Pokemon Go announces new Shadow Raids starting from May 22, 2023

Pokemon Go has been trying to bring forth big changes into the game as the developers claim that players have forgotten the sole purpose of the game, which is to go out and play with friends and instead try to bypass the system and play from their homes all day. Previously they tried to reduce the number of times players can play from their homes per day using Remote Raid Passes and faced severe backlash. Now they are trying to introduce new features to make people come out of their homes and play. Shadow Raids is a part of that initiative in Pokemon Go and it starts on May 22, 2023.

The launch of Shadow Raids will be a whole week's event

Shadow Raids are a new type of raid that is getting introduced in Pokemon Go which will let players have an alternate way to capture Legendary Shadow Pokemon such as the likes of Shadow Mewtwo. Three-star and five-star Shadow Raid Bosses will be featured in those events along with a new mode called "enraged" which turns on when the Shadow Pokemon reaches half of its health. In the trailer, we can see Team Rocket Go take control of a Pokemon Gym which means players will need to go over to the Gym to play in this mode.

In its enraged state, it will be more difficult to defeat it as it will have boosted defense and attack abilities. To counter them in this state, the developers have added a new item known as a Purified Gem which can be used to counter them and dropped down by Team Go Rocket members after battle. They can also be assembled by using Shadow Shards which can be earned by fighting against low-level Shadow Pokemon from May 22 to May 27, 2023, along with the Shard Refiner which players will be able to obtain from Professor Willow.

This makes catching Legendary Shadow Pokemon easier than before

Before this, the only way to catch Legendary Shadow Pokemon was by battling Team Go Rocket leader Giovanni but a lot of players failed to win in it. This gives players the chance to catch powerful Pokemon such as Shadow Mewtwo which will be available at the end of the week on May 27 and May 28, 2023. This might be a starting move from the developers to introduce this new game mode right now as they want players to leave their homes to play Pokemon Go more often.

Niantic had previously increased the price of Remote Raid Passes in an attempt to make fewer people play from the comfort of their homes which resulted in the boycotting of the in-game store as a whole. This is their new attempt to make players come out of their houses as this mode can't be played using a Remote Raid Pass and anybody who wants to get their hands on a Legendary Shadow Pokemon will need to go to the location of the Pokemon Gym to try out their luck.

What are your thoughts on the new Shadow Raids in Pokemon GO? Let us know in the comments below!