Niantic
Today is the second ever Pokémon GO Community Day, a new event that Niantic has planned to get people all outside catching during the same time window to recreate the magic of launch week a year and a half ago.
The first time around it was Pikachu who was everywhere with the special move Surf, and players could pick up a shiny version of him pretty easily, as shiny spawns were increased dramatically. But today? Pokémon GO is offering something truly unique, an almost guaranteed shot at shiny Dratini, which can evolve into a shiny Dragonair, which can evolve into a shiny Dragonite.
While Pokémon GO has slowly been introducing shinies, only a few truly “top tier” shinies exist like Gyarados or Aggron. But Dragonite, who continues to be useful to this day despite being Gen 1, and is one of the most iconic Pokémon from that generation, is probably a cooler find than all of them.
The fact is, during the time window today (2:00 PM EST – 5:00 PM EST), you will have your best shot at getting this shiny evolution tree, and possible your only shot, depending on what happens after Community Day today. The ratio seems to be roughly 5-10% of all Dratini catches today are shiny, meaning if you catch 10-20 you should probably get yourself at least one. After that, just keep hunting for ones with higher IV. You only need one shiny Dratini to evolve it into a shiny Dragonite, but to guarantee yourself one, take advantage of this flood of Dratini and catch enough to get you to 125 candies, which is about 40, without berries, 20 with them, and even less if you're grinding up your extras. More or less if you participate in Community Day for any length of time today, you can probably have yourself a shiny Dragonite by the end of the next few hours. But be sure to wait until you're totally done catching to make sure you're evolving your highest IV shiny.
Niantic
Shiny Dratini is pink, shiny Dragonaire is extra pink, and then for some reason, shiny Dragonite is actually green, though I suppose that makes sense given the color scheme of the originals, and how it changes after the first two.
A lot of the time, shinies are barely noticeable color changes, but that’s not the case this time, as green Dragonite is as noticeable and cool as red Gyarados in my opinion. The point is, even if you’re only rarely playing Pokémon GO these days, this is without question your best chance at getting a shiny Dragonite, and if you evolve a shiny Dragonite today, he will also get a special move, Draco Meteor, that he cannot get otherwise.
Worst case scenario, after Community Day shiny Dratini will not be added to the general pool and this will have been your only shot to get him. Best case scenario, Dratini is added to the shiny pool, but the odds to find one go way back down to one in a few hundred, and with Dratini already a pretty rare Pokémon in most locations, you may never actually find one again without an extreme amount of hunting. So yes, you’re going to want to go outside today and catch Dratini until you find one.
I really do think that Community Day is one of the best things that Pokémon GO has done in the last few months, as it gives everyone a reason to pick up the game again with really unique prizes like ultra-rare shinies that becomes easily accessible for a short window. I’m looking forward to seeing how these continue to evolve, but for now, this Dratini event is definitely a can’t-miss, and you will absolutely want to secure yourself a shiny (or ten) by the end of the session today.
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Credit: Niantic.
Last month, developer Niantic Labs introduced a new sort of limited time event in Pokémon GO: it's called Community Day, a now-monthly event that's designed to get people out and hanging out together one Saturday a month. Community day is different from normal events mostly because of its exceedingly short runtime, meant to encourage players to all get out and play at the same time, as opposed to a normal event which might last over the course of a week or even two.
During that time we'll see increased spawns of an event Pokémon with a special move, triple Stardust for all catches as well as lures that last for 3 hours, or the entire duration of the event. There will also be Raids going on during Community Day, just like any old day. My advice would be to seek those out, even if you don't necessarily need the Raid Pokémon: Raids serve as natural meeting points for players, and you might as well make some friends on Community Day. Read on to find out more about Community Day # 2.
When is it: February's Community Day is tomorrow, February 24. There are three large time zones, all of which have their own event times. The event will start at 2:00 PM EST in the Western Hemisphere, 10:00 AM GMT in Europe and 12:00 PM JST in Asia Pacific. In all regions, the event will run for only three hours.
There will also be Raids going on during Community Day, just like any old day. My advice would be to seek those out, even if you don't necessarily need the Raid Pokémon: Raids serve as natural meeting points for players, and you might as well make some friends on Community Day.
The Pokémon: Last time around we had a special Pikachu that knew "surf," which was perfectly cute if not particularly influential in the meta. This time around, however, we've got Dratini, which evolves into Dragonair and finally Dragonite -- the final evolution is less rare now that plenty of players have had an opportunity to catch it since launch, but it remains one of the best Pokémon in the game for its high stats and relative versatility. Dragonite is a great generalist creature for when you need to fill out a Raid team, and it works well as a gym defender in a pinch.
Crucially, Dratini is also one of a small handful of Pokémon that counts towards the Dragon-type medal, which can be a rare beast indeed even for high-level players. That's especially important because a high Dragon medal can boost your chances of catching Rayquaza, which is floating around the game right now. If, like me, you don't even have bronze Dragon medal, getting out there to catch a bunch of Dratini will be your best bet for a long time.
The move: The marquee move here isn't for Dratini itself but for Dragonite, its third-tier evolution. Any Dratini evolved into Dragonair and then Dragonite during the event will receive Draco Meteor, a powerful Dragon-type move that can't be learned from TMs. As I said before, Dragonite is already a highly capable Pokémon, and Draco Meteor does not appear to be it's most powerful charged move. But Pokémon GO is about catching them all, up to and including all the particular variants you can find. So grab it!
Don't be alarmed if you find a pink Dratini today during Pokemon Go's Community Day.
Players in Asia and Europe have reported that they've caught a Shiny Dratini as part of today's Community Day festivities. This follows our report that Pokemon Go developers added the 3D assets for the Shiny Dratini line to the game yesterday, which was a strong sign that the Shiny Pokemon would be available in the game.
Shiny Pokemon have variant coloration than their non-Shiny counterparts and are usually quite rare. While they don't have better stats than non-Shiny Pokemon, most players want to get their hands on Shiny Pokemon because of their extreme rarity.
As part of today's Community Day events, it appears that Pokemon Go has greatly increased the odds of finding a Shiny Dratini. There are a ton of players reporting that they've caught a Shiny Dratini...although that could just be due to the overabundance of Dratini as part of today's event.
If you live in North or South America and you want to catch a Shiny Dratini, you'll have a great chance to catch a Shiny Dratini today between 11 AM and 2 PM PT. Here's a couple of tips to help you snag one for yourself.
Find High Density Pokemon Areas
Dratini will be spawning everywhere as part of today's event, but you'll want to hedge your bets by going to a place where Pokemon already spawn in high numbers. Parks, malls, and other public areas typically have multiple spawn points, so they'll likely be flooded with Dratini during the event.
You can also increase your odds by dropping a Lure Module on a PokeStop. Dratini will start popping up at the PokeStop, so you can cycle through those to try to grab a Shiny Dratini.
Please note that a Shiny Dratini doesn't look any different on the overworld map, so you'll need to tap on each Dratini and trigger the catch screen to see if its Shiny. Luckily, Shiny Dratini look dramatically different than a normal Dratini (they're pink instead of blue) so you'll instantly know if you've encountered a Shiny Dratini.
General Catching Tips
Once you find a Shiny Dratini, you'll want to do everything you can to make sure it doesn't get away. Dratini has a base capture rate of just 40%, which means that you've got pretty good odds of catching a Dratini just by hitting it with a PokeBall. However, it also has a flee rate of 9% - which means there's a decent chance Dratini will run away if you don't catch it on the first couple of throws.
Luckily, Golden Razz Berries, Ultra Balls, curved throws, and well-aimed throws will all increase your odds of catching Dratini on the first throw. For example, hitting a Dratini with a curved Ultra Ball throw while using a Golden Razz Berry will jump your odds up from 40% all the way up to 97% even if you don't hit him with the most accurate throw.
Players who have caught lots of Dragon-Type Pokemon in the past will also have an advantage. Under the same circumstances as above, players can increase their catch rate all the way up to 100% if they have a Gold medal for catching Dragon-Type Pokemon.
Hopefully, you can find plenty of Shiny Dratini during the event. We've seen reports of players coming away with ten or more Shiny Dratini just for playing during the full 3 hour event. Good luck and get catching!
