Can shiny Poliwag be caught in Pokemon GO?

Poliwag is a Pokemon looked upon fondly by a large portion of the Pokemon GO community, thanks in part to its lovable design. Pokemon GO players may also have a strong fondness for Poliwag and its evolutionary line thanks to them being a part of the original 151 and thus being in the game since launch aside from Politoed.

Debuting in Pokemon Red and Blue, many players may best remember Poliwag's evolutionary line not from these games but instead in Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, where Chuck, the Fighting-type Gym Leader used a Poliwrath as his ace Pokemon.

A portion of Pokemon GO's player base includes a type of player that plays the game to collect a rare variant of Pokemon known as Shiny Pokemon. Unlike in the main series, Shiny Pokemon tend to be released in waves or one at a time to commemorate the Pokemon's involvement in an event.

Players looking to catch a shiny Poliwag will need to know if it can even appear in the game before dedicating their time to hunting one.

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Shiny Poliwag in Pokemon GO: Fact or fiction?

Each member of the Poliwag family in their shiny variant (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Luckily, Poliwag and its other family members can appear in their shiny variant. Next comes the matter of the best way to try and find one.

While there is no direct way of increasing a Pokemon's chance of appearing shiny aside from a Community Day event, players can take steps to decrease the time it would take to find one, thus indirectly increasing its shiny odds.

A hidden mechanic in Pokemon GO known as "nests" can drastically decrease the time it would take to find a Shiny Pokemon by increasing the spawn rates of various specific Pokemon depending on the Pokemon assigned to that nest location. Notable Poliwag nests include Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.

Using various consumable items is a great way to increase spawn rates of different Pokemon, but unlike nests, things like Lures and Incenses increase the general spawn rate, which will not guarantee the spawn rates of a specific Pokemon.

To maximize the effectiveness of these items, using a combination of both Lures and Incenses can significantly increase the spawn rate of an area and drastically decrease the amount of time it would take for players to find Shiny Pokemon.

In summary, Poliwag and its evolutions can be found in their shiny variants in Pokemon GO. Using a combination of Lures and Incenses in their nest locations, players can significantly decrease the amount of time it would take to find a shiny Poliwag.

A comprehensive atlas of each confirmed and unconfirmed nest location can be found here.