Can Basculin be shiny in Pokemon GO?

Pokemon GO's Ultra Unlock event has brought some region-specific Pokemon into the spotlight, including the Pokemon Basculin, in both its red-striped and blue-striped forms.

Typically, Basculin's form is restricted depending on the hemisphere players find themselves in. However, the Ultra Unlock event has allowed Pokemon GO players to earn both forms of Basculin in the wild and via egg hatches. This has naturally led players to question whether Basculin's shiny form is available or not. Unfortunately, at the moment, Basculin's shiny form is not currently available to Pokemon GO players.

---

Pokemon GO: More info on Basculin

Image via The Pokemon Company

While Basculin does not yet have a shiny form present in Pokemon GO, data miners via Pokemon GO community sites have found the model for the shiny form of both red-stripe and blue-stripe Basculin. The models showcase no major color changes, but do present a lighter color to the Pokemon's body. Its body is a lighter green, with its protruding spikes a brighter tone as well. This gives it more of a neon-color than its previous model. As previously stated, it is unclear when this shiny form will be available in Pokemon GO, but Niantic includes new shinies into the game quite regularly.

It hails from the Unova region of Pokemon: Black and White as well as their direct sequels Pokemon: Black 2 and White 2. It was released in an update in January 2020 which also saw some Pokemon gain the capability to evolve from trades. Normally, the red-striped variant of Basculin can only be encountered within Earth's Eastern Hemisphere, with the blue-striped variant only being available in the Western Hemisphere. Fortunately, thanks to Pokemon GO's Ultra Unlock event, Basculin in both forms can be encountered in the wild or hatched from 7km eggs.

Basculin is capable of learning a total of five different moves in Pokemon GO. For Fast Moves, Basculin can use either Tackle or Water Gun. For its Charge Moves, Basculin can utilize Aqua Tail, Muddy Water and Aqua Jet. Basculin is a Water-type Pokemon with no other types included, meaning it is most vulnerable to Electric and Grass moves. Currently, Basculin possesses no additional evolutionary forms.

Although it likely won't amount to much in battle in Pokemon GO for the foreseeable future, Pokedex completionists will certainly want to take advantage of capturing the region-exclusive Basculin in both of its forms before its regional restrictions take effect once again.

---