What does Purifying a Pokemon do ? Pros and cons of purifying Shadow Pokemon in Pokemon Go

What does purifying a pokemon do ? It’s one of the Pokemon GO community’s most oft-debated topics! When is purifying a Shadow Pokemon worth it? Many players often reiterate the line that purifying a Pokemon isn’t worth it in almost any situation.

Still, there are certain situations where a purified Pokemon is more useful, even if it loses the 20% damage buff that comes with being a Shadow Pokemon.

There are pros and cons to both in Pokemon GO, and there is something of a benefit analysis that can take place for players thinking of purifying a Pokemon for reasons outside of Research Tasks.

When Shadow Pokemon were introduced alongside Team GO Rocket in July 2019, they added an entirely new dynamic to the popular AR title. Since then, Shadow Pokemon have grown in popularity due to their abilities as attackers, getting a damage boost to their moves when in battle.

However, this comes at a cost, as Shadow Pokemon are stuck with the charged move Frustration and are unable to remove it without purification in most circumstances.

There are times, similar to Pokemon GO’s recent Luminous Legends event, where Shadow Pokemon can gain a charged attack that isn’t Frustration, but they are few and far between.

Given that Frustration deals a paltry 10 damage, it may seem like a significant hindrance. However, Shadow Pokemon can excel in certain scenarios due to the strength of their fast attacks.

Shadow Pokemon such as Swampert, Machamp and Politoed can still perform very well in Pokemon GO’s PvP modes, and those such as Shadow Mewtwo, Mamoswine, Hariyama, and Metagross are exceptional in Pokemon GO’s raid battles.

So which is the ideal method? The short answer is that it depends on what the particular player is after. Breaking down the two states of Shadow and Purified, there are pluses and negatives to both, and some will outweigh others depending on what players are aiming to do with it within Pokemon GO.

Table of Contents

Catching Shadow Pokemon

Unlike regular Pokemon, Shadow Pokemon cannot be found in the wild, nor are they “Surprise Encounter” rewards for completing Field Research or Special Research.

Rather, players will need to defeat Team GO Rocket Grunts or Leaders in order to have a chance at catching one of their Shadow Pokemon.

Team GO Rocket can be challenged at black PokeStops, or by tapping any Rocket Balloons that may appear on the map. Team GO Rocket Leaders can only be challenged if players have and use the Rocket Radar.

Finally, Giovanni (Team Rocket’s Boss) can be encountered if players have a Super Rocket Radar. Defeating any of these opponents in battle will bring players to a “bonus stage” where they catch one of their opponent’s Shadow Pokemon.

Most Pokemon can be caught as Shadow Pokemon, including Legendaries. However, Legendary Pokemon, such as Shadow Latios, are exclusive to Giovanni’s team and won’t be found on a common Grunt’s team.

Shadow Pokemon can only be caught with Premier Balls. There are several factors that go into the number of chances players will have when catching the Shadow Pokemon:

The Grunt/Leader defeated

Hero Medal Rank

Purifier Medal Rank

Pokemon remaining

All the Pokemon in Team GO Rocket’s party are Shadow Pokemon, meaning they’ll deal increased damage than Pokemon found in a regular Trainer Battle. Bring Pokemon with good IVs and high CP to have a chance at winning. If players lose, they can either have a Rematch or choose not to battle.

Are Shadow Pokemon Better?

While the obvious thing to do when catching a Shadow Pokemon is to purify it, purification is not required and players can choose to keep their Shadow Pokemon. There are both good and bad reasons why players should hang on to a Shadow Pokemon.

For one, their Moves will inflict more damage at the cost of having lower defense. Shadow Pokemon can be left at Gyms and assigned as a Buddy just like regular/Purified Pokemon. However, they can’t be traded to other players.

One drawback that both Shadow and Purified Pokemon have the moves Frustration (Shadow) and Return (Purified).The latter is a Normal-type Move that has decent DPS and can be used well in PVP if players know what they’re doing. On the other hand, Frustration/Return may not be worth keeping on a Pokemon with better Charged Moves.

A Normal-type like Snorlax will get better use out of these exclusive moves than a Pokemon with weak Attack IVs. Of course, the Frustration/Return move can easily be replaced by learning a move via a Charged TM, or by using Candy/Stardust to learn a new move. However, doing so can take time if players don’t have enough resources, and these resources may be better off for evolving/powering up the Pokemon instead.

Should You Purify Legendary Pokemon?

Since Purification costs Candy and Stardust, purifying a Legendary Shadow Pokemon can be costly. It’ll take 20 [Legendary Pokemon] Candy and 20,000 Stardust just to purify them. While the 20 Candy may not seem like a big number, it is for Legendary Pokemon.

Most Candy can be farmed by catching the same species (and its evolutions) of Pokemon in the wild. Using Pinap and Silver Pinap Berries will double the amount of Candy upon obtaining the Pokemon.

Legendary, as their name indicates, are not common in the wild. Players will never see a Legendary on the overworld map outside of special Pokemon GO events. This means the only way to get Candy for Legendary Pokemon is to do the following:

Assign the Legendary as a Buddy Pokemon (20km = 1 Candy for all Legendaries)
Feed them Rare Candy (obtainable from Gifts, successful raid battles, or leage battles)

Once the Legendary has been purified, it will learn Return as its Charge Move like any other Purified Pokemon. Depending on the Legendary, Return is usually outdone by the Legendary’s other Charge Moves. Thus, it’s advised to start saving up more Candy to learn a second move, or use a TM to replace Return.

Due to the high investment pre- and post-purification, it may not be worth purifying the Shadow Pokemon to some trainers. However, a Shadow Pokemon will sometimes earn more IVs once it’s been Purified. This can raise them up a ranking if players are lucky.

HOW DO I GET MORE BALLS TO CATCH SHADOW POKÉMON?

When you go to catch your first Shadow Pokémon, you may only get 4 or 5 Premiere Balls to do the job. Just defeating the Grunt will get you 2, and you’ll get an additional ball for every Pokémon you have still standing at the end of the fight.

There are two other sources that’ll increase your Premiere Balls: Hero and Purifier. When you start out, you’ll always see these listed as +0 balls at the end of the fight. They are tied to two medals with the same names.

Getting the Bronze Hero medal requires defeating 10 Grunts in total. Getting the Bronze Purifier medal requires purifying 5 Shadow Pokémon. Both of these should come naturally.

As you move up the ranks in each of these medals, you’ll get more balls to catch Shadow Pokémon with.

How to purify Shadow Pokémon in Pokémon Go

Now that you’ve rescued a Shadow Pokémon from Team Go Rocket, it’s time to purify it.

First, you’ll want to find your chosen Shadow Pokémon in your Pokémon storage. Shadow Pokémon have a purple flame next to their picture, like how Shiny Pokémon have a set of silver stars.

Once you’ve picked a Shadow Pokémon, you’ll discover that there is a new option available above ‘Power Up’ and ‘Evolve’ (if this Pokémon can evolve) – Purify.

Purifying a Shadow Pokémon will cost a specific amount of Stardust and Candy depending on which Pokémon you want to Purify and how strong it is. A Squirtle, for example, will need 2,000 Stardust and 2 Squirtle Candy to be purified, while a Blastoise will require 5,000 Stardust and 5 Squirtle Candy.

Select ‘Purify’ and then ‘Yes’ on the confirmation window to watch a cutscene of your Pokémon being cleansed of the evil that has invaded its heart, leaving you with a newly purified Pokémon.

Pokémon Go Purified Pokémon benefits

Purified Pokémon have a number of perks that set them apart from other Pokémon, which include:

The Candy cost for powering up or evolving the Pokémon will decrease by 10%.
The Stardust cost to powering up or teaching the Pokémon a secondary move will decrease by 10%.
The Purified Pokémon will learn Return – a 3 bar Normal type move, which is great for Normal type Pokémon.
IVs will be increased by 2 in every stat – Attack, Defence, HP.
Finally, a Purified Pokemon’s level will increase – the cap on this increase is level 25.
Purified Pokémon will have a blue star next to them in your Pokémon storage.

Due to the Candy cost, it’s worth catching non-Shadow Pokémon as you play, so that you will be able to quickly purify Shadow Pokémon after you catch them. This will help you build up a strong collection of new Pokémon and level up your Purifier medal.

Below you’ll find a complete list of all the currently released Shadow Pokémon in Pokémon Go – it will help you plan out your new catching regime!

Above is information what does purifying a pokemon do. Hopefully, through the above content, you have a more detailed understanding of what does purifying a pokemon do .Thank you for reading our post.