old 3D models...along with their non-Shiny coloration.

Luckily, there appears to be an easy fix for this issue. Restarting the app seems to correct the problem...although that might not be a good enough explanation for players who let a Shiny Pokemon get away because it temporarily looked like a non-Shiny Pokemon. On the flip side, Pokemon Go doesn't actively tell players if they've missed out on a Shiny Pokemon, so most players will never know that they've been affected by this glitch.

We'll see if this continues to be a problem in the future, or if it's only limited to the new Shiny Pokemon added to the game last week. In the meantime, don't take your eyes off the screen when you're Shiny Hunting this weekend!