Shadow Pokémon

Shadow Pokémon are mysterious Pokémon that Team GO Rocket Grunts leave behind after they lose the battle. They are distinguished from normal Pokémon by a burning purple aura, glowing red eyes and often more menacing expression. Shadow Pokémon can be cured by purifying them to become Purified Pokémon with Stardust and Candy. All Shadow Pokémon that are captured will know the attack Frustration. This feature is only available to Trainers who are Level 8 and above.

Obtaining Shadow Pokémon

Team GO Rocket is invading PokéStops all around the world. These PokéStops have a different appearance than regular PokéStops in the Map View. These PokéStops twitch and appear discolored. As a Trainer approaches an invaded PokéStop, it becomes black and the Team GO Rocket logo will appear over it. If a Trainer interacts with the PokéStop (items are still given) or the Grunt, a battle will ensue in order to defend the invaded PokéStop. Winning Team GO Rocket Battles offers a chance to catch Shadow Pokémon and increases the rank of the Hero medal. The PokéStop will be invaded for 30 minutes at a time.

Team GO Rocket Battles work similarly to Trainer Battles. Trainers will need to select a party of three Pokémon to defeat the opponent's Shadow Pokémon. After winning a Team GO Rocket Battle, XP and Stardust will be rewarded and there will be a chance to catch one of the Shadow Pokémon they have left behind. If the battle is lost, XP will still be rewarded, and a rematch will be offered. Team GO Rocket does not use protect shields.

Warning: Players are reporting that having an incomplete default Master league team would prevent usage of any Pokémon above 1,500 CP in this battle.

Enemy Shadow Pokémon fought in Team GO Rocket Battles have greatly increased CP above normal limits, similar to Raid Bosses, albeit not as much; roughly 3 times the regular maximum of the Pokémon in the wild. It appears their strength is offensive-biased, meaning they can dish out quite a lot of damage but does not take hits as well as their CP suggests.

Similar to Raid Battles, Premier Balls, will be used to capture left behind Shadow Pokémon. At least two Premier Balls are given, and the number of extra Premier Balls received is based on how many Pokémon survive the battle, the rank of Purify medal and the Hero medal.

The Shadow Pokémon available for capture is usually the first encountered, but there are reports of the second, or even one that is not in the Rocket team at all.

When attempting to capture Shadow Pokémon, they attack far more often than normal, making them especially hard to catch. A Nanab Berry can counter this. Also, while Shadow Pokémon often have a deep orange ring (even for common, low-level Pokémon like Rattata) it seems to be misleading and the capture rate is not as low as it implies.

Purification

After capturing a Shadow Pokémon, there will be an option to purify the Pokémon with a combination of Stardust and Candy (ranges from 2000 Stardust and 2 Candies, to at least 10000 Stardust and 10 Candies). Evolving a Shadow Pokémon will increase this cost with no apparent benefit.

Purifying a Shadow Pokémon will make it stronger (Shadow Pokémon are caught at near minimum CP, but when purified, it is increased to around level 25) and reduce the amount of Stardust and Candy required to Power Up, Evolve, or learn a new attack. The Charged Attack, Frustration, will be replaced with the exclusive Charged Attack called Return, and the Pokémon's dark aura will also change to a bright, luminous aura. After purification, the Individual Values of the Pokémon will all increase by 2. Purifying a Shadow Pokémon increases the rank of the Purifier medal.

Purified Pokémon require a Special Trade while Shadow Pokémon are not allowed to be traded.

Improvement costs

The following table shows the costs for powering-up, evolving, or adding a second attack to Pokémon.

Pokémon	Power-Up	Evolve	Second Charged Attack
Normal	1× 1×	25× 100×	10,000× 25×
Shadow	3× 3×	25× 100×	30,000× 75×
Purified	0.9× 0.9×	22× 90×	8,000× 20×

List of Shadow Pokémon

The following Pokémon have been identified as having shadow forms.

Bulbasaur

#Poison

Bulbasaur

Ivysaur

#Poison

Ivysaur

Venusaur

#Poison

Venusaur

Charmander

#0004

Charmander

Charmeleon

#0005

Charmeleon

Charizard

#Flying

Charizard

Squirtle

#0007

Squirtle

Wartortle

#0008

Wartortle

Blastoise

#0009

Blastoise

Rattata

#0019

Rattata

Raticate

#0020

Raticate

Zubat

#Flying

Zubat

Golbat

#Flying

Golbat

Snorlax

#0143

Snorlax

Dratini

#0147

Dratini

Dragonair

#0148

Dragonair

Dragonite

#Flying

Dragonite

Crobat

#Flying

Crobat

Mudkip

#0258

Mudkip

Marshtomp

#Ground

Marshtomp

Swampert

#Ground

Swampert

Gallery

Shadow Pokémon icon

Purified Pokémon icon

Trivia

• Shadow Pokémon was introduced in July 22^nd, 2019 with the launch of Team GO Rocket Invasion.
  • However, the feature was suspended one day later. It was found that the adjustments include reduced catch rate, increased attack and dodge rate and Shadow Pokémon are banned from trading.
• Shadow Pokémon was released again on July 25^th, 2019.
• According the official blog:
  • Shadow Pokémon look unusual and behave strangely because Team GO Rocket tried to make them stronger through unnatural means.
  • Purification help Shadow Pokémon return to a more normal state, but Purified Pokémon can also become stronger than their normal counterparts due to the gratitude they feel toward the Trainer who saved them.
• The number of each Purified Pokémon a Trainer has purified is tracked in the Pokédex.
• Shadow Pokémon all share a unique background not based on Types. It is dark purple and a silhouette of the Pokémon can be faintly seen.
  • The background of Shadow Pokémon completely cover that of Lucky Pokémon.
• The animation for purification is similar to Evolution. Similar to the latter, purification can be done even if the Pokémon has fainted, and would revive them to full or near full health.