‘Pokemon Go’ Adds Shiny Alolan Raichu

Pokemon Go has added a new Shiny Pokemon, one that can only be caught in raids.

The Pikachu family has all of its Shiny variants, as the Alolan Raichu can now be found in Shiny form. Shiny Pokemon have alternate colorations than normal non-Shiny Pokemon and are usually quite rare. A Shiny Alolan Raichu has a distinctively darker fur than a normal Alolan Raichu and also has dark gold ears and tail.

The Alolan Raichu is an Electric/Psychic-type Pokemon that was first introduced in Pokemon Sun and Moon. The Alolan Raichu can only be found in the Alola region and can “surf” on its tail using its Psychic abilities. While it’s unclear what caused the regional chance, the most recent Pokemon games speculate it could be because of its love of pancakes.

You can see what the Shiny Alolan Raichu looks like below:

Pokemon Go added the Shiny Alolan Raichu over the weekend, as part of an ongoing promotion for the new Pokemon: Let’s Go games. Pokemon Go also added the regular Raichu and various Eeveelutions as Raid Bosses to promote the new Nintendo Switch games.

Unlike most other Shiny Pokemon, the Shiny Alolan Raichu can only be encountered as a Raid Boss. The Pokemon has been a Level 3 Raid Boss for some time and can’t currently be found in the wild. The Alolan Raichu is a “soloable” raid boss, but requires an optimized team.

Complicating things a bit is that the non-Alolan version of Raichu is also now available as a Raid Boss. Some players have reported that the non-Alolan Raichu will even appear in the catch screen even when the Raid Boss is an Alolan Raichu.

The good news is that once a Shiny Pokemon are permanent additions to Pokemon Go, so players don’t have a time limit to catch this new rare Pokemon. Good luck trainers!