Pokemon Go players disappointed after Primal Rumblings event removes Shiny mid-evos

The Primal Rumblings event has Pokemon Go players excited for Rayquza Raids, but a recent change to its infographics left players disappointed about the removal of Shiny middle evolutions.

Pokemon Go events can be hit or miss with the player base. Some fly under the radar, featuring underwhelming Raid Bosses and unpopular wild Pokemon. But that wasn’t the case when the Primal Rumblings event was announced.

Fan-favorite Rayquaza would return to five-star Raids, and the three Hoenn starters would take the spotlight for a few days leading into Hoenn Tour Global. And when the announcement went live on the official Pokemon Go website, players were surprised to see that the middle evolutions for Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip could appear Shiny in the wild.

This was shocking because, typically, only the first stage evolutions of a Pokemon can appear Shiny in the wild. There are a few exceptions, such as Pokemon who existed in a generation before their pre-evo or Pokemon who have Mega Evolutions (i.e. Charizard, Sceptile).

But the excitement was squashed shortly thereafter…

Niantic

The original infographic for the Primal Rumbling event showed Grovyle, Combusken, and Marshtomp with the shiny indicator.

Primal Rumblings Shiny indicator removed from mid-evos

Less than an hour after the event was announced, the Primal Rumblings page was updated to remove the Shiny indicator from Grovyle, Combusken, and Marshtomp. The change wasn’t noted by Niantic but was caught by the Pokemon Go data mining group PokeMiners.

“Niantic has removed the shiny symbol from the starter evos,” PokeMiners wrote in a tweet quoting the announcement. And sure enough, the page reflected the changes as the middle evos no longer claimed to be Shiny unlocked.

This disappointed players as they hoped for a few new Pokemon to Shiny hunt. “Of course… can’t have us enjoying ourselves too much now,” a user replied on Twitter. Others on Twitter and Reddit scratched their heads as to why the middle evolutions were locked in the first place.

The mess-up stings a bit more, knowing this isn’t the first time players thought a new Shiny form was coming to Pokemon Go, only for the infographic to be changed without a word from Niantic. Before the Tynamo spotlight hour in January 2023, an identical incident occurred that ruffled the feathers of the community.

So, while their Shiny forms are in the game, players won’t be able to encounter them in the wild during Pokemon Go’s Primal Rumblings event.