Shadow Pokémon have been a part of Pokémon Go for a while now, and with the introduction of Shadow Legendary Pokémon and the prospect of having a rare Shadow Shiny Pokémon, some trainers understandably want to trade to collect a full Shadow Pokédex in-game.
However, when you go to trade with another trainer, no matter what your friendship rank is, you might find that Shadow Pokémon doesn’t show up as an option. So what gives?
Are Shadow Pokémon tradable in Pokémon Go?
No, Shadow Pokémon cannot be traded in Pokémon Go in any way. Niantic doesn’t host limited events where you can trade Shadow Pokémon and hasn’t allowed trainers to trade Shadow Pokémon since July 2019 through an in-game update.
Shadow Pokémon trades were banned as trainers exploited the feature to make perfect Pokémon through purifying Pokémon. This led to a surge of players having overly strong Pokémon at the time, which wasn’t great for competitive play. Niantic then bought in the ban to balance out the gameplay experience, but in the process, stopped trainers from getting some Shadow Pokémon that were only around for a limited time.
Because of the trade ban, the only way to get Shadow Pokémon now through trading is first to Purify them and then trade the Purified Pokémon over. Doing so, though, will remove most of the high stats it had because, for some reason, trading a Pokémon in Pokémon Go changes its stats completely.
Will Niantic ever add the option to trade Shadow Pokémon in the future?
It is doubtful that Niantic will ever add the option to trade Shadow Pokémon again in the future, at least with no limitations. Trainers could easily exploit the method again and screw up in-game balancing in the Battle League.
That’s not to say that Niantic could add some form of balancing to Shadow Pokémon trading if they were ever to bring it back. They could either limit it to certain Pokémon or force a trainer to Purify the Pokémon the moment it’s traded. Still, the complications that could arise from that and the fan outcry that would come after likely means it is more effort to reimplement trading than to keep the feature banned as it is right now.
As such, the only way to get any Shadow Pokémon you want is to participate in the various raids, Team Rocket events, boss battles, and Giovanni fights whenever you can to ensure you don’t miss out on a potentially strong Pokémon. Don’t forget the Rocket Raids, too, which offer an abundance of strong Shadow Pokémon for you and your friends to battle locally.
Published: Jan 20, 2025 06:18 am