Will Genesect (burn drive) be shiny during five-star raids in Pokémon Go? – January 5, 2021

Genesect is making a return to five-star raids in Pokémon Go for a brief period during the Unova Celebration, leading up to the big Kanto event in February. It won’t be around forever. You’ll be able to encounter it starting on January 5 at 10 AM, and it’ll be around until January 10 at 8 PM in your local time. But this Genesect varies from the one in previous raids and special ticketed events. It will have a burn drive inside it, meaning players can capture it and receive a Genesect that know the Fire-type Techno Blast move, giving it a better edge in combat. While you’re battling Genesect, attempting to catch the best one, will a shiny version be available?

We do know that Genesect has its shiny version in Pokémon Go, that’s for sure. Several months ago, when Genesect was featured as a Battle League reward for select players, you had the chance to encounter its shiny version during the event and add it to your collection. However, for the five-star raids during the Unova Celebration event, Genesect will not have its shiny version available. Of the legendary Pokémon being featured in five-star raids for January 2021, as far as we know, it’s the only one you can’t catch its shiny version.

Why developer Niantic made this choice remains a mystery. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for it, especially if this is the series of raids they plan to introduce Genesect with its signature move for the first time. This could be because they likely plan to introduce a Genesect with all of the drives at the start of 2021 or throughout the year, and if each one had a chance to be shiny, there’d be an influx of shiny Genesect in Pokémon Go.

While not directly expressed as the reason because Niantic has not detailed how many future Genesect five-star raids the game will be receiving, that makes the most sense. Players will be actively attempting to battle a Genesect with a specific drive, trying to find the best version that fits their playstyle. In our Genesect best moveset guide, we listed out which one gives it the best edge in battles, but there are five different Techno Blasts, so five different five-star raids. The developers are holding the shinies back, waiting for exclusive, specific events.

We’ll see the return of a shiny Genesect in the future. But for the January 5 five-star raids, for Genesect with a burn drive, don’t have your hopes up to encounter on.