Is Shiny Heatran available in Pokemon GO?

Thanks to Pokemon GO's Dark Flames event, Heatran is returning to the mobile title as a 5-star raid boss. Trainers can head to gyms from June 29, 2023, to July 2, 2023, to battle the Fire/Steel-type Legendary creature. Once it has been beaten, players can capture the Pocket Monster for their own use. However, that brings up one question: Can its shiny variant also be caught?

The good news is that trainers can absolutely catch Heatran's shiny form, as it was introduced to the game in January 2020. However, since this Legendary Pokemon doesn't spawn in the wild, trainers will have to obtain it elsewhere for a chance to find its shiny variant.

Fortunately, Pokemon GO players have two options to locate shiny Heatran at the moment.

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Where can shiny Heatran be found in Pokemon GO?

Thanks to Pokemon GO's Dark Flames event, Heatran will be a 5-star raid boss for the entire event's duration. If players have the raid passes and the right counters to beat Heatran, they can repeat these raids until they spot the creature's shiny form in the post-raid capture encounter.

Alternatively, trainers will be able to receive Heatran as a reward in Pokemon GO PvP starting from Rank 20. As players secure wins and rank up, they can acquire the legendary creature (and its shiny form if they're lucky) during reward encounters. This will remain in effect from June 29, 2023, to July 6, 2023.

With this information, it all really comes down to what a Pokemon GO player prefers to do. Raids may be easier to counter since trainers are simply fighting Heatran. However, consecutive raids can drain their Pokecoin reserves if they have to keep purchasing raid passes and diving back in.

Conversely, participating in the GO Battle League won't cost much save for the Stardust to power up a player's battle party, but that's situational on a player-by-player basis. However, opponents are much trickier to counter since trainers use many different Pocket Monsters in their team lineups.

Either way, players will likely have to encounter several Heatran for a chance to find its shiny variant. The community has determined that this particular legendary has a 5% shiny rate, so trainers may have to encounter up to 20 Heatran before its shiny form appears.

Given these slim chances, players will have to remain active and take on raids or the GO Battle League as much as possible before the timelines outlined above conclude. Determined players can even combine raiding with participating in PvP to help maximize their chances of finding shiny Heatran.

Fortunately, trainers still have plenty of time to find shiny Heatran before it stomps off after the event concludes. Furthermore, players who don't find one shouldn't be discouraged, as this Fire/Steel-type Legendary creature will inevitably appear in the raid and PvP arenas once again, maybe as part of another event that Niantic has planned in the future.