Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Apex Shadow Pokémon, pokemon, pokemon go, Pokémon GO Tour: Johto, shadow pokémon

What's The Difference Between Apex Shadow & Shadow Pokémon?

A major question that many Pokémon GO players have now that we are one week away from Pokémon GO Tour: Johto is whether or not the tickets are worth the price. For many, it comes down to what the Special Research and Masterwork Research will offer. Last year, the Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto event offered a guaranteed Shiny Ditto through the day's Special Research. When that was completed, the game's first-ever Masterwork Research was unlocked. The Masterwork Research led to an encounter with Shiny Mew. That was the release of Shiny Mew and remains the only way to obtain it in the game. This year, things are a bit different. The Mythical of Johto, Celebi, was already released in its Shiny form as a promotion for the Secrets of the Jungle movie, so Niantic had to get creative with what Pokémon GO Tour: Johto offers. We do get a Celebi, but it's not Shiny and instead has a special move. Okay, cool — but not as big of a sell as Shiny Mew, of course. The real benefit of the ticket comes down to the Masterwork Research which will lead to encounters with Apex Shadow Ho-Oh and Apex Shadow Lugia, the first Apex Shadows released in the game. The announcement of these two has led many to wonder… what's the difference between Apex Shadow and standard Shadow Pokémon?

Here's everything we are able to glean from the initial Pokémon GO announcement:

• Auras: Both Ho-Oh and Lugia are said to have different auras than standard Shadows. These can be previewed on the blog through GIFs. They look better than the static image pictured. Ho-Oh has a swirling vortex behind it and Lugia has a sort of gelatinous purple flame. Both have the electricity seen on Shadow Mewtwo only prior to this.
• Purification: The auras "change" when Purified. We have no information on how these will look.
• Moves: Shadow Ho-Oh and Lugia will have the moves Sacred Fire + and Aeroblast + respectively, adding power to their signature moves that their standard versions don't have. Their Purified equivalents get another small buff to the moves, changing them to Sacred Fire ++ and Aeroblast ++. Note that the Shadow Boost is stronger still than this move buff.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!