Shadow Raids bring a dark twist and Shiny Shadow Mewtwo to Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go is once again expanding on Shadow Pokémon and Team Go Rocket, adding a new type of raid to the game as a way to provide players with new challenges and feature Pokémon in unique ways. These new Shadow Raids will start appearing in the final event of the game’s season 10 content—Rising Shadows. 

Shadow Raids will act similarly to Go Rocket takeovers at PokéStops, to an extent. This time, they are taking over Gyms with their Shadow Pokémon to create the new raid type, and Shadow Mewtwo will be the starting point, with its Shiny variant available too.

Players taking part in Shadow Raids will battle extremely powerful Pokémon that get stronger the longer a battle goes on as they boost their attack and defense. These enraged Shadow Pokémon can still be tackled by solid teamwork, but a new item can also help calm them down. 

Related: Shadow Raids are an ‘evolution’ for Pokémon Go as Niantic works to incentivize players with new content

Shadow Shards can now be collected in the game, and combining enough of them together using Professor Willow’s Shard Refiner technology can create a Purified Gem. This Gem can be used during Shadow Raids to temporarily lower the raid boss’ stats—and players can stack their effects by using them at the same time. 

Using enough of them can even knock the Shadow Raid Boss out of its enraged state entirely, though only three and five-star Shadow Raids will feature the rage mechanic. And, as expected, players will not be able to use Remote Raid Passes to participate in Shadow Raids at all. 

Rising Shadows will be the culmination of the Rising Heroes season and introduce Shadow Raids as a feature when it launches on May 22. This will also be the first time players can obtain the Master Ball in Pokémon Go too.