Despite Niantic adding the series' staple of shiny Pokemon to Pokemon GO back in 2017, the mobile app is still short of a crucial update to these rare coveted forms to bring it up to the same standard as the mainline games. From their introduction all the way back in Pokemon Gold and Silver to the present-day, shiny Pokemon have become a widely enjoyed feature of the Pokemon series among players. But between fans predicting or designing their own shiny Pokemon forms to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's shiny sandwich recipes, Pokemon GO is still missing a key change the mainline games made several generations ago.

From the Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! remakes of the original Gen 1 games onward, the Pokemon series has gradually broadened into open-world design with free-roaming Pokemon instead of traditional tall grass encounters. Alongside this, Game Freak seems to have adapted shiny Pokemon encounters to keep pace with its new open-world approach; shiny Pokemon can be spotted by players before entering a battle. Pokemon GO hasn't adopted this feature even though it has the most to gain from doing so, forcing players to resort to patience and luck just to find their own shiny Pokemon.

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Shiny Pokemon Appear in the Overworld Now

After Nintendo's transition to a hybridized home-handheld console with the Switch, Game Freak has slowly but surely evolved Pokemon's design to the open-world standard like many other games. This transformation wasn't as smooth as players might have liked between Pokemon Legends: Arceus and the Gen 9 Scarlet and Violet games, but there were certain areas that Game Freak successfully adapted into its new open-world design. More specifically, the new approach to shiny Pokemon encounters ensures that players don't miss out on these rare forms without random battles in tall grass.

After first changing how shiny Pokemon can be seen prior to a wild encounter in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee!, Game Freak maintained this approach in Pokemon Sword and Shield and then Legends: Arceus. By the time Scarlet and Violet were released, the new method of spotting shiny Pokemon in the wild had become a standard for the series as opposed to experimental game design. This was even strengthened by Scarlet and Violet's new Auto-Battle feature preventing shiny Pokemon from being accidentally knocked out, adding yet another consideration to players and their shiny hunting efforts.

Pokemon GO Needs to Updates its Own Overworld

However, despite the mainline Pokemon games changing and improving the approach to shiny hunting over several generations, Niantic has failed to keep pace with Game Freak with its own overworld encounters. This is particularly pressing with Pokemon GO's gameplay, which requires that players directly choose Pokemon they wish to encounter which is often determined by plenty of different factors from trying to collect certain candies to seeking out less common Pokemon. Attempts to shiny hunt in Pokemon GO can be uniquely difficult when players have limited control over which Pokemon they can encounter and their odds of being shiny.

The recent Pokemon GO's XXL- and XXS-sized forms add even more complicated odds for shiny Pokemon encounters, providing yet another reason for Niantic to fall in line with the rest of the Pokemon series. Given that Pokemon GO's own Buddy feature demonstrates that shiny Pokemon can appear in the overworld, Niantic shouldn't put off letting players see wild shiny Pokemon in its overworld any longer. In doing so, Pokemon GO would align with the rest of the mainline games and give players a better chance of spotting rarer shiny Pokemon without relying on luck.

Pokemon GO is available now for Mobile devices.

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