Pokemon Go’s next season, Memories in Motion, will introduce one of the most requested changes in the game’s history by removing shiny locks from evolved and Shadow Pokemon in the wild.
Niantic confirmed that Memories in Motion will run from March 3 to June 2, 2026, bringing a slate of daily bonuses, gameplay tweaks and a major overhaul to how Shiny Pokemon work across the game.
Since launch, Pokemon Go has limited most Shiny encounters in the wild to base forms only, meaning Trainers could not catch mid-evolutions or final evolutions as Shiny unless they were featured in raids or special events. That restriction is now being lifted.
Evolved Pokemon can finally appear as shiny
According to Niantic, any evolved Pokemon in the wild can now be encountered as Shiny, provided that its base form’s Shiny has already debuted in Pokemon Go.
That means if a Pokemon family already has its Shiny variant available, Trainers will be able to encounter its mid-evolution or final evolution as Shiny in the wild for the first time. The change also applies to Shadow Pokemon rescued from Team GO Rocket, as long as their Shiny versions have previously been released.
Niantic added that players will have an increased chance of encountering Shiny Pokemon in Raid Battles and from Eggs compared to wild encounters. Trainers will also have a higher chance of rescuing Shiny Pokemon from Team GO Rocket leaders and Giovanni than from standard Grunts.
The update effectively removes one of the biggest long-term frustrations among collectors, who have spent years evolving base Shinies to fill their Pokedex entries rather than hunting fully evolved forms directly.
The update to shiny hunting will go live alongside the new season on March 3.
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