Pokemon Go Hoenn Tour players claim only Special Research species have boosted Shiny odds

Zackerie Fairfax
Screenshot of Shiny Surskit in Pokemon Go concept art.

Pokemon Go Hoenn Tour is underway globally, and players are compiling anecdotal evidence to prove only the Chasing Legends Path species have boosted Shiny odds during the event.

A couple of weeks prior to the Pokemon Go Hoenn Tour, Niantic updated the official event page with a section titled “Shining Surprises.” The new text claimed that players would be more likely to encounter Shiny Pokemon originally discovered in the Hoenn region.

However, when speaking with Eurogamer, Niantic clarified, “This boost refers to select species; not all will be boosted.” And in the weeks leading up to the event, players anticipated an official list of Pokemon that would be boosted during the event.

Now that the first day of the event is coming to a close in some parts of the world, players are compiling evidence to figure out which Pokemon actually have boosted odds. And according to their reports, it seems that only three Pokemon from the event have drastically higher Shiny odds.

shining surprises hoenn tour pokemon go

Hoenn Tour boosted Shiny odds, according to players

The evidence provided by players is anecdotal, meaning it’s derived from their own personal experiences, so it may not be the most reliable. However, several players have reported identical findings under a post from user badmusicfan on Reddit.

Through their own gameplay, OP concluded, “It seems like the path you choose in Chasing Legends Special Research (Gulpin, Surskit, or Cacnea) boosts shiny rates for that species.” They backed this theory with an Australian streamer who had caught three Shiny Gulpin after choosing that path and a trainer they had run into who had caught a Shiny Cacnea after selecting that path.

And the comments were filled with players who reported similar stories. Players claim they’ve played for several hours during the event and have only found Shinies of the species they selected through the Chasing Legends Special Research.

“This could be what they meant by ‘select species are boosted,'” one player commented. Another replied, “Was it literally hiding in plain sight – ‘select the species you want boosted.'”

Of course, this is only the experience of a few dozen players. Some lucky trainers have reported finding 10-20 Shinies on day one with a wide range of species, while others claim they’ve only found one or two Shinies belonging to the select group.

About The Author

Zackerie is a former Senior Writer for Dexerto who covered a wide variety of games and entertainment. He has a degree in Creative Writing and was previously the editor of The LaRue County News. Zackerie switched to games media in 2020 writing for outlets such as Screen Rant, Fortnite INTEL, and Charlie INTEL.