Niantic has flipped the switch, and now Shadow Pokemon have seen a substantial buff!
- Shadow Pokemon now have a roughly 20% increase in offense!
- On the other hand, Shadow Pokemon now have roughly 16.7% less defense
- Shadow Pokemon are now less expensive to power up
To say the least, this is a huge upset for the status-quo of the game. In order to illustrate just how much of a change this brings, Gamepress's very own Ryan Swag posted his calculations.
This is a tremendous shake-up that has the potential to change huge portions of the meta, and sets the precedent for new effects that change how Pokemon function in-game.
This also means that the upcoming event that will allow Shadow Pokemon to have Frusteration TMed away is now far more valuable than expected!
This is definitely the time to get out and take down some Team Rocket grunts, bosses, and Giovanni himself!
Full Announcement
Click to View
Trainers,
We’ve received reports of developments regarding Shadow Pokémon. Whatever Team GO Rocket is doing seems to be making these poor Pokémon stronger as long as they remain Shadow Pokémon. Details are as follows.
- Shadow Pokémon now deal more damage with their Fast and Charged Attacks, but they also take more damage when attacked.
- Powering up a Shadow Pokémon and teaching a Shadow Pokémon an additional Charged Attack now cost less Stardust and Candy.
- Legendary Shadow Pokémon that you save from Giovanni are now more powerful.
During certain time periods, Shadow Pokémon might be able to forget the Charged Attack Frustration by learning a different Charged Attack with a Charged TM, though we haven’t figured out when that’ll be possible. Please stay tuned for more details.
Despite our efforts, Team GO Rocket is growing stronger and acquiring even more resources. We’re not sure how they’re doing this, but please know that we’re investigating how to fight back against these ruffians. Let’s stay strong, Trainers!
—The Pokémon GO team
