Even better, Special Pokémon saved from Giovanni now benefit from an even greater Potency Boost than standard Shadow Pokémon you can acquire from Team Rocket GO's Grunts. In the guide below, I'll go through all of the changes to the Shadow Pokémon and provide a quick refresher on what Shadow Pokémon are, how to catch them, and why you might not want to purify them.
All the Shadow Pokémon you can catch (so far!) | Complete list | How To Catch (And Purify) Shadow Pokémon | Capture Guide | How To Fight Team Rocket GO | Invasion Event Guide | How To Fight Rocket Leader Giovanni | Legendary Shadow Pokémon Guide | How the Buddy System Works | How To Easily Earn Buddies | How To Catch New Unova Pokémon »Helpful Wiki Business Evolution Guide | How to trade and list of developments
Shadow Pokémon are special dark-infused creatures that you can capture when fighting grunts from Team Rocket GO. Before the last update, these special Pokémon only had a few unique characteristics - they had a scorching purple aura and glowing red eyes. Shadow Pokémon will also still have the Frustration movement. Shadow Pokémon are now enhanced in several ways.
- Shadow Pokémon deal more damage with fast or charged attacks.
- Shadow Pokémon also take more damage from enemy attacks.
- Powering Shadow Pokémon and learning new charged attacks costs less Stardust and Candy.
- Giovanni's Legendary Shadow Pokémon are more powerful.
Shadow Pokémon are now the Glass Cannons of. Earlier, there was no reason Trainers wouldn't want to purify the Shadow Pokémon - purify a Shadow Pokémon PC boosted to Level 25, get a +2 buff on all IVs, and reduce Candy / Stardust costs.
Everything changed. It might be worth keeping a Shadow Pokémon now. If you want to see all of the Shadow Pokémon available right now, check out our list here.
To catch Shadow Pokémon, you will have to discover the invaded PokeStops. Enter those PokeStops to start a Team Rocket GO battle against a growl. By beating the grunts or bosses of Team Rocket GO, you will get three premium balls to try and capture their Shadow Pokémon. It works like Raid Battles, so you only have three max attempts.
You can hunt down the Rocket GO Pokémon bosses by beating grunts, and beating the different bosses will help you locate Giovanni, who will always send out a high CP Legendary Shadow Pokémon. No worries there - if you beat Giovanni, you'll still get his Legendary Shadow Pokémon. These are even more powerful than the standard types, so they're worth tracking down.
Goodluck hunts down the bad guys, Pokémon Trainers! There are even rumors that you will be able to use TMs to teach Shadow Pokémon new Charged / Fast moves. But that has not yet been announced.
