Earlier this month, Niantic Support tweeted that Giovanni’s Shadow Pokémon will change every month. Today, Shadow Zapdos and Shadow Moltres forms were spotted by Pokémon GO data miners in the Game Master file, hinting at an upcoming change in Giovanni’s signature Legendary Pokémon.
The following code snippet was discovered today:
{ "templateId": "FORMS_V0145_POKEMON_ZAPDOS", "formSettings": { "forms": [ { "form": "ZAPDOS_NORMAL" }, { "form": "ZAPDOS_SHADOW" }, { "form": "ZAPDOS_PURIFIED" } ], "pokemon": "ZAPDOS" } }, { "templateId": "FORMS_V0146_POKEMON_MOLTRES", "formSettings": { "forms": [ { "form": "MOLTRES_NORMAL" }, { "form": "MOLTRES_SHADOW" }, { "form": "MOLTRES_PURIFIED" } ], "pokemon": "MOLTRES" } },
As with all other Shadow and Purified Pokémon, Shadow Legendary Pokémon know Frustration, while their purified counterpart knows Return. Stats remain the same between normal and purified versions of these Pokémon, but Candy and Dust costs for purified Legendary Pokémon are reduced by 20%, judging by the cost to unlock a second charge move.
Giovanni’s Counters recommendations remain unchanged, as Tyranitar counters Zapdos and Moltres with ease, whilst taking reduced damage from all of their fast and charged moves. Be sure to follow our recommendations outlined in the Giovanni’s Counters guide.
We expect Shadow Zapdos to be the December’s featured Shadow Legendary, if PokéDex numbers are anything to go by. If Niantic chooses to follow the old “GO Fest” schedule, then the whole order is gonna get weird. We’ll see tomorrow!
Links to respective Legendary Pokémon pages:
Articuno | Zapdos | Moltres |