I’ve been playingPokemon Gocasually again, after a long period away when theremote raid changes devastated my local community. I’ve enjoyed being back, and mymore casual approachhas made my return more leisurely. Obviously. I don’t mind if I don’t grind enough candy to evolve the latest monster during this event – it’ll come back around eventually.
But this isn’t why I haven’t caught the Galarian birds yet. They’re obscenely rare and, if you do manage to encounter one, they’re incredibly difficult to catch.
When Daily Adventure Incense was first released, and the Galarian birds with it, I encountered a few. In the first month I must have found two Galarian Articuno and three Galarian Moltres. I didn’t see a single Galarian Zapdos, which was a shame because it’s clearly the coolest one. I didn’t catch any of my three encounters, despite hitting excellent throws with Ultra Balls and Golden Razz Berries. But that was okay. Five encounters a month was a reasonable rate. Then it fell off a cliff.
For a long while I kept up my daily walks with the free incense. A half-hour stroll around my local area was great to clear my head before or after a day of work, a pseudo-commute to get in the right headspace before settling down in my home office. But the birds came less often, until they stopped appearing at all.
Now I’m taking a more casual approach, I probably use my daily incense three times a week. It’s not loads, but it’s still something, and really I’d expect to have encountered at least one Galarian bird in the past month. Alas.
Pokemon Go’s Shiny Galarian Birds Might Be Your Best Chance To Catch One
However, Pokemon Go players are looking forward to the release of the Galarian birds’ shiny variants during the forthcoming Galarian Expedition event, which runs from October 4 until October 11. For one week only, the Galarian birds will be available in their shiny forms, which has major ramifications for catching the critters.
In Pokemon Go,shiny Legendary Pokemondo not flee from battle. Ever. If you find one in a Raid, it’s an automatic catch. Just hit the creature with one of your ten-or-so balls, and it’ll be caught. If you encounter one in the wild, it might take 200 balls, but it will never flee. The same has gone for previous events where the Legendary dogs have been in the wild and if you’ve had the incredible luck of finding one of the Lake Guardians on your adventures. If it’s shiny, it won’t flee.
The Galarian birds’ shiny variants are great designs, giving the reimagined avians the colouration of the original trio. Clever.
Naturally, players think that this means they have a higher chance of catching a Galarian bird. And, technically, it does. Shiny rates for events like this areusuallyaround 1/20, so you have a five percent chance of seeing a shiny when you click on a Galarian bird, and therefore being able to catch it. The problem is, we’re not even seeing them.
At least, I’m not. For this event to work, I’m going to need significantly higher spawn rates for the Galarian birds before I start getting excited. It doesn’t need to guarantee one every time you use your incense, but one every hour (every two incenses) would be a good start, especially seeing as players can only use one a day so the system can’t be gamed like raids.
I’ll use my Daily Adventure Incense every day during the event, in the hope that I encounter any Galarian bird, shiny or not. But I’m not hopeful for my chances. I’m not hopeful for any of us. At least we can pay £8 for a Master Ball to cheer ourselves up when we inevitably fail in our quest.
