Shiny Pokemon have been featured in the Pokemon series since Generation 2 made its debut all the way back in 1999. These "shinies" are just color variations of Pokemon; for example, a shiny Pikachu will have slightly darkened fur while a shiny Magikarp will be a beautiful golden color rather than its usual orange, white, and yellow look.

It's not just the main series entries that feature shiny Pokemon, however, with mobile spin-off Pokemon GO including shinies too. And Pokemon GO isn't the only one, with players of new free to play title Pokemon Quest discovering shiny Pokemon almost as soon as the game released on Nintendo Switch in May (it has since launched on Android and iOS devices).

Which Shiny Pokemon Have Been Confirmed?

Pokemon Quest players have been detailing their shiny finds on social media, posting screenshots of their rare buddies on Reddit and Twitter. Pokemon Quest has 151 Kanto-region Pokemon to catch in all and judging from these social media posts, it seems that a significant amount of them have shiny variations.

Here are just some of the shiny Pokemon that have been confirmed so far:

• Growlithe
• Tentacool
• Spearow
• Krabby
• Ponyta
• Onix
• Machop
• Bellsprout
• Drowzee
• Rapidash
• Doduo
• Goldeen
• Poliwag
• Rhyhorn
• Abra

There are 16 shiny Pokemon listed above, which is more than 10% of the total Pokemon available to catch in Pokemon Quest. Though, this is just the tip of the iceberg as social media posts confirm that many others have shiny variations. There are even shiny variations of the game's legendary Pokemon, including shiny Articuno.

It is quite feasible that every Pokemon in Pokemon Quest has a shiny variation, though it should be noted that these shinies do not appear to have any discernible gameplay benefits (e.g. higher stats) and it is just a cosmetic difference.

How to Get Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon Quest

In the mainline Pokemon series and even in Pokemon GO, getting shiny Pokemon is far from a straightforward task. The rate of shiny Pokemon is 1 in 4096 which is equivalent to 0.02%. This is why many fans will go as far as to relaunch their saves hundreds or even thousands of times just to luck out with a shiny starter Pokemon.

Thankfully, no such steps need to be taken to get shinies in Pokemon Quest as the rate for these color variations seems to be much higher than in other games. Players report that they saw shinies within their first few hours of playing and have continued to encounter them fairly regularly. It's not uncommon for players to say that they have more than half a dozen shiny Pokemon in their collection boxes, which, given that the game has only been available since the end of May, is another indication that the shiny rate is high.

Getting shinies is relatively straightforward and in order to encounter them, players just need to play the game normally. Players will likely come across shiny Pokemon as they play and as a Pokemon shows up randomly at the base camp every 22 hours, players may encounter their first shiny this way. Though there are steps that can be taken in order to attract more Pokemon to the base camp, including preparing meals.

Different Pokemon will require different recipes and players will need to complete quests in order to finish cooking these meals. Alternatively, Pokemon Quest lets players spend PM Tickets to complete them instantly. PM Tickets are earned for free by logging in daily, completing certain quest objectives, or by purchasing them with real money, meaning that earning them may be costly or time-consuming. Players can also purchase objects such as the Pikachu Surfboard which costs 400 PM Tickets and increases the chances of getting multiple Pokemon from one recipe, which also increases the chance of getting a shiny.

Pokemon Quest is available on Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS.