Shadow Pokémon (GO)

In Pokémon GO, Shadow Pokémon (Japanese: シャドウポケモン Shadow Pokémon) are Pokémon that have been modified by Team GO Rocket through unnatural means, resulting in them having visible dark auras and angry, red eyes. By defeating members of Team GO Rocket, players can capture Shadow Pokémon and restore them to a more normal state through purification.

In the Pokémon Box, Shadow Pokémon have a icon at the bottom left of their image, while Purified Pokémon have a icon. Similar to Lucky Pokémon, the Pokédex will keep count of the number of Pokémon that the player has purified of that species; evolving a Purified Pokémon will not increment the evolution's purified counter.

On Community Days, Shadow Pokémon of a featured species will not learn event-exclusive moves upon evolution unless it is purified first.

Behavior

According to the research of Candela and Professor Willow, Shadow Pokémon are the result of having been artificially overpowered by Team GO Rocket. Because of this, Shadow Pokémon are frequently in pain from their uncontrollable strength.

During a Team GO Rocket battle, Shadow Pokémon of Team GO Rocket Grunts have significantly inflated stats, especially in Attack, attaining CP values much higher than the maximum possible by powering up. The CP of a Grunt's Pokémon increases with each player's Trainer level. Each of their moves, including Charged Attacks, are randomly selected from the current move pool. If a Team GO Rocket Grunt is defeated, they will flee from the PokéStop and leave behind one of the Shadow Pokémon used in battle, which will be reduced to a much lower CP. The player can then capture, or "rescue", the Shadow Pokémon during a bonus challenge using Premier Balls.

During the capture encounter, Shadow Pokémon behave more aggressively than their normal counterparts^[1] and all have a base capture rate of 5%, regardless of species. A Shadow Pokémon has a random initial Power Up level between 1 to 5, or 6 to 10 with a Weather Boost, and its IVs are randomly determined the same way as in standard wild encounter.

Upon capture, a Shadow Pokémon will:

Have Frustration as a Charged Attack
- Frustration cannot be replaced using a Charged TM
Cost 3× Candy and Stardust to Power Up and to learn a second Charged Attack
Not be eligible for trades (since July 25, 2019)

Purification

Through a process discovered by Blanche and Professor Willow, player can Purify (Japanese: リトレイン Retrain) them using Candy and Stardust, restoring them to a stronger, more normal state. Upon purification, the Pokémon will:

Power Up to level 25 (if currently at a lower level)
Have each of its IVs increased by 2 (up to the maximum 15)
Have Return replace Frustration as its Charged Attack
- Return can be replaced using a Charged TM, but cannot be relearned afterwards
Cost 0.9× Candy to evolve (rounded down)
Cost 0.9× Stardust and Candy to Power Up (Candy cost rounded down at or below 0.5)
Cost 0.8× Stardust and Candy to learn a second Charged Attack
Be eligible for Special Trades

List of Shadow Pokémon

The cost to purify a Shadow Pokémon is proportional to its Buddy distance. The following is a list of all currently possible Shadow Pokémon and the costs to purify them:

#	Pokémon	Purification cost
001	Bulbasaur	3000	3
002	Ivysaur	3000	3
003	Venusaur	3000	3
004	Charmander	3000	3
005	Charmeleon	3000	3
006	Charizard	3000	3
007	Squirtle	3000	3
008	Wartortle	3000	3
009	Blastoise	3000	3
019	Rattata	1000	1
020	Raticate	1000	1
041	Zubat	1000	1
042	Golbat	1000	1
060	Poliwag	3000	3
061	Poliwhirl	3000	3
062	Poliwrath	3000	3
088	Grimer	3000	3
089	Muk	3000	3
096	Drowzee	3000	3
097	Hypno	3000	3
104	Cubone	3000	3
105	Marowak	3000	3
123	Scyther	5000	5
129	Magikarp	1000	1
130	Gyarados	1000	1
143	Snorlax	5000	5
147	Dratini	5000	5
148	Dragonair	5000	5
149	Dragonite	5000	5
169	Crobat	1000	1
186	Politoed	3000	3
212	Scizor	5000	5
228	Houndour	3000	3
229	Houndoom	3000	3
258	Mudkip	3000	3
259	Marshtomp	3000	3
260	Swampert	3000	3
280	Ralts	5000	5
281	Kirlia	5000	5
282	Gardevoir	5000	5
475	Gallade	5000	5