If you’ve battled the menacing Team GO Rocket, you’ve met and probably rescued their Shadow Pokémon. So what impact do they have on your Pokémon GO adventure?

Shadow Pokémon are notable for their red eyes and the menacing purple aura that encircles them. Along with their unique physical appearance, Shadow Pokémon stand out from other Pokémon in battle—most notably, they deal an additional 20% damage per attack! However, they take 20% more damage from attacks as well. Their increased damage capacity make Shadow Pokémon especially effective in Raid Battles, where wearing down the Raid Boss quickly is the biggest priority. They’re also potentially useful in the GO Battle League when backed up with a thoughtful strategy.

Some Trainers decide to purify their Shadow Pokémon with Stardust and Candy; among other things, this gives the Pokémon an immediate boost to its Attack, Defense, and HP. Purifying a Shadow Pokémon negates the increased damage it deals and takes and replaces the Charged Attack Frustration—which all Shadow Pokémon have—with the Charged Attack Return, available only to these Purified Pokémon.

As you can probably tell, this is an important decision to make when it comes to adding Shadow Pokémon to your team. Should you purify your Shadow Pokémon or make use of its increased power? While no one can answer that question for you, we can provide a thorough overview of everything you need to know to make the best choice for you and your Pokémon.

How Powerful Are Shadow Pokémon?

As mentioned earlier, Shadow Pokémon pack a serious punch with attacks that deal an additional 20% damage. Though they also take 20% more damage from their opponent’s attacks, the extra offensive power definitely outweighs this disadvantage in many situations. Shadow Pokémon are especially useful when the goal is to deal damage as quickly as possible; their increased attack damage can help you defeat Raid Bosses or put pressure on opponents in the GO Battle League.

There, Shadow Pokémon equipped with Fast Attacks that deal significant damage—like Shadow Victreebel with Razor Leaf or Shadow Granbull with Charm—have the potential to knock out some opposing Trainers’ Pokémon before they can even use their first Charged Attack. That extra damage can also force opponents to utilize Protect Shields to block a Charged Attack that they might otherwise let through. Popular Shadow Pokémon in the GO Battle League include Shadow Tentacruel, Shadow Feraligatr, and Shadow Empoleon in the Great League; Shadow Venusaur, Shadow Charizard, and Shadow Poliwrath in the Ultra League; and Shadow Mewtwo, Shadow Lugia, and Shadow Ho-Oh in the Master League.

Where to Find Shadow Pokémon

There are two ways to encounter Shadow Pokémon in Pokémon GO: defeat a member of Team GO Rocket or defeat the Raid Boss in a Shadow Raid.

You’ll find Team GO Rocket Grunts and Team GO Rocket Leaders at black PokéStops with a red “R” above them and flying above you in black hot-air balloons with a red “R.” By spinning the PokéStop or tapping the hot-air balloon, you can challenge a member of Team GO Rocket.

Grunts have a team of three Pokémon, usually of the same type, and will deliver a challenge that hints at the type of Pokémon they’ll be battling with. For example, a Grunt that says, “Let’s rock and roll!” will have Rock-type Pokémon, so you should bring Pokémon with Water-, Grass-, Fighting-, Ground-, or Steel-type attacks. Team GO Rocket Grunts don’t use Protect Shields and defeating them should be fairly straightforward. After you beat them, you’ll receive some rewards and an encounter with one of their Shadow Pokémon, usually the first on their team. You can also receive Mysterious Components by defeating Grunts. Collect six of these components and assemble them into a Rocket Radar that you can equip to help you find and challenge Team GO Rocket Leaders Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo, who are more formidable opponents than Grunts and may require more strategy to defeat.

Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo battle using Pokémon of various types. Their lineups change every few months, but typically they will each have one set lead Pokémon, one of three different options for their second Pokémon, and one of three different options for their third Pokémon. They will use both of their Protect Shields during their battle with you. This, along with the considerable strength of their Shadow Pokémon, can make them quite challenging to defeat. But once you do beat them, just like with the Grunts, you’ll earn an encounter with their first Pokémon. During special events, you may even earn a Super Rocket Radar to try for the Team GO Rocket Boss Giovanni, who often leaves behind an encounter with a powerful Legendary Shadow Pokémon!

Shadow Raids are a more recent addition to Pokémon GO, debuting in May 2023. Like regular Raid Battles, Shadow Raids take place at a Pokémon Gym and Trainers can band together to battle an extremely formidable Raid Boss Pokémon. There are one-star, three-star, and five-star Shadow Raids. If you can defeat the Raid Boss within the allotted time, you will have an encounter with it and a chance to catch it using Premier Balls. The faster you defeat the Raid Boss, the more Premier Balls you receive to attempt to catch the Pokémon.

Shadow Raids have some key differences that can make them more difficult than regular Raids, though. You can’t use a Remote Raid Pass to participate and must gather in person to challenge these exceptionally powerful Pokémon, and three- and five-star Shadow Raid Bosses grow enraged during battle, which increases their Attack and Defense.

Trainers can use an item called a Purified Gem to help calm enraged Shadow Raid Bosses, temporarily lowering its Attack and Defense. Purified Gems can be made by combining Shadow Shards, which you can obtain by defeating Team GO Rocket members. Trainers participating in the raid can use as many Purified Gems as they want; the effects will stack, offering a significant advantage.

How to TM Away Frustration

All Shadow Pokémon have the Charged Attack Frustration. This is pretty ironic, considering that you might be feeling the frustration of going to the effort of catching a powerful Shadow Pokémon, only to find that it only knows a fairly weak Normal-type Charged Attack. So now, you might find yourself wanting to teach it a different Charged Attack, but you can’t usually use Charged TMs to forget Frustration. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

Keep a supply of Charged TMs handy, then watch out for certain Pokémon GO events that feature the benefit of letting your Shadow Pokémon forget Frustration. When the next such event comes around, follow these directions to use your TMs to teach your Pokémon a new Charged Attack.

Decide which Shadow Pokémon you want to teach a new Charged Attack to by tapping the Poké Ball on the bottom center of the screen to open the menu and tapping the Pokémon option. (You can enter the word “shadow” in the search bar to quickly view all your Shadow Pokémon.) Once you’ve found the Pokémon you’re looking for, tap it, then tap the icon at the bottom-right corner of your screen, and then select Items from the menu. Locate your Charged TMs, then tap your Charged TM or Elite Charged TM, and then confirm that you want to use it to teach your Pokémon a new Charged Attack. Please note that your Pokémon can’t relearn Frustration, and you can’t choose which Charged Attack your Pokémon will learn with a normal Charged TM.

You might be tempted to immediately use an Elite Charged TM to choose a Charged Attack or use multiple Charged TMs until you get the Charged Attack you want. However, it’s important to remember that the window to unlearn Frustration using Charged TMs is limited, so focus on teaching your Shadow Pokémon any new Charged Attack before the event ends. Once your Pokémon has forgotten Frustration, you can take your time deciding which Charged Attack will best suit it, and you can use your Charged TMs or Elite TMs as usual.

If you’re hoping to teach your Shadow Pokémon an exclusive attack that’s only offered during Community Day, you’ll want to replace Frustration before you evolve that Pokémon. Many attacks available during a special event like a Community Day require an Elite TM to acquire outside of that event window. Elite TMs are rare and should be used wisely, but if you miss an opportunity to teach your Pokémon a new attack during Community Day, you may have to use an Elite Charged TM instead.

Even if you don’t have a specific role in mind for your Shadow Pokémon, it’s a good idea to take any opportunity to forget Frustration anyway. The right Charged Attack can make a Shadow Pokémon a much more viable member of your team!

How to Obtain Charged TMs

You’re going to need a stash of Charged TMs if you want to teach your Shadow Pokémon a Charged Attack that isn’t Frustration. Fortunately, there are a few different ways to get Charged TMs, but note that most of these methods don’t guarantee a Charged TM as a reward.

• Win a Raid Battle. You might receive a Charged TM after defeating a Raid Boss.

• Participate in Trainer Battles. Charged TMs are among the rewards you can receive from Trainer Battles.

• Defeat Spark, Blanche, or Candela. Win a battle against a team leader and you might receive a Charged TM.

• Complete research tasks. Charged TMs are available among the variety of rewards you can receive from completing Field, Special, or Timed Research Tasks.

• Win battles in the GO Battle League. You may receive a Charged TM depending on how many battles you win per set-of-five battles and whether you’re competing for basic rewards or premium rewards.

• Pick them up in the in-game shop. Themed boxes available in the in-game shop sometimes contain Charged TMs, especially Community Day Boxes. Boxes may also contain Elite Charged TMs.

Advantages of Purifying Your Shadow Pokémon

Just as there are plenty of reasons to battle with a Shadow Pokémon, there are many reasons to purify it. Purified Pokémon get a +2 boost to Attack, Defense, and HP. It costs significantly less Stardust and Candy to power up, evolve, or teach a new attack to a Purified Pokémon than Shadow Pokémon. If you’re looking for a Pokémon with perfect stats, purifying a Shadow Pokémon is often one of the easiest ways of obtaining one. Perhaps most importantly, you can avoid the frustration of Frustration; purifying a Shadow Pokémon will make it forget Frustration and learn the Charged Attack Return, a Normal-type attack that deals an impressive 130 damage in Trainer Battles. This attack has a niche in the GO Battle League, especially with Sableye in the Great League. Unlike Frustration, you can use a Charged TM to forget Return at any time.

You can purify a Pokémon anytime, which costs Stardust and Candy—the amount required is different depending on the Pokémon. For example, it can cost 1,000 Stardust and one Weedle Candy to purify a Shadow Weedle, but purifying a Legendary Shadow Pokémon can require up to 20,000 Stardust and 20 Candy. It’s best to purify your Shadow Pokémon before you power it up and accidentally burn through your hard-earned Candy and Stardust.

To purify your Pokémon, tap the pink Purify button located above the Power Up button on the Pokémon’s information screen.

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start catching, training, and battling with Shadow Pokémon!