Shiny Pikachu ‘Pokémon Go’: A rare variant of the electric mouse appears at Yokohama event in Japan

The Yokohama Pikachu Outbreak, hinted at in July, has finally arrived in Pokémon Go. During the event, trainers have the opportunity to head to the Red Brick and Cup Noodle Museum Parks to find Pokémon from Generation 1 or 2, respectively. They might even have the opportunity to catch Mr. Mime, a region-locked Pokémon which is typically only found in Europe in the mobile game.

However, players are also reporting finally seeing a shiny Pikachu — shiny, not just one wearing a new hat — appearing during the outbreak as well. It makes sense, but we’ve got more info for you below.

Pokémon Go shiny Pikachu: Shiny Pikachu and Raichu spawning in Yokohama

According to Pokémon fan site Serebii, shiny Pikachu (and thus shiny Raichu) have started spawning at the Yokohama, Japan, parks where the event takes place. The shiny Pikachu has a darker yellow coloration and lighter black markings on its ears. Here it is, on the left, next to the regular one, on the right.

Some players have already managed to evolve a shiny Raichu variant as well, which maintains the burnt coloration.

Kotaku titled its article about these shiny variants, “The Shiny Pikachu Released for Pokémon Go in Japan Is Subtle,” which seems like a diplomatic way of suggesting that if you didn’t know what you were looking at, you might not even know these were a shiny variant.

Pokémon Go shiny Pikachu: Enough with the Pikachu variants already

Ignoring for a moment my deep distaste for shiny Pokémon, I’m tired of Pikachu variants in general when it comes to Pokémon Go. So much so that I’m prepared to pooh-pooh one that’s not even coming to the West (at least not yet).

During the winter holidays, we got Pikachu wearing a Santa hat. Two months after that, we got a Pikachu wearing a party hat to celebrate Pokémon Day. We’re only a month out from our last variant, a Pikachu wearing Ash Ketchum’s hat from the Pokémon anime. Now there’s a shiny Pikachu in Yokohama.

To a certain extent this is inevitable. There’s only so many Pokémon in Gen 1 and 2, and variant Pokémon can help keep players engaged until the release of the next generation of Pokémon. However, when you continually release a new variant of the same Pokémon — even one with as much brand recognition as Pikachu — they tend to pile up.

I currently have three party hat Pikachus, two Ash hat Pikachus and one Ash hat Raichu sitting in my Pokémon box with zero idea what to do with them. It’s worth noting that my total number of Ash hat Pikachus is smaller than it could have been because I consciously stopped catching them about halfway through the anniversary event.

Bigger fans than me are excited about shiny Pikachu, and that’s fine. I am going to call for a six-month freeze, at minimum, on all new Pikachu variants in Pokémon Go after this, however.

Hopefully, with this very real and very enforceable restriction in place, Niantic will be forced to cast a little further for its special variant Pokémon. And may I perhaps suggest Ash’s Squirtle? The one with the cool sunglasses? Just a thought.

More Pokémon Go news, updates, tips and tricks

Raids are here — and not just for ordinary Pokémon. Check out our coverage of the legendaries now in-game, Lugia and Articuno. Find out what went wrong at the Pokémon Go Fest in Chicago while you wait for the debut of the European Safari Zones in August and September. Finally, check out some reporting on the issues plaguing rural players a year after launch, how the game created a space for black female gamers and how Pokémon Go can continue to build its community.