When Pokemon Gold and Silver were released more than 2 decades ago, the games first introduced the concept of Shiny Pokemon. Gold and Silver did just that in a unique way, with the player having a forced encounter with a Shiny Gyarados. Since then, Shiny Gyarados has held a special place in the hearts of Pokemon fans, and if you don’t have one in your collection, there will soon be a good chance to rectify that. A new Pokemon Go event called Growing Up will kick off on May 2nd at 10 a.m. local time, and it will increase Shiny encounter rates for Magikarp.
Videos by ComicBook.com
During the event, Magikarp will appear more frequently in the wild, so players will want to keep their eyes peeled for the Shiny version. The Shiny version of Magikarp has more of a gold body, as opposed to the standard’s reddish-orange appearance. It’s not a huge difference, but Shiny Gyarados really stands out. Rather than the standard blue color, Gyarados has a deep red. It’s a really striking coloration, and if you don’t have it in Pokemon Go or in the mainline Pokemon games on Nintendo Switch, this is a good opportunity to rectify that!
Magikarp isn’t the only Pokemon that will have increased Shiny encounter rates during Pokemon Go‘s Growing Up event. Shiny Swablu and Shiny Wimpod are also getting increased encounter rates. Players will be able to find Swablu and Wimpod appearing more frequently in the wild, and Wimpod will also hatch more frequently from 2 km Eggs obtained during the event.
In addition to increased Shiny rates, the Growing Up event will include several other bonuses. Players will receive double XP for evolving Pokemon, and double Candy on Egg Hatches. Players will also have an increased chance of finding both XXS and XXL Pokemon in the wild. Since this event will also have some PokeStop Showcases, those XXL Pokemon could come in handy! The event will also have a Collection Challenge, with a focus on Eggs. Players that complete the challenge will get multiple bonuses, including an encounter with Tandemaus.
RELATED: Pokemon Go Reveals April Community Day Details
The Growing Up event will run through May 7th at 8 p.m. local time. While April won’t be over for more than a week, Pokemon Go‘s plans for next month are starting to come into focus. May will have 2 Community Day events to look forward to, with a standard event on May 11th, and a Community Day Classic on May 24th. As of this writing, Niantic has not revealed which Pokemon will be getting the spotlight during either of those events, but there’s a good chance we’ll find out about the first one sometime next week.
Do you still need a Shiny Gyarados in Pokemon Go or in Pokemon Home? What do you think of the Growing Up event? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky atย @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram atย @Dachampgaming!
