Can Minun be shiny in Pokemon GO?

With the current Power Plant event in Pokemon GO, Electric-type Pokemon have taken the spotlight. They have garnered the attention of players across the globe. A new Pokemon, Helioptile, is at the head of the craze. Minun, the Electric-type rodent Pokemon of the Hoenn region, has gathered the attention of a specific community of Pokemon GO players, shiny hunters.

Minun was released in the third generation of the Pokemon franchise alongside Plusle. The two Pokemon and their signature abilities, Plus and Minus, respectively, were meant to tie in with the double battle feature, which was a brand new mechanic at the time. Plusle and Minun also made star appearances in the beloved Pokemon Ranger franchise as the partner Pokemon of the player characters.

Before dedicating the time and effort to pursue a shiny variant of a specific Pokemon, players will need to know if the desired Pokemon can appear as such in the first place. Unlike the main series, where a shiny form is programmed into the game for every Pokemon, Niantic periodically releases these Pokemon forms for Pokemon GO.

---

Shiny Minun in Pokemon GO: Fact or fiction?

Official artwork for Minun used throughout the Pokemon franchise (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Luckily for players who collect these Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon GO, Minun had its shiny form added along with Plusle's back in July of 2018. While shiny variants of Pokemon are always rare, these Pokemon are far from ordinary. Despite the Power Plant event boosting the chance of certain Electric-type Pokemon appearing, Minun is not one of these spotlighted Pokemon.

Pokemon GO has a mechanic hidden, known as Pokemon Nests. A global atlas displaying various data on these nests can be found here. Minun allegedly has nests around urban Wisconsin; two points between Milwaukee and Chicago have the highest chance of spawning Minun. Big cities like New York City, Salt Lake City and Boston have reports of Minun nests as well.

As far as finding shiny variants of Minun, players can use a few methods. While there is no way to increase the chance of a Shiny Pokemon appearing yet directly, there are only ways to decrease the amount of time it would take for Shiny Pokemon to spawn. Using incense increases the amount of Pokemon that spawn near the player while Lure Modules attach to Pokestops and increase the spawn rate of Pokemon near these stops.

Players can significantly decrease the time it takes to find a shiny Minun in Pokemon GO by using various consumable items: Incenses and Lure Modules. These items can be seen from any Pokestop. Using these items while inside a Minun nest greatly increases the chance for Minun to spawn and thus indirectly increases the opportunity to find a shiny Minun.