Catching a shiny crypto-Pokémon is particularly rare. Players in Pokémon GO have now found a trick to increase their chances of getting shinies.
How are shiny crypto-Pokémon available? To get them, you must fight the 3 Rocket bosses. At the end of each battle, they give you a Pokémon that can also be shiny. Currently, these are Kindwurm, Absol, or Damhirplex.
After the battle, you can catch the crypto-Pokémon, and you usually have a possible shiny check. However, it seems that this is now different than previously thought.
Here’s how to get more shiny checks
This is what players did: After the trainers defeated the Rocket boss and did not receive a shiny crypto-Pokémon, they fled from the encounter. They essentially performed a pure shiny check, seeing the Pokémon and then fleeing because it wasn’t shiny.
An hour later, they returned to the stop where the Rocket boss stood. There, they could have another encounter with the crypto-Pokémon. The Rocket boss with the crypto-Pokémon was still there. They could encounter the Pokémon they fled from an hour earlier again. The chance for a shiny was new in this situation.
Based on this principle, many players have reported suddenly receiving a shiny. One player even shows a video on Reddit, where the originally shiny Kindwurm suddenly became a normal Kindwurm.
What does this mean? According to this principle, you can increase your chances of getting a shiny crypto-Pokémon. You can check a crypto-Pokémon multiple times and hope for a shiny each time. You don’t need to assemble a rocket radar for this.
How long do you have to wait? You can’t click on the crypto-Pokémon directly after the first encounter. Players report a time frame of one hour that you need to wait. In the meantime, you can continue playing normally.
Is this intentional? This is likely a bug. It seems unlikely that Niantic actually outputs the same Pokémon first as a normal monster and then as shiny. Therefore, you should take advantage of this for as long as possible if you want good chances for shiny.
However, it must be noted that only a few players have reported this so far. It might also be the case that the bug varies from player to player. This is not entirely clear.
Is this trick worth it? Definitely. Shiny crypto-Pokémon are probably among the rarest shinies in the game. After all, you usually have to defeat 6 Rocket Grunts to have an encounter. Now, you can essentially skip the grunts and go straight to the reward.
In Pokémon GO, limited research might return soon:
