Pokémon GO appears to have been updated overnight as shiny Pokémon are now appearing in the wild.
The official Pokémon GO Twitter account announced that today marks the beginning of the Water Festival event. That explains the sudden up tick in the appearance of water Pokémon.
Starting today, Magikarp, Squirtle, Totodile, and friends will be making a splash in the Pokémon GO Water Festival! https://t.co/PRaAiPCheo pic.twitter.com/ZxQFkvd5g3
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) March 22, 2017
On the Pokémon GO page, developer Niantic expanded on the Water Festival in a news post. The festival will see an increased spawn rate for water-type Pokémon; particularly Magikarp, Squirtle and Totodile.
[W]hen you’re out exploring areas where Water-type Pokémon more commonly appear, you’ll have a greater chance to encounter several of the Water-type Pokémon originally discovered in the Johto region, and maybe… you might even encounter Lapras.
Along with the Water Festival, Niantic has snuck in some shiny Pokémon. At this stage it appears that Magikarp is the only shiny available, but if you have enough candy, you can evolve it into a shiny Gyarados.
As part of the Water Festival a free Magikarp hat has been added to the wardrobe options.
Niantic has also announced that Pokémon GO has been updated so that a 7-Day Streak of Pokéstops will now always award a random evolution item.
Pokémon GO continues to receive updates more frequently in its second year. Will we see Legendary Pokémon soon? Let’s hope so.
Pokémon GO is available now.
