New gloss boost in Pokemon GO

This week, it seems that after the BUG OUT event, several bright Pokemon hit harder than usual in Pokemon GO. It's a kind of non-event or secret event, if you like – the kind that was not advertised by normal means. Instead, it's the kind of thing that only becomes viral if enough people realize what's going on in the game and take advantage of it as they go along.

We had the advice earlier today thanks to a post on SilphRoad on Reddit. There, several intrepid users had the impression that a change was in progress this week in Pokemon GO. They decided to do a job, keeping track of their checks with each Pokémon as they appeared, noting the bright Pokémon as they appeared – not necessarily captured.

Each count found about 2 Brilliant Pokémon per 115 views, roughly. This is not an absolute rule, of course, but it's interesting compared to the general rate of one in 450. Pineco and Aerodactyl seem to have Shiny rates much more common at the moment, just like Scyther!

If glossy appearance rates are standard at the moment, it would mean a 1/4 odds, or a 0.2 percent odds each time you see a Pokémon. Of course, this Pokemon must have a Shiny version in the game, and you have to assume that Niantic actually uses the same rate that was used since the start of the craze for Shiny.

In short – we do not know exactly what Niantic put in his sleeve, but it seems that a disproportionate number of people reach Shiny Scyther right now. If you want to play Pokemon GO this week, try to note the number of Pokémon you have encountered and how many are Shiny. We will then put everything in a spreadsheet to solve the problem!