Shiny Obsessions... Again?

Along with yesterday's Community Day outing, a surprise other happening also broke out in Pokémon Go: Ho-Oh has returned to raid battles again, and as with Lugia two months ago, it has come back with a possible Shiny form. The difference from Lugia is that this reappearance does not replace current Level 5 raid bosses - Latias and Latios - and is instead concurrent with them depending on the region. This presents the possibility of having obsessions all over again similar to how it was when Lugia returned.

Shiny Ho-Oh is also not very different from its regular form; it features white and golden coloration instead of the rainbow-like coloration of the regular form. But again, this return with a Shiny form is a similar circumstance to that of Lugia earlier. It becomes a special thing, especially considering that Latias and Latios are still present, allowing for preferences of desired raid bosses to be satisfied. If a player becomes tired of one raid boss, the player can opt for the other.

This last situation seems to be exactly what is happening among some of my other raid mates in my raid group. They seem to have become tired of Latios and have indicated the desire to pursue Ho-Oh with its possible Shiny form. The only problem is that unlike Lugia's initial reappearance, it seems this Shiny form is incredibly rare; based on first- and second-day reports, very few players obtained Shiny Ho-Oh after the respective raids. This is already looking like a potential detriment and roadblock to pursuing a Shiny Ho-Oh.

Personally, at this point I'm still ambivalent in regard to opting between Latios and Ho-Oh. I already have three Latios, but I would like to pursue up to two more so that the five Latias I have can be "married" to a partner. As for Ho-Oh, an opportune raid that appeared after the conclusion of yesterday's Community Day provided the chance for a first crack at Ho-Oh, and the raid seems to be a smooth progression, so much so that I could foresee going for a few more to see if a Shiny one will appear. And yet, I shouldn't turn this into an obsession just yet, especially when I've yet to realize the Latios quota.

Perhaps things haven't quite progressed into the level of obsessions, but they might very well be if interest continues. I'm still wary about letting this turn into such, however, given that in general the current period of time is supposed to be a cool-down time for everything. Even so, there is the indication that players might be more inclined to aggressively pursue Ho-Oh for its Shiny form. With that in mind, it might be time to take up some of this Shiny obsession once again.

One year ago: Oddest Things with Pokémon