‘Pokémon Go’ Raid: How To Catch Yourself A Shiny Articuno

Pokémon Go has been celebrating its second anniversary, and to commemorate the event, developer Niantic has been doling out rewards for its dedicated fanbase. Today, for a limited time, trainers can snag themselves a shiny Articuno, one of the legendary birds from the original batch of 151 Pokémon. Here are all the details.

Dubbed Articuno Day, the one-day event was unlocked through the first round of Professor Willow’s Global Challenge, which players were able to successfully complete last week. As a reward for their efforts, Articuno will be made available in Raid Battles around the world.

There is a catch, however (no pun intended). Trainers will only have a three-hour window, at which time Articuno will appear. The time is different depending on where you live, so we’ve posted a schedule below so you can keep track for yourself.

Asia-Pacific Region: 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. JST (GMT +9)
Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. UTC (GMT +0)
The Americas and Greenland: 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. PT (GMT -8)

As detailed by Forbes, any Articuno that are caught today won’t know any special attacks or moves, but today marks a rare opportunity to catch a shiny legendary Pokémon, which is more than enough incentive for most players.

So, what’s the best strategy for snagging a shiny Articuno? Well, for starters, you want to increase your opportunities to encounter one, so your best bet is to travel to an area with an abundance of gyms and other landmarks. This way, you’ll be able to initiate more raids, just in case you have some trouble finding a shiny Articuno right off the bat.

Speaking of which, shiny Articuno look a lot like their non-shiny counterparts, so make sure you’re trying to catch the right creature! Shiny variants will be a slightly lighter shade of blue, but the easiest way to tell them apart is by the sparkles that can only be seen on shiny Pokémon.

Still, the biggest hurdle players will come across are sighting rates. While there aren’t any concrete numbers to go off of, estimates seem to indicate that it’s somewhere around 1 percent, if not lower. Unfortunately, most information on this subject is purely anecdotal, but some intrepid users have crunched some numbers, and catch rates of 1/256 and 1/512 are present on more than a few threads.

Thankfully, the catch rate for shiny Articuno is 100%. Once you come across one, you won’t have to worry about it fleeing. If you’re unable to catch one for yourself, be sure to keep on the lookout for Pikachu and Pichu, which are appearing more frequently this month in celebration of Pokémon Go‘s second anniversary. Better yet, players might come across a “summer style” Pikachu, which sports a straw hat and a pair of sunglasses.