'Pokémon GO' update: Shiny Pokémon now available

New shiny Pokémon can now be caught in "Pokémon GO," an update that Niantic kept secret for players to discover themselves.

Niantic released an announcement on March 22 about the Water Festival, a worldwide event, which started on the same day. The company announced that water-type Pokémon will spawn more easily in and around bodies of water for a week. However, they did not say that shiny Pokémon will be introduced in the game. The discovery of these Pokémon in-game was first revealed by players on Reddit, with users posting images of a shiny Magikarp.

Players who have caught this said that these variants appear like normal Pokémon when on the map and that they only found out if the Magikarp was shiny when they engage in battle. Players will need to update their "Pokémon GO" app to catch the Magikarp variant.

Instead of orange, the shiny Magikarp has a lighter shade which looks almost golden. This Magikarp can evolve to a shiny Gyarados, which is colored bright red instead of deep blue. Attempting to transfer it will generate an alert saying that it is a shiny Pokémon. Interestingly, the Gyarados was the first recognized shiny Pokémon in the anime.

Players are still trying to determine if there are other shiny Pokémon, water-type or otherwise, that have been added in-game in the latest update. Niantic has not made an announcement on whether they will offer different variations of the creatures in-game.

The Water Festival is possibly being celebrated in line World Water Day, which was held on March 22. The Festival will run until March 29. No information has been revealed yet if the shiny Magikarp can no longer be caught after the event.

Aside from the shiny Pokémon and the Water Festival, the new update also gives players the opportunity to earn a random evolution item from the seven-day "First PokéStop of the Day" mission.