How to get Shedinja in Pokemon GO and can it be Shiny?

Shedinja is the final evolutionary form of the rare Nincada in Pokemon GO. The latter has an astronomically low spawn rate, making it highly sought-after in this game. Shedinja can be evolved from Nincada in the mainline games but that isn't the case in GO. Even if you have a Nincada and a surplus of Nincada Candies for evolution, you cannot evolve the critter into its final form.

Shedinja is treated as a separate Pokemon which makes it highly elusive, leaving trainers scratching their heads wondering how they can get one. That said, if lucky, players can even obtain a Shiny Shedinja.

In this article, we will run through everything about getting this critter in Pokemon GO.

Best ways to get Shedinja in Pokemon GO

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As of writing, you cannot find Shedinja in Pokemon GO. It can only be obtained through rewards of certain Field Research Tasks.

Previously, you could evolve a Nincada into a Shedinja during the Pokemon GO Tour: Hoenn if you worked on the Spooky Scramble Field Research Task. Nincada usually evolves into Ninjask in GO but this Field Research Task let you get the final evolutionary form as well. However, this was the only time that you could evolve a Nincada into a Shedinja.

The only way of obtaining this rare Pocket Monster in Pokemon GO currently is by trading with a player who already has one in their account. If you have not caught this monster previously, it can be taxing on your Stardust reserve as trading new monsters is a tad bit expensive.

We have provided a table with the Stardust requirement for trades involving regular Pokemon (non-Legendary and non-Shiny):

Friendship Level	Trade Discount	Regular Pokemon
		New	Caught
Good Friends (1 day)	0%	20,000	100
Great Friends (7 days)	20%	16,000	80
Ultra Friends (30 days)	92%	1,600	8
Best Friends (90 days)	96%	40,000	4

It is advisable to catch a few Nincadas as Niantic might introduce changes in the future that allow you to evolve this monster into its final form.

You can encounter Nincada in the wild or 1-star raids during the Bug Out event.

Although the raids are straightforward, we have listed some of the best counters against the Raid Boss in Pokemon GO along with their best moveset for the raid:

Primal Kyogre with Waterfall as the Fast move and Origin Pulse as the Charged move.
Mega Rayquaza with Air Slash as the Fast move and Dragon Ascent as the Charged move
Mega Charizard X with Fire Spin as the Fast move and Blast Burn as the Charged move
Mega Pidgeot with Gust as the Fast move and Brave Bird as the Charged move
Mega Charizard Y with Fire Spin as the Fast move and Blast Burn as the Charged move
Rayquaza with Air Slash as the Fast move and Dragon Ascent as the Charged move
Yveltal with Gust as the Fast move and Oblivion Wing as the Charged move
Reshiram with Fire Fang as the Fast move and Fusion Flare Flare as the Charged move
Incarnate Forme Enamorous with Fairy Wind as the Fast move and Fly as the Charged move
Moltres with Wing Attack as the Fast move and Sky Attack as the Charged move
Therian Enamorus with Fairy Wind as the Fast move and Fly as the Charged move
Shadow Moltres with Wing Attack as the Fast move and Sky Attack as the Charged move
Shadow Charizard with Fire Spin as the Fast move and Blast Burn as the Charged move
Shadow Staraptor with Gust as the Fast move and Fly as the Charged move
Shadow Empoleon with Waterfall as the Fast move and Hydro Cannon as the Charged move
Shadow Kingler with Bubble as the Fast move and Crabhammer as the Charged move
Shadow Mamoswine with Powder Snow as the Fast move and Avalanche as the Charged move
Shadow Ho-Oh with Incinerate as the Fast move and Brave Bird as the Charged move
Pidgeot with Gust as the Fast move and Brave Bird as the Charged move
Staraptor with Gust as the Fast move and Fly as the Charged move
Empoleon with Waterfall as the Fast move and Hydro Cannon as the Charged move
Unfezant with Air Slash as the Fast move and Sky Attack as the Charged move
Kingler with Bubble as the Fast move and Crabhammer as the Charged move

Can you evolve Nincada into Shedinja?

Shiny Shedinja (Image via The Pokemon Company)

As mentioned earlier, unlike the mainline games, you cannot evolve Nincada into its final evolutionary form in Pokemon GO. Shedinja is regarded as a separate Pocket Monster in this game.

Can Shedinja be shiny in Pokemon GO?

Shedinja can be shiny if you are lucky. When it is available as a reward from Field Research Tasks, you can get a Shiny variant of this monster but you must be astronomically lucky to make it happen.

If you are interested in Pokemon GO, you can check out some of our guides: