With the arrival of Shadow Palkia to Pokémon Go, there are several significant decisions players need to make when adding this Pokémon to their team. The first one is if it’s worth purifying it, or is keeping it as a shadow Pokémon a better idea?
It’s a tough choice. Shadow Palkia receives several benefits the standard version won’t get, but there are some disadvantages to choosing this form. How you go about it will be up to you, and it all comes down to how you’re planning to use Palkia on your team. Although the Origin Forme Palkia remains the strongest way to use this Pokémon, Shadow Palkia remains a viable choice. Here’s what you need to know about if you should purify Shadow Palkia or keep it in this form in Pokémon Go.
Is it better to purify Shadow Palkia in Pokémon Go?
If you catch a Shadow Palkia, yes, we always recommend you have at least a Shadow version of a Legendary Pokémon on your team and to avoid purifying it. The Shadow versions of Legendaries are much more complex and rarer to come by than the standard versions in Pokémon Go. Usually, you can only catch them by challenging Giovanni, but they also appear in Team Rocket five-star raids for a limited time. Still, these are challenging activities, so purifying this Pokémon might not be the best choice.
Now, beyond the difficulty of catching a Shadow Palkia, let’s look at the differences between the two forms. All Shadow Pokémon have the same changes in their stats, where they receive a 20 percent attack power increase, but their defenses also go down by the same amount. These are significant stat changes for Palkia. If we’re looking at its strongest stats, the standard Palkia has an attack power of 247.8 and a defense of 193. When you apply the 20 percent differences, Shadow Palkia has an attack power of 296.4 and a defense of 154.4.
The attack increase for Shadow Palkia far outshines the defense drop it gets. Still, the defense drop is not easy to shy away from and makes it more of a glass cannon, capable of doing a lot of damage to an opponent, but it might not be able to remain in a fight for as long as it usually could.
It’s a tough choice if you want to go with more attack or defense power. The deciding factor is whether you already have a Palkia in your Pokémon Go collection. If you do, keeping the Shadow version is a good idea, as having various options for future rosters and teams is always a good idea.
An interesting tidbit about Shadow Palkia is that you can use it in the Great League if it’s low enough. The standard Palkia is not available for these battles. If you use an interesting choice to throw an opponent off their game during these battles, throwing out a Shadow Palkia might be a good idea. You need to keep it below the 1,500 CP requirement mark, which significantly reduces its overall attack and defense power, but it would remain a formidable opponent to battle against other players.
Regardless, our recommendation is to keep Shadow Palkia and not purify it. The stat differences are significant, but the increased attack power offsets the loss in defense. You can expect to use it in the Master League against other players, in five-star raids, or when battling Team Rocket. Using Shadow Palkia in Great League is a fun choice and something to consider if you can keep its power underneath 1,500 CP.
You only want to purify Shadow Palkia in Pokémon Go if you don’t already have a standard Palkia, and even then, you’re better off keeping it in this form and catching a standard one from a five-star raid alongside other players.
