'Magikarp Jump' Red Gyarados: How to get the shiny dragon Pokémon in the new mobile game

Wondering how to get a shiny red Gyarados in Magikarp Jump? Here's what to do if you manage to catch a gold Magikarp and want to evolve it.

Magikarp Jump is a game about reclaiming a town's lost glory as the Magikarp Jumping capital of the world. You use a fishing rod to catch Magikarp, and then feed them berries and train them until their jump points are high enough to beat all challengers on the competitive Magikarp Jump circuit. 

It's incredibly rare to do so, but you can catch a shiny Magikarp in the game. Since there's a way to transform your flopping friend in a furious friend by breaking its everstone and evolving it into a Gyarados, people have been wondering if doing that on a shiny Pokémon will have any effect.

Magikarp Jump Red Gyarados: How to evolve your shiny Magikarp

So let's assume you've managed to net yourself a shiny golden Magikarp with one of Roddy Tackle's old rods. If you're dead-set on wasting a golden opportunity like this, you'll need to tap your Magikarp enough times on the pond screen to break its everstone and then raise it to at least level 20 — or to the next level if it's already level 20 or above.

Do this and your Magikarp will evolve, giving you a scene in which your trainer is walking sheepishly beside a Red Gyarados as though you'd retired it normally. If this is the first time you've done this, you'll also unlock the "Adios, Gyarados!" achievement as well, which is good for 10 diamonds and counts towards your "Magikarp Forced To Retire" achievement. This means you won't get a 10% bonus to your next Magikarp, and Mayor Karp will have some gentle admonishment for you about not pushing your Magikarp too hard.

If, like us, you're loath to sacrifice a shiny Magikarp, you can check out a video of it happening below, provided by YouTube user Reyes Lim:

You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and you can't make a Gyarados without breaking a Magikarp's everstone and then pushing it to its absolute limit by feeding it berries and making it shove a sleeping Boldore across a beach. Or something. That sounded better in our heads.

More Pokémon news and coverage

If you're just booting up your Pokémon Go account, check out our first impressions of the Gen 2 update. You'll also want to learn more about the Unown and new evolutionary items like the Sun Stone and more. If you're looking for a list of evolutions that weren't initially revealed by Niantic, this article is your guide.

If you're more interested in the main games, here's the latest on a possible Pokémon title on the Nintendo Switch: Pokémon Stars. And if you're itching to learn about the other mobile Nintendo games, check out our coverage of Fire Emblem Heroes and Super Mario Run.