The free Timed Research Astronaut Pikachu can be shiny, so raids are not your only shiny route — but every route runs through raids anyway. Leek Duck’s event page says you “might encounter one in raids or from Timed Research,” and the research is built from “win raids” tasks. No shiny rate has been published for either encounter. The event runs until Saturday, October 10 at 11:59 p.m. local time, and you can claim research rewards until Monday, October 12 at 11:59 p.m.
Can the Timed Research Astronaut Pikachu Be Shiny?
Yes, according to Leek Duck, and no source says it is locked. The three event pages disagree only in how much they say.
| Source | What it says about shiny | Covers the research? |
|---|---|---|
| Official Pokémon GO event post | “If you’re lucky, you may encounter a Shiny one!” sits on the debut line (“raids or in Timed Research”) and under One-Star Raids | Implied; not repeated under the research heading |
| Leek Duck | “If you’re lucky, you might encounter one in raids or from Timed Research!” | Stated |
| Pokémon GO Hub | Shiny note appears under One-Star Raids only | Silent |
Takeaway: two of three sources cover the research, and none rule it out. Plan on it being possible, not on it being the way you get a shiny.
How Many Raids Should You Win?
Five wins is the floor for the research, and every win also gives you a raid encounter with its own shiny chance. Leek Duck lists five tasks (win 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 raids) in a single step, each paying 2,500 XP or 2,500 Stardust, with the Astronaut Pikachu encounter as the reward. If the tasks run at once, as tasks in one step normally do, five wins clear all of them. The event posts don’t spell out how the counting works, so check your in-game task list after your first win. One-star bosses are typically soloable, so you don’t need a group.
| If you are | Win by Oct 10 | Astronaut Pikachu encounters |
|---|---|---|
| A completionist who just wants the costume | 1 raid | 1 raid encounter |
| A casual player | 5 raids | 5 raid encounters + 1 research = 6 |
| A dedicated player | 10 raids | 10 + 1 = 11 |
| A shiny hunter | As many as your raid passes allow | Raids won + 1 |
The arithmetic is simple: the research adds exactly one encounter on top of however many raids you win. It is a bonus roll. Raids are the volume play.
What Are the Shiny Odds?
Nobody has published them. A shiny chance is rolled separately on every encounter, so what matters is the rate per encounter and how many encounters you get. The Pokémon GO Hub shiny guide gives community estimates (the page was last updated in April 2024): research encounters “generally” around 1 in 500, legendary raids “often” 1 in 20 and Mega raids 1 in 64. None of those figures covers one-star bosses, and neither the official post nor Leek Duck lists an odds boost for this event.
If the research sits at the generic 1 in 500 and one-star raids sit anywhere near the legendary-raid 1 in 20, each raid is worth roughly 25 research rolls. That “if” is the whole point: the raid number is not established for one-star bosses, so treat the comparison as a direction, not a forecast. Our shiny odds guide explains how the rates are measured.
Quick Start: Plan for the Last Four Days
- Win a one-star raid today. That is task one of the research and your first Astronaut Pikachu encounter. Our raid guide covers the basics if you are new.
- Keep raiding through Saturday, October 10, 11:59 p.m. local time. Spend raid passes before you spend anything else on the event, because encounters are the only thing that buys shiny chances.
- Finish the tasks and claim every reward before Monday, October 12, 11:59 p.m. local time. The official post says tasks must be completed and rewards claimed by then. Our research tasks guide explains Timed Research expiry.
The Saturday-to-Monday Gap
The event ends Saturday night, but the research can be claimed until Monday night, so there is a 48-hour gap. Don’t treat it as spare time. The event posts say nothing about whether raid wins after Saturday still count toward the tasks, and the Astronaut Pikachu raids themselves end with the event. Win your five by Saturday, and use Sunday and Monday only to claim.
Why Pikachu Is in Space
World Space Week is a collaboration between the European Space Agency and The Pokémon Company. According to Pokémon GO Hub’s ESA page, a Pikachu toy spent 67 days aboard the International Space Station, from April 11 to June 17, 2026, and in-person museum and ESA-site play runs through April 30, 2027. The costume is the in-game souvenir.
Verified on October 6, 2026 against the official event post, Leek Duck and Pokémon GO Hub. Events can change mid-run. We haven’t played this event yet, so nothing above is first-hand: it comes from the named sources.
Sources
- Pokémon GO team. Blast off with Astronaut Pikachu during World Space Week! (official event post, October 2026). pokemongo.com
- Leek Duck. World Space Week 2026 event page. leekduck.com
- Pokémon GO Hub. World Space Week 2026. pokemongohub.net
- Pokémon GO Hub. GO Hub Guide to Shinies (last updated April 18, 2024). pokemongohub.net
- Pokémon GO Hub. European Space Agency Event. pokemongohub.net
I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.