Can Shellder and Cloyster be shiny in Pokemon GO? (April 2023)

With Shellder being the subject of Pokemon GO's next Spotlight Hour event, the said critter and its evolution, Cloyster, have come to mainstream attention once again. However, many players are wondering if they will be able to find these Pokemon in their rare shiny forms, and how to do so easily if they can.

Shiny hunting is a time-honored tradition among Pokemon fans. Since the special variant's debut in the second generation of the franchise, a lot of players have made it their life's work to collect as many of these rare types of Pokemon as they possibly can. Thankfully, this has never been easier than it is in Niantic's popular mobile title.

It has been confirmed that Shellder will appear in its shiny variant throughout the Spotlight Hour event as well as beforehand and afterwards. This fact remains consistent for Cloyster as well. With this in mind, we can begin to explore different methods that can be used for finding rare forms of these creatures.

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Tips for finding Shiny Shellder and Cloyster in Pokemon GO

Shellder as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

As experienced Pokemon GO players will know, Niantic is notoriously picky when it comes to what creatures it allows to appear as shiny on live servers. As such, they will need to do a fair bit of research before they can commit the time and effort into finding this rare type of the soon-to-be spotlight Pokemon.

One of the most underutilized factors that players fail to consider when shiny hunting in Pokemon GO is the weather of the area they plan to hunt in. Much like the main series, the climate of an area plays a key role in determining what creatures can spawn there. Weather spawns are tied to a creature's elemental typing.

Since Shellder and Cloyster are both Water-types, they have the highest chance of spawning in rainy weather. Hunting in these conditions during the Spotlight Hour will cause more Shellder to spawn compared to if players hunt in standard weather. Since the northern hemisphere is in its spring season, they should have no problems finding somewhere with rain.

The use of Incenses can be a major help as well. While the item does not directly increase the likelihood of Shiny Pokemon spawning, it does drastically increase the general spawn rate. Since Shellder will be the only creature spawning during the Spotlight Hour, the use of Incenses will decrease the time it takes for its shiny variant to hypothetically spawn in Pokemon GO.

The same can be said regarding the use of Lure Modules. These items can be attached to any Pokestop or Gym location to increase the spawn rate of wild Pokemon around these locations. These materials, like Incenses, are very easy to come by in Pokemon GO, so players should have some stockpiled. If not, they can be purchased from the store or found in photo disks.

Finally, players looking for a Shiny Cloyster will have better luck finding a Shiny Shellder than evolving it. This is because evolved Pokemon have a very small spawn chance in Pokemon GO. As such, players should just take advantage of the Shellder spawn rate and the transfer candy bonus.