Pokémon GO cheats, tips - Team GO Rocket and Shadow Pokémon explained
Everything you need to know about the latest update
Pokémon GO is the game that keeps evolving, and this time they've added a brand new mechanic to the game, in addition to another Pokémon variation for you to fill up your box space with.
Remember Shadow Pokémon? I'd forgive you if you don't. They appeared in Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness for the Gamecube, where the protagonist set out on a grand adventure to steal Pokémon from other trainers, and open up their locked hearts.
Shadow Pokémon's closed hearts give them greater degrees of strength, but it's animal cruelty which is somehow a step above making them fight to the death. As such, it's up to you to save them and open their emotions up to the world.
Shadow Pokémon are now included in Pokémon GO, but getting them is unique to anything else in the game. Just read through this guide, and you'll know everything you need to about Shadow Pokémon and Team GO Rocket…
Team GO home
So Team Rocket are back, but this time as Team GO Rocket, and they appear in the game as Pokémon GO's first trainer encounters.
The team have three shadow Pokémon each, and once you defeat them in battle, they'll leave one of them behind, allowing you the chance to capture it using Premier Balls, in a similar fashion to winning a Raid.
When you encounter a Team GO Rocket grunt, they'll give you the spiel you expect, bigging themselves up and telling you how they are most definitely all powerful and threatening, etc.
Pull out your highest CP Pokémon, and you'll dispatch these moaners with ease.
If you want to guarantee catching a Shadow Pokémon, it is of course recommend to use good aim when throwing balls, and use berries, as with any other Pokémon.
Shadow Pokémon don't appear to be very different at first, despite a dark aura, but they have several interesting benefits when compared to average Pokémon…
1
A wild trainer appears
When you wander the world you'll see that certain Pokéstops look different to usual. If you see these jittering about with a darker colour, then they might be hiding Team GO Rocket.
Spin them to encounter a Rocket grunt, and defeat them for the chance to catch a shadow Pokémon.
It's really nice that you can see which stops will hold rocket trainers from a distance, meaning you can hunt them down without wildly spinning every stop in the area.
2
Purification
Once you have a shadow Pokémon, you will need to purify it. This will be simple for common Pokémon, difficult for the rarer kinds.
You simply need to use some candy and stardust to purify them, which, as mentioned, is simple for those common Pokémon, less so for something rare.
Purification will net you a new move for the Pokémon, and other neat bonuses…
3
Shadow bonuses
Like Lucky Pokémon, the other bonus you'll get is that they will be easier than ever to power up and even evolve.
Once a shadow Pokémon is purified, you will need less stardust and candy than usual if you're interesting in evolving them, or powering them up, making it easier to get those top-tier Pokémon in your team.
This is a nice bonus, but of course, if you can only catch shadow Zubat, it's hardly much of a bonus… My Crobat does look cool though.
