Pokémon Go fans in Japan noticed that catching Shiny Azelf and Mesprit got much harder. They did not like this change at all.
A Reddit post on June 6 talked about this. It shared info from Japanese site 9db. They said, from over 250 players, Shiny Azelf and Mesprit showed up about 0.93% of the time.
Related: Players ask why Pokémon Go doesn’t add new stuff.
We don’t know how many used Remote Raid Passes. Some think Niantic lowered Shiny rates for remote raids on purpose. This made players react fast.
A top comment said, “Maybe they want to end Remote Raids. First, make them less fun. Then, drop them since nobody uses them.”
In another discussion, fans looked at old rates. They saw Shiny rates used to be around 10% for other Raids.
“The Z-test showed a difference,” a player noted. “Maybe Remote Raids have lower Shiny rates.”
Some players shared their own findings. But compared to 9db’s data, it’s hard to know the whole story.
Niantic faced anger for making Remote Raid Passes less user-friendly on April 6.
Remote Raid Passes are handy because they let people join Raids from anywhere. Players strongly protested these changes and even started #HearUsNiantic.
Niantic wants more real-life meetups, especially after COVID-19. They also launched the Campfire app to help players join Raids together on April 6.
Niantic hasn’t talked about going back on these decisions or addressed the Shiny rate issues.
Meanwhile, a new event kicked off on June 6, ending on June 12. It’s the Water Festival: Beach Week, letting players catch beach-themed Pokémon and enjoy special tasks and rewards.