A Japanese trademark has been registered for ウルトラシャイニー “Ultra Shiny” from Pokémon owners Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures Inc. There was no explanation as to what it referred to, but it could pertain to anything from merchandise, to the TCG, to video game elements. The most exciting possibility is a new addition to the ‘shiny’ mechanic contained in the games which allows trainers to catch Pokémon with alternate coloration.
One important note is that in Japanese specially colored Pokémon are not called “shinies” as they are in English, they’re actually termed “色違いポケモン” which translates literally to differently colored Pokémon. For this reason using the term shiny in Japanese would be a sizable terminology shift if it does indeed refer to what we think of as “shiny”. Japanese fans occasionally use the phrase shiny but it is not dominant in the fandom.
Such an interesting trademark leaves a lot of possibilities though! If you could change the existing shiny system in the games, what changes would you make? Multiple hues per Pokémon? Texture changes as well?