How to catch shiny Charmander in Pokemon GO (May 2022)

Pokemon GO's Mega Moment event has come to a close, which may be bad news for shiny hunters hoping to catch a shiny Kanto starter, including Charmander.

Like many other shiny Pokemon in Pokemon GO, capturing even one shiny Charmander is a difficult task without the assistance of an event. Furthermore, Charmander isn't currently listed as a hatchable Pokemon from eggs and is not appearing as a raid boss.

This leaves aspiring trainers hunting for Charmander's coveted shiny form, searching for it in the wild. Doing so can be an uphill battle, fraught with expending many items and a large chunk of time. However, shiny Charmander can still be caught in the wild nonetheless.

Capturing shiny Charmander in the wild in Pokemon Go

When players evolve shiny Charmander and Charmeleon, it becomes the rare and unique black-colored shiny Charizard (Image via The Pokemon Company)

If Pokemon GO trainers are aiming to capture a shiny Charmander between events in the wild, they'll have their work cut out for them. It will likely take a large amount of time and items and probably quite a bit of luck as well.

Regardless, Charmander's shiny appearance rate during standard gameplay is not zero, meaning determined or lucky trainers (or both) are still able to capture it. There are certain methods that may make this process easier, but at the end of the day, players will just have to be persistent or await another event that features Charmander for a chance at increased shiny rates.

Maximizing the odds of capturing a Shiny Charmander in the Wild

In order to maximize Fire-type Pokemon GO spawns, trainers may want to travel to an area that Fire-types can spawn in. These include cities, residential neighborhoods, and dry or arid areas. This makes beaches a great spot to find Fire-types among other places.
If trainers are still struggling to find the right place for Fire-type spawns or Charmander spawns specifically, they may want to look for nests on third-party tracking sites. These listed locations can lead to multiple Charmander encounters in a short amount of time.
When heading out to catch any specific Pokemon, trainers may want to bring along as many incense and lure modules as they can. These items increase spawns around the trainer and attached Pokestops, respectively. This won't guarantee that a Charmander will appear more often, but this can make a significant difference when used in locales where Charmander can appear.
Trainers will want to keep moving. This is due to Pokemon GO being capable of refreshing available spawns as a player moves, ensuring that they don't get stuck with low spawns by sitting in a single area.

Sadly, without the assistance of Pokemon GO events, trainers will just have to keep searching. Determination can lead to a shiny Charmander, but nothing concerning shinies in-game is guaranteed.

Hopefully, Niantic will hold a future event around Charmander, similar to Mega Moment. Until then, trainers will simply need to keep searching and hope for the best.