Niantic has re-balanced the Stardust cost required to Purify specific Shadow Pokemon species, halving the cost required to purify Snorlax, Dratini, Rattata and Zubat, while slightly increasing the cost to purify Generation 1 starters. Additionally, the cost to purify Pokemon is now the same across all evolution stages (finally!). In other news, data miners have discovered that stats for several new Shadow and Purified Pokemon families have been silently added. Today is the last day of the Team GO Rocket Event (shiny Ekans and Koffing), so maybe these changes are in preparation of a new wave of shadow Pokemon that could be released soon?
Speculation aside, this is how much Stardust you will be spending when purifying existing Shadow Pokemon:
| Pokemon | Old cost | New cost |
|---|---|---|
|
10000 | 5000 |
|
2000 | 1000 |
|
2000 | 3000 |
Additionally, the cost will no longer change across evolution stage. It’s a flat fee regardless of which evolution stage you purify. As far as the new “purification” meta goes, Rattata and Zubat are intended to be medal-fodder Pokemon, the ones you will be spending Stardust on just for the sake of the new Purify medal. Starter costs have increased by 33.33%, likely to make them feel more special than the rest. Snorlax and Dratini are still the most expensive ones to purify, but given the difficulty of encounters which yield them in Team GO Rocket Battles it’s well expected.
New Shadow Pokemon stats
Reddit data miners have shared that new Shadow Pokemon families have been silently added to the Game Master file. Please be aware that this information is not confirmed or endorsed by Niantic, and is subject to change at any given moment.
The following Shadow Pokemon stats have been added: Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, Grimer, Muk, Drowzee, Hypno, Cubone, Marowak, Scyther, Magikarp, Gyarados, Politoed, Scizor, Houndour, Houndoom, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Gallade.
Their addition to the Game Master file doesn’t indicate that they will be released any time soon, but it’s nice to see more and more Pokemon being considered for inclusion in Team Rocket invasions. Regardless of the time of their release, these Pokemon will only be available through the new TGR Invasions feature.
We would love to see special TGR invasions for the upcoming Ralts Community Day, but it sounds like a stretch. Do note that Shadow Pokemon cannot be Shiny at the same time, so tossing in a Shadow Ralts would seriously mess up our shiny hunting game.
Stats have also been shared for these new Pokemon, but the whole code excerpt is too big for us to share here and we feel like there’s little benefit to include it.
