Can Espurr be Shiny in Pokémon GO?

Espurr was pretty much born to be a meme Pokémon, from its perpetually wide-eyed expression to its fluffy little stature. Back when Gen VI first came out, the internet was rife with Espurr jokes, and I still enjoy seeing its fluffy face on occasion. The only thing that could make this cutie even better would be if it was shiny. So, can Espurr be shiny in Pokémon GO?

Can Espurr be Shiny in Pokémon GO?

While Espurr has been available in Pokémon GO for a while now, and has even appeared in One-Star Raids, its shiny variation has, unfortunately, not been added to the PokéDex as of yet. Espurr was first added to the Dex around the beginning of 2021, but there’s usually a pretty lengthy disconnect between when a Pokémon is added to the GO Dex and when their shiny variants become available.

So far, there haven’t been any reports or rumors of when shiny Espurr could make its way to the game, but theoretically, as with other shinies, it’d probably happen during some manner of event, likely either focused on Gen VI or Psychic Pokémon. It could also get a Spotlight Hour at some point, but those are even more difficult to predict, and are therefore not really worth speculating on.

For future reference, assuming shiny Espurr becomes available through Raids, it’s a pure Psychic type. That means it’s weak against Bug, Dark, and Ghost types. Since it would probably be in another One-Star Raid when the time comes, it could likely be dealt with fairly easily with a strong Dark type like Absol or Cacturne with doubled-up Dark type moves. It may be a potentially powerful psychic but it’s also, y’know, a tiny bipedal cat. It ain’t rocket science.