Can you catch a shiny shadow Lugia in Pokémon Go?

With the arrival of shadow Lugia to Pokémon Go, trainers are eager to rush after Giovanni, given he’s captured a brand new legendary Pokémon and closed its heart. The only way you can capture shadow Lugia right now is to complete the final tasks of the Misunderstood Mischief Special Research, the Season of Mischief season-long quest. After defeating Giovanni, you’ll have a catch to capture shadow Lugia and add it to your collection. What are the chances of you catching a shiny version of shadow Lugia?

At the time of this writing, we have seen no recorded reports of anyone catching a shiny version of shadow Lugia. There’s only one opportunity to capture shadow Lugia right now, and it doesn’t look like the shiny version is available after defeating Giovanni. Typically, only a handful of Team Rocket grunts have a shiny version of their shadow Pokémon. While the regular Lugia has had a shiny version in the past, it doesn’t mean the shadow version will also be shiny.

If someone posts a screenshot online and shares it of a shiny Shadow Lugia, we’ll update this article to reflect this information. But, for now, it doesn’t look like it’s happening, and players shouldn’t expect to encounter it after completing the Misunderstood Mischief season-long Special Research challenge.