May is here, and that means a long-awaited shakeup to the Pokémon GO field research list. March and April had the same quests with a few minor exceptions. Sure there were the Grass and Bug type events that added some new shiny quests, but these were fleeting. So what does a new month of quests bring? A few new shiny Pokémon, and one big disappointment.
First up are the new shinies. Since March, a handful of new Pokémon have been given shiny status. As always, nothing is guaranteed. Your hopes of catching one of these novelty palette-swapped Pokémon is still around 1 out of 400. That might not be great, but quests give you an extra chance to encounter one of these Pokémon. At those odds, you'll want every chance you can get.
Now for the quests and rewards:
You'll notice that a couple new shiny Pokemon have joined the rotation. Seel is a standout, having just become shiny about a week ago. You'll get Seel from the "Catch 5 Water-Type Pokémon" task.
Also of note is the "Catch 10 Ground-Type Pokémon" with will now yield a Diglett instead of Sandshrew. Diglett was also just given a shiny to celebrate Earth Day, and first gen fans will no doubt want to get their hands on the odd blue-nosed version of the whack-a-mole.
Unfortunately, Niantic giveth and taketh away. The monthly changing of the guard got rid of some quest rewards, with one big disappointment in particular. Lapras, the popular nessie Pokémon, is now gone from quests. This is quite a blow as Lapras finally got a shiny form recently. It seems almost calculated that Niantic would pull Lapras as a quest reward just when it got a shiny form. No doubt the purple Lapras will be prized for trading, if not an enticement to buy more incubators during some sort of potential egg-hatching event.
Other than that, the quests are standard stuff. You'll want to pay attention to those Water and Ground-type quests, because Diglett and Seel shinies are probably in-demand right now. Who knows? Maybe a friend has an extra shiny Lapras to trade for a shiny Seel.
Happy hunting trainers, and be sure to check back with TheGamer as more events and quests are added to Pokémon GO.