Mincinno will be featured in Limited Research tasks and 5 km eggs, joining Darumaka (who will be a likely hatch from 7 km eggs alongside Shuckle and Foongus) as a new addition to Pokemon GO. The overall Lunar New Year Event will also make red Pokemon like Charmeleon, Corphish, and Kricketot as well as rodent Pokemon like Rattata, Marill, and Bidoof more likely to appear in the wild.
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Among other general bonuses available to players during the event period, such as a higher chance to become Lucky Friends with someone when trading, two red-hued shiny Pokemon will also be more prevalent: Minccino and Gyarados (a popular shiny as of late given Game Freak’s Magikarp-centric Max Raid event in Pokemon Sword and Shield earlier this month).
For the last few days, the Pokemon GO Twitter account has been teasing an impending event through a series of waning moon emoji. The announcement of the Lunar New Year Event is the first Tweet following the last crescent moon post on January 20, so it seems this was what the social media account was building up to.
Minccino’s appearance was foreshadowed by a datamine last week, but with the official event details it was revealed that the Normal-type Chinchilla Pokemon will be able to evolve using a Unova Stone.
In 2019, the Year of the Pig, Pokemon GO saw an event centered around shiny Spoink. That swine-themed creature perhaps made more sense than a chinchilla like Minccino does for a year focused on rats, but there’s no denying that the fluffy, fashion-forward Pokemon is more aesthetically appealing than something like a Raticate (who coincidentally also has a reddish-orange shiny).
The 2021 Chinese New Year will usher in the Year of the Ox, so players who stick with Pokemon GO as the game adds more new mechanics like trade evolutions can likely expect to see a shiny Tauros or Bouffalant take the reins. But for now, it’s Minccino’s time to scurry into people’s hearts.
Pokemon GO is available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices.
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