Shadow Raid Battles are coming to Pokémon GO during a limited-time event, The Pokémon Company announced Thursday via the official Pokémon GO Twitter account. They are part of an in-game scheme headed up by the leaders of Team GO Rocket: Giovanni, Sierra, Arlo and Cliff.
🚨 Alert! 🚨 We’ve uncovered more details about Team GO Rocket’s newest scheme: #ShadowRaids! It seems they’ll be using Pokémon like Shadow Bayleef, Shadow Quilava, and even Shadow Mewtwo to defend Gyms! 😱
Full details here: https://t.co/rusp8o4kY9 pic.twitter.com/QYOGwIBttH
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) May 18, 2023
The Pokémon Company began teasing the event through the Pokémon GO Twitter account on Wednesday. The account tweeted out indecipherable “intercepted” messages from Team GO Rocket with accompanying cryptic text.
Team GO Rocket’s takeover event will last from May 22 at 10 a.m. in the player’s local time zone to May 28 at 8 p.m. local time. Beginning on May 27 at 10 a.m., Shadow Mewtwo will begin to appear in five-star Shadow Raids. The Legendary Pokémon will continue to appear until the event ends the next day. Notably, this will mark the first time that trainers will be able to catch a shiny Shadow Mewtwo in Pokémon GO.
#TeamGORocket intercepted message:
…ₜₕₑ bₐₗₗₒₒₙₛ ₐᵣₑ ₑₙ ᵣₒᵤₜₑ. Gₗₒbₐₗ dₒₘᵢₙₐₜᵢₒₙ wᵢₗₗbₑ ₒᵤᵣₛ.https://t.co/tzMGC1LCvH pic.twitter.com/eyUlyac9pD
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) May 18, 2023
How do Shadow Raid Battles work in Pokémon GO?
New mechanics that will characterize the upcoming event include Shadow Shards and Purified Gems. Team GO Rocket Grunts will occasionally drop Shadow Shards, which can be combined with Professor Willow’s Shard Refiner to create a Purified Gem.
During a Shadow Raid Battle, you can use a Purified Gem to temporarily lower the opponent’s offensive and defensive stats. This is a useful countermeasure since these Shadow Pokémon will become enraged over the course of the battle, which raises their offensive and defensive stats.
🚨 Alert! 🚨 Alert! 🚨 Team GO Rocket is back, and they’re bringing #ShadowRaids to Pokémon GO!
Brief yourself on what we’ve learned about Shadow Raid Bosses, Shadow Shards, and Purified Gems here: https://t.co/kIDuOfgrjR pic.twitter.com/6MVgvKCnOh
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) May 18, 2023
Shadow Raid Battles will debut in Pokémon GO as Team GO Rocket takes over Gyms with their Shadow Pokémon. Over the course of the event, the following Pokémon will have the potential to appear in Raids:
- One-star Shadow Raids
- Shadow Poliwag
- Shadow Machop
- Shadow Bellsprout
- Shadow Beldum
- Three-star Shadow Raids
- Shadow Bayleef
- Shadow Quilava
- Shadow Croconaw
- Shadow Sneasel
- Standard one-star Raids
- Clefairy
- Tentacool
- Marill
- Skrelp
- Popplio
- Standard three-star Raids
- Magneton
- Lapras
- Mawile
- Empoleon
- Five-star Raids from the beginning of the event through May 24 at 10 a.m.
- Tapu Fini
- Five-star Raids from May 24 at 10 a.m. through the end of the event
- Regigigas
- Mega Raids from the beginning of the event through May 24 at 10 a.m.
- Mega Pinsir
- Mega Raids from May 24 at 10 a.m. through the end of the event
- Mega Altaria
In addition, evil team staples like Ekans, Golbat, Koffing, Houndour, Poochyena, Stunky and Skorupi will be more common in the wild during this event, as will Scraggy and Hisuian Qwilfish. Trainers should keep in mind that they won’t be able to participate in Pokémon GO Shadow Raid Battles with a Remote Raid Pass.
