Are New Shadow Pokémon coming to Pokémon GO?

The concept of Shadow Pokémon was first introduced in Pokémon Colosseum, where they were described as Pokémon that have “had the door to their hearts shut.” That’s a mildly silly way of saying they’ve had their emotions removed and turned into ruthless fighting machines. Shadow Pokémon are regularly employed by the members of Team Rocket in Pokémon GO, and much like shinies, people are always on the lookout for new ones. So, are new Shadow Pokémon coming to Pokémon GO?

As of writing, Niantic has not confirmed any new Shadow Pokémon additions to the Pokémon GO PokéDex. However, in spite of this lack of information, users have begun to speculate that there may be some new Shadow Pokémon coming in the back half of the currently running Luminous Legends Y event. There is a certain logic to it; along with the event, the game is running a Global Challenge encouraging players to lay waste to as many Team Rocket grunts as humanly possible, which means there’s probably going to be a lot more Shadow Pokémon in circulation in the near future.

Are New Shadow Pokémon coming to Pokémon GO?

The main impetus of these rumors is a recent datamine conducted by PokeMiners, a datamining group that searches for signs of new content in Pokémon GO. According to the most recent report from PokeMiners, posted back on April 30th, ten new Shadow Pokémon already exist in the game’s files. These Pokémon are as follows:

• Tangela
• Horsea
• Snubbull
• Torchic
• Poochyena
• Makuhita
• Electrike
• Starly
• Bidoof
• Skorupi

Now, assuming this list is legit (and PokeMiners does have a good track record for being correct about this stuff), Niantic could theoretically pull the trigger on these Shadow Pokémon at any given time. As to whether or not it’ll be during Luminous Legends Y, I can’t say, but if it does end up being true, you can bet people will clobber enough Rocket grunts to beat that Global Challenge a few times over to get them.