For anyone who was playing Pokemon Go yesterday, there were several pleasant surprises waiting for you.
First of all, there were plenty of Pikachus to catch, all of which had the special Surf move.
While this might not have been big enough to impress most fans, there was also something else very special happening too.
Because of the increase in Pikachu’s spawning, there was also a large rise in the changes of catching a shiny.
A shiny Pikachu with the move Surf certainly made the short-lived Community Day a bit more interesting.
The first reports indicated that 10% of all the event Pikachus found during the Community Day were Shiny.
The best news is that these effects will likely be active in all future Pokemon Community Days too, meaning that Shiny hunting could become the main draw of each monthly event.
Here’s feedback from one impressed fan, who wrote: “I know a lot of us were/are disappointed with community day when it first got announced. Personally, a Pikachu with a new move isn’t too appealing for me.
“However, when we found out the Pikachu wasn’t an event Pokémon and the shiny rate got boosted, my interest went up significantly. I already had a shiny Pikachu, but my girlfriend got one on her first one today!
“This honestly made community day so much more fun. I hope in the future this is how they introduce new shinies into the game.”
It follows news of a recent Pokemon Go update sparking rumours that the next wave of Gen 3 Pokemon could be released very soon.
Several unreleased Pokemon saw their moves updated, along with a range of other bug fixes and performance tweaks.
The new update also comes with a brand new loading screen that may have revealed the next new Gen 3 Pokemon.
It features a selection of Pokemon celebrating the start of 2018, some of them not yet available to catch.
This includes previously unreleased Pokemon Loudred, which was one of the Pokemon to see a move update.
Niantic has also tackled swiping between screens, and added shiny icons to stop you accidentally transferring Pokemon.
Another nice touch is the way the game will now remember your last selected Pokeball from encounter to encounter.
Legendary Gen 3 Pokemon Kyogre is also still available to catch, staying as the main Legendary Raid battle until February 14.
It’s worth remembering that as a Water-type Pokemon, Kyogre is weak against Electric and Grass-type attacks.
“Its sole Fast Attack—Waterfall—is a Water-type attack, while its Charged Attack may be an Electric-type Thunder, Ice-type Blizzard, or Water-type Hydro Pump,” the Pokemon Company explains.
“Electric-type Pokemon are reliable choices regardless of Kyogre’s moves. Their Electric-type attacks will deal super effective damage to Kyogre, while none of Kyogre’s attacks are super effective in return.
“Raikou will be the most effective Electric-type Pokemon by far, with Zapdos and Jolteon trailing afterward.”