A hard diversion from the normal cuteness and family-friendly content of regular Pokémon games came in the side games Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. This darker content was Shadow Pokémon, which are Pokémon captured by the evil Team Cipher and forced to do their bidding. It’s said their hearts are closed, and that’s why they turn into Shadow Pokémon.
As sad as that process is, fans agree that Shadow Pokémon are actually really cool. They often have purple shadows around them and they look mean, intimidating, and intense. Shadow Pokémon have now been reintroduced in Pokémon GO, owned by Team GO Rocket. They’ve also appeared in other media. Here are the coolest ones.
Updated September 14th, 2020 by Daniel Kurland: The Pokémon franchise has been turning out hits for decades, but this year has marked one of the most exciting times to be a Pokémon fan. More and more updates to Pokémon GO continue to pop up, and the introduction of the Nintendo Switch’s Pokémon Sword and Shield, as well as the expansion packs, has only helped keep Pokémon fandom at a fever pitch. Despite all of these additions and changes, Shadow Pokémon remain one of the series’ most mysterious developments and some of the more elusive collector’s items among dedicated Pokémon players.
15 Ursaring (Colosseum)
Ursaring is a Pokémon that can be quite intimidating, considering the creature resembles an angry grizzly bear. Ursaring isn’t the strongest Pokémon out there, but he does a lot of damage for a Normal-type and this is even truer for his Shadow equivalent in Pokémon Colosseum. A Shadow Ursaring can be fought in the Snagem Hideout against Agrev. Ursaring’s skillset could use a boost, but moves like Shadow Rush and Slash do a lot of damage and will remind others that this rabid bear shouldn’t be mistreated.
14 Tropius (Colosseum)
Tropius is a behemoth of a Grass-type Pokémon, and while he’s easy to overlook in favor of heavier hitters, it’s a secret weapon to those that know how to properly use the Pokémon. Pokémon Colosseum features an elusive Shadow version of the Pokémon that’s held by Cipher Peon Nella in the Tower Colosseum. Tropius is well trained and the dangerous one-two punch of SolarBeam and Shadow Rush can easily overwhelm naive trainers. Powerful healing and flying moves also make sure that Shadow Tropius is able to dish out a lot of pain.
13 Salamence (Gale Of Darkness)
Salamence may not be the most popular Pokémon, but he’s an extremely powerful Dragon Pokémon that was introduced in Generation 3. Salamence has a reptilian look that’s fitting to its name and Gale of Darkness contains a powerful Shadow version of the Pokémon stowed away on Citadark Isle. Cipher Admin Eldes fights with the Pokémon, who’s not just at a high level, but he’s equipped with an impressive assortment of not only Dragon and Shadow moves, but also impressive aerial attacks. This variety allows the Dragon-type lots of advantages in battle.
12 Dragonite (Gale Of Darkness)
Dragonite has been a notable Pokémon ever since the first generation of titles. He’s not a Legendary Pokémon, but he’s awfully close. His large size and dragon typing still make him a very powerful creature, even now. Shadow Dragonite is available in Gale of Darkness in the Gateon Port from Wanderer, but it’s not an easy encounter. Shadow Dragonite’s level is one of the highest and a combination of offensive moves like Hyper Beam and support attacks like Heal Bell guarantee that this Pokémon is a genuine asset.
11 Legendary Birds (GO)
Many people quickly dismissed Pokémon GO to just be a passing fad, but it’s been amazing to see Niantic continually roll out new content, whether its a simple tweak to the gameplay or an entirely new Pokémon landing on the roster. It’s been a great treat to see the mobile title work in more Shadow Pokémon, but one of the most enjoyable examples of this is the new power that Team Rocket is packing. Giovanni in particular sports Shadow versions of the original Legendary Birds, Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno. They’re impressive companions and even the versions in Gale of Darkness are worth the effort.
10 Gardevoir And Gallade (GO)
With each new Community Day, Niantic makes the featured Pokémon available in Shadow form. On Ralts Community Day in 2019, Ralts became available to rescue from Team GO Rocket as a Shadow Pokémon.
If evolved, it takes on a super intimidating and cool form as Gardevoir or Gallade. These two Psychic-types really embody the intense aura of being Shadows, with Gardevoir seeming much tougher than normal and Gallade having a very cool vibe. The purple shadows around them also match their overall design.
9 Legendary Beasts (Colosseum)
There are a few legendaries available as Shadow Pokémon in both Colosseum and Gale of Darkness. One set of legendary Pokémon available is the legendary beasts Raikou, Suicune, and Entei.
Interestingly, Suicune has the unique status of being the only Shadow Pokémon with different movesets, with the rest being preset. Suicune can know Surf if rescued from the Under or Realgam Tower. If rescued from Deep Colosseum, it’ll know Hydro Pump.
8 Shadow Banette (GO)
Shuppet and Banette were introduced as Shadow Pokémon in Pokémon GO, and their Shadow forms are really cool, even a bit scary. Both have the typical red eyes of Shadow Pokémon, with Banette’s being incredibly terrifying.
This is even scarier when one considers the fact that Banette (even non-Shadow ones) are already horrifying. They’re said to be an abandoned doll that was possessed with malice, slowly hunting down the child that left them behind. To add a Shadow process on top of that is awful.
7 Metagross (Colosseum)
Head to Tower Colosseum in the game with the same name, Colosseum, and you can find a high-level Metagross in Shadow form under the ownership of a Cipher member named Nascour. It’s believed that Nascour is the head of Cipher, but this is a misconception by the characters in the game.
However, his Shadow Metagross is still really cool and very intimidating. It’s one of the more powerful Shadow Pokémon that can be snagged in the game, while also requiring a ton of purification to rescue.
6 Noctowl (Colosseum)
If you’re looking for something a little easier to acquire but still just as scary and cool-looking, head to Pyrite Town and look for a person named Rider Nover. The player can snag his Shadow Noctowl which he uses alongside a Wingull and a Ledyba.
Noctowl is already a scary and mean-looking Pokémon with a brutal stare. Seeing it in Shadow Form adds to its powerful and intimidating attitude. After purification, Noctowl will learn Steel Wing. It also knows Hypnosis, Reflect, and Fly, making it a great Pokémon with a pretty good moveset.
5 Tyranitar (Colosseum)
Arguably one of the final bosses of Shadow Pokémon, there’s a Shadow Tyranitar that can be caught in Colosseum. This Tyranitar is under the ownership of Evice, the true mastermind behind Team Cipher.
Fans can attest to how difficult this fight is, being one of times in the series that it’s absolutely recommended to use a Master Ball. It’s a whopping level 55, tied with Dragonite for the highest of any Shadow Pokémon, and can be snagged from Evice in the Tower Colosseum.
4 Scizor (Colosseum)
Like Noctowl, Scizor is a Pokémon with an already-intimidating presence that is only improved by being a Shadow Pokémon. The Generation II evolution of Scyther is actually exclusive to Japanese versions of Colosseum and requires an e-Reader to access.
Its exclusivity is unfortunate, as it’s a really interesting Shadow form. Once captured, it can be purified and will learn Fury Cutter, alongside its Metal Claw, Swords Dance, and Slash moves. That’s a pretty stacked moveset, too.
3 Houndoom (GO)
There aren’t many Pokémon that are more evil and demonic-looking than Houndour and Houndoom. These Fire/Dark-type devil dogs look vicious and mean, and they’re meant to.
In Pokémon GO, they can be captured in their Shadow Forms. With their already-evil appearance as literal horned darkness dogs, the purple shadow aura and red eyes just serve to make them fit their own designs even better. They’re also available in the Colosseum series, but they just look so much more intimidating in GO.
2 Mewtwo (Pokkén)
Taking a quick detour from GO and the Colosseum games, there’s actually a great Shadow Pokémon that was introduced in another game entirely. That’s Shadow Mewtwo, which is available as a playable character in Pokkén Tournament, the arcade-style fighting game for Wii U and Switch.
Unlike most other Shadow Pokémon, this Mewtwo swaps its color palette entirely for a cool combination of dark grey and black. It’s a fantastic design change that gives Mewtwo an even more intimidating vibe.
1 Lugia (Gale Of Darkness)
Most can agree that this legendary Shadow Pokémon, which is the mascot for Gale of Darkness, is one of the coolest Shadow forms around, if not one of the coolest Pokémon in general.
Called the “ultimate” Shadow Pokémon and believed to be immune to purification, it swaps its color palette from regular Lugia like Shadow Mewtwo does in Pokkén. It loses its white body for a blackish-purple one, and its fins become a beautiful sharp silver. It knows four shadow moves and it requires immense resources to purify.
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