Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Meltan, Niantic, pokemon, pokemon go, shiny meltan

Where is Shiny Meltan? The Shiny That Disappeared From Pokémon GO

Published Mon, 24 Aug 2020 18:10:58 -0500

It's been a long time since Shiny Meltan left you (left you) without a dope beat to step to. In Pokémon GO, when a Pokémon's Shiny variant is released, it's generally a permanent thing. There are a few exceptions, such as Shiny Abra and Clefairy, which were mistakenly released at 2019's GO Fest only to be taken away by Niantic once the mistake was realized. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, Niantic put Shiny Unown back in the box after its debut at GO Fest and featured raids during Enigma Week. The Shiny Pokémon that has been gone from the game for the longest time, however, is Meltan… but here's why we think it's coming back soon.

Shiny Meltan has disappeared from Pokémon GO. Credit: Niantic

First, a little bit on Meltan. Niantic's rollout of Meltan has been unique, following this timeline:

September 2018: Niantic has Meltan spawn in the wild, but upon being caught, they turn to Ditto.
October 10, 2018: Niantic rolls out a Special Research that can lead to the capture of one Meltan.
October 24, 2018: Niantic reveals that Meltan will be able to evolve into Melmetal.
February 2019: Players who connect their phones to Nintendo Switch's Pokémon: Let's GO game can get a Mystery Box, which spawns multiple Meltan. Niantic notes that Shiny Meltan will be avalable for the first time through the box, but it will leave at the end of the event in March.
April 2019: Shiny Meltan returned for another month through the Mystery Box.

Now, Shiny Meltan has been gone from Pokémon GO since that fateful day, May 5, 2019. There is reason to hope that it may return, though. Pokémon GO uses their annual anniversary poster to tease events and releases coming in the future of the game… and Meltan appeared prominently in the 2020 poster, pictured below. One can only guess why it is there, but it would make sense that its inclusion here is meant to tease a Meltan event… where, it is very likely, we would see the return of Shiny Meltan to Pokémon GO.