"A helpful Guide to Shadow Vs. Purified Pokémon."

#PokemonGO: As we know, Pokémon Go gets tons of new players all the time. A question by many, regardless of where they are in the game, is often the debate of shadow vs purified Pokémon. Questions like “which to keep” and “which is better”, “should I purify” and other questions along those lines. I just wanted to make a post to highlight the advantages vs disadvantages of both so people have a better idea. I hope y’all find it helpful and please let me know if I missed anything in the comments.WHERE TO OBTAIN; both are obtained exclusively from Team Rocket, whether is be from the grunts, leaders, or boss. Shadows are the encounter (the version of the caught Pokémon) and you could purify them for a set number of candies and stardust as a cost.POSITIVES OF SHADOWS: They hit much harder than their regular forms, regardless of IVs. A 0-0-0 shadow out damages a 15-15-15 non shadow of its own variant. They get 20% more damage which is more impactful than IVs. When it comes to raiding, always pick shadow since damage is more important.NEGATIVES OF SHADOWS: Very costly. They start at level 8 (or 13 during weather boost). This makes them cost a lot of resources to power up and get a second charge move. They even have an additional candy and dust costs when you invest in them. Plus, to compensate for damage boost, they take extra damage. (20% more to be exact). That’s why in PvP, shadows are not regularly recommended over their non-shadow forms. In PvP, you need bulk more than attack (in most scenarios).WHAT DOES PURIFYING DO: Purifying makes the shadow it’s “regular” form. The purified Pokémon instantly becomes a level 25. This saves a ton of resources on powering them up. Plus, it takes less resources to further power them up and get a second move, making them far cheaper to use as compared to a regular (neither shadow nor purified) Pokémon. Furthermore, they get +2 IV points for each stat upon purification. To compensate, they lose the 20% to extra damage they had as shadows but also lose the +20% to damage received.WHICH SHOULD YOU PICK?: In raids, shadows are always the better option as explained above. In many lists, whether it be Pokebattler or Gamepress, shadows will dominate the list and even outclass mega Pokémon. In PvP, a bit more complicated and it’s really on personal preference. Only two (to my knowledge) are better purified which are Sabeleye and Wobbufett but you could make use of other purified Pokémon too. But again, bulk is suggested so it’s better not to use a shadow. More details on pvpoke.com for PvP information.I honestly keep all my Pokémon as shadows. I just prefer the raw damage boost and I find them more effective overall. But again, that’s my preference. Everyone plays the game differently so pick the way that makes you happy! I hope this guide helped anyone!Edit: forgot to mention when to purify. As I said, I normally keep my Pokémon as shadows since I want strong Pokémon. Other plays are not like that. If you are into collecting, like filling the perfect dex, do what you please. If you have a 13-13-13 shadow, many players will tell you to keep as shadow. If you want the hundo since you like it, go ahead and purify! Some people like the look of purified better which is also completely fair. If you want to dominate PvE, keep shadows. If you want to do better in PvP, look at IVs and use an app like PokeGenie to help make a better informed decision. Remember they get +2 to each IV stat when purified. The decision to purify varies from player to player and their respective play style.Edit 2: RETURN VS FRUSTRATION: Shadow Pokémon inherently start with the move Frustration and Purified get return. Both moves cannot be forgotten except during special event (such as the recent rocket invasion event(to my knowledge the only event allowing you to remove the moves but I may be wrong)). Frustration is a move that is horrendously bad and you do not want. It takes a ton of energy to get to and hits for nothing. In other words a waste of time so make sure to TM it whenever the event comes. Return however is pretty solid. It takes a good amount of energy but hits pretty hard. Unfortunately it doesn’t benefit many Pokémon but it’s still at least usable unlike frustration. A Pokémon like Sabeleye really wants this move when in PvP so make sure not to remove it from it. Also, when events, such as community days, come, we get the chance to give a Pokémon it’s legacy moves. Most recent being Bulbasaur for example. IMPORTANT to note; IF A POKÉMON HAS FRUSTRATION OR RETURN, IT WILL NOT LEARN THE LEGACY CHARGE MOVES. If it’s a fast move like how Walrein got powder snow, it’ll be added but if your shadow spheal had frustration, the shadow would not have learned icicle spear. So please keep this in mind!!!TL:DR; Shadows are better in PvE, regardless of IVs. Purified are more cost effective and will do better in PvP.(THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE UPVOTES AND AWARDS) via /r/pokemongo https://ift.tt/PQnZVuG