Shadow Pokémon

A Shadow Croconaw in Pokémon Colosseum

Shadow Lugia (XD001) from Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

Shadow Pokémon (Japanese: ダークポケモン Dark Pokémon) are Pokémon that are being used for wrongful acts because they had the doors to their hearts shut artificially, a process created and carried out by Cipher in the Orre region. Collection of Shadow Pokémon through snagging and restoring them to normal is the main goal of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.

Creation and behavior

Shadow Pokémon are created through an undisclosed process that removes the Pokémon's emotions, turning it into a soulless fighting machine. Ein, creator of the process and Cipher's head scientist at the time of Colosseum, refers to this process as "shutting the door to their hearts". In XD, a new process was created, that makes many Shadow Pokémon at the same time.

While normal Pokémon are generally friendly and trusting creatures, Shadow Pokémon are not hesitant to attack with full force, using Shadow moves, such as Shadow Rush. Likewise, they do not attack only other Pokémon, and will actually attack Trainers. Shadow Pokémon can sometimes be overwhelmed by their emotions, indicating the relative instability of their Shadow state, and will sometimes enter a state known as Hyper Mode in Colosseum and Reverse Mode in XD. This state will be triggered more often the closer the Pokémon is to purification, making them generally more difficult to battle with until they are ultimately purified. A Pokémon in this state can be cured of it by calling to it in battle or use of a cologne, as well as several other methods, or can recover on its own.

An interesting quirk about Shadow Pokémon is their inability to be differentiated from normal Pokémon by all but those with certain abilities or tools. Shadow Pokémon emit a normally invisible dark aura that normal Pokémon do not, which so far has only been able to be detected by Rui through an innate ability, and Michael with his Aura Reader.

Shadow Pokémon cannot level up, and any experience and effort values they gain in battle will be held until they are purified, at which point it will be awarded en masse.

Differences between Colosseum and XD

Although the concept of Shadow Pokémon remains basically the same between the two games, there are some differences:

• Shadow Pokémon in Colosseum are much harder to purify than in XD. For example, when a Shadow Pokémon enters the battle, the Aura Meter goes down by about 1/6 of a section in Colosseum, but almost 3 times that in XD.
• The aura of a Shadow Pokémon is slightly different in the two games: although in both the aura has dark purple color, in Colosseum it also generates small yellow blobs, that vanish after a few seconds.
• Shadow Pokémon in the first game sometimes enter in the Hyper Mode, but in XD they enter Reverse Mode instead. For example, in Hyper Mode a Pokémon can actually attack its Trainer, but in Reverse Mode no such thing happens.
• In Colosseum, Shadow Pokémon can only learn Shadow Rush as a Shadow Move, but in the second game it is just one of many Shadow Moves.

Relationship with Trainers

Strangely enough, a Shadow Pokémon that isn't under the care of the player will not enter Hyper Mode / Reverse Mode or apparently reduce its Heart Gauge, although a Shadow Pokémon in the player control will purify itself just by being in the Trainer's party.

An important difference between Colosseum and XD is the number of Shadow Pokémon each Cipher member can carry: in Colosseum each Trainer can only carry 1 at a time (except Wes); in XD there are many Trainers with 2 Shadow Pokémon in their team and the final boss of the game has actually 7 Shadow Pokémon under his care. This may be a result of the large number of Shadow Pokémon in XD.

Gameplay differences between Shadow & Non-Shadow Pokémon

The trainer of a Shadow Pokémon cannot do any of the following with it until it is purified:

• Level it up (when it is purified, it gains all the exp. accumulated as a Shadow Pokémon).
• Evolve it (evolves when gaining exp.)
• Use a Rare Candy on it.
• Change the order of its moves.
• Delete its moves.
• Give it a nickname.
• Trade it.
• Participate in Battle Mode with it.
• Enter it in battles at Phenac Stadium.

Purification

Main article: Purification

A Shadow Pokémon's purification process will begin as soon as it has been snagged, at which time its heart gauge will become visible to the player. Replacing the experience bar, the heart gauge monitors how close the Pokémon is to being fully purified, with the dark purple gradually giving way to white.

Pokémon can be purified from their Shadow state in several ways with varying effectiveness:

• Walking around: A Shadow Pokémon carried with the player in their party will slowly but surely lower the Pokémon's heart gauge.
• Battling: A Shadow Pokémon sent into battle will have its heart gauge lowered a bit, with battling being the only way it can enter Hyper Mode or Reverse Mode.
• Calling: If a Shadow Pokémon is in Hyper Mode or Reverse Mode, calling to it will not only return it to its senses, but also reduce the heart gauge a bit.
• Massaging: Using special colognes, Shadow Pokémon can be massaged to lower their heart gauge.
• Day Care: In Colosseum only, a Shadow Pokémon put into the Day Care in Agate Village will slowly reduce its heart gauge. Shadow Pokémon are no longer accepted in Pokémon XD.
• Celebi: Using a special Time Flute in Colosseum, one can call Celebi to instantly purify a Shadow Pokemon.
• Purification Chamber: Between Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD, a special chamber was developed in the Pokémon HQ Lab that could quickly purify Shadow Pokémon, making the process easier, in case Cipher were ever to return.

Nature and stats

A Shadow Pokémon, when encountered, is generated in the same way that a wild Pokémon is generated in the Generation III games, with its personality value and individual values set and effort values set to 0. Shadow Pokémon will not have a set nature, nor will they have a set gender, with these values generated again for later battles if the player fails to snag it the first time. The only constants about a Shadow Pokémon are its level and moves; all other factors, including shininess, will not carry over between encounters.

List of Shadow Pokémon

Main article: List of Shadow Pokémon

Shiny Shadow Pokémon

Main article: List of glitches in Generation III

In Pokémon Colosseum, like in the main series games, there is a 1/8192 chance of a Shadow Pokémon being Shiny; however, when a Shiny Shadow Pokémon is captured, it is highly improbable that the Pokémon will retain Shininess. Conversely, when an ordinary Shadow Pokémon is captured, there is still the 1/8192 chance of that Pokémon becoming Shiny when it is sent to the player's party or the Pokémon Storage System. Shininess is retained through purification.

However, in Pokémon XD, this glitch was corrected. When the game calculates a personality value, it checks against the player's ID numbers and the opponent's ID numbers. If the game were to generate a Shiny personality value, it would then recalculate the personality value until it would not be Shiny with both the player and the opponent's ID numbers. As a consequence of fixing this glitch from Pokémon Colosseum in Pokémon XD, the game ensures that all Shadow Pokémon are never Shiny.