Pokemon Go Now Lets You Catch Shiny Pokemon

Maybe that 1000th Pidgey isn't such a bad idea after all.

Pokemon Go has recently, within the past month, expanded its roster of Pokemon to include the Gen 2 Pokemon of Pokemon Gold/Silver. If that wasn't enough to get people back into POGOing, they've now added shiny Pokemon.

This update came unannounced by Niantic or Nintendo, as multiple users have reported sightings of the elusive rare Pokemon. Specifically, many users have reported sightings in the Subreddit The Silph Road with images and videos of a shiny Magikarp and shiny Gyarados.

Pokemon Go Now Lets You Catch Shiny Pokemon

With the new Water-type event going on, the fact that the only shinies reported have been water-type may not be a coincidence. It also raises the question of the shiny's availability. Are they only able to be caught during the event, or are shiny water types just in the base game now? The event ends March 29, so we'll have to wait and see. 

For those who don't know, shiny Pokemon were first introduced in Pokemon Gold/Silver. A red Gyarados was available for every player to catch in the story of Gen 2, but all other shinies are extremely rare. The posibility of encountering a shiny Pokemon in a mainline Pokemon title is 1 in 8000.

In Pokemon Go, you see the Pokemon in the overworld before battling them, but there's no indication of it being shiny until battle commences. So get ready to fight endless amounts of Pidgeys!

In other Pokemon Go news, trading and player battles will be added to the game at some point this year.