Pokemon Go Players Left Searching for Nonexistent Shiny

Players were disappointed to discover that Niantic had mistakenly announced a new shiny Shadow in Pokemon Go, causing them to grind hard for the catch, only to realize that it had not been released at all.

The Adventure Week: Taken Over event introduced players to new lineups of Team Go Rocket, which included several Shadow Pokemon that could be obtained. Among these Shadow Pokemon was Shadow Archen, but players were confused when the developers announced on X that it could also be found in its shiny form from the Grunts.

A Shadow Pokemon can only be shiny if it was previously featured in the lineup of a Team Rocket Leader. As Archen was never included in the lineups of Arlo, Sierra, or Cliff, its shiny Shadow form should not be available.

After Reddit user ‘TrainerDaasC’ shared the X post and inquired if Niantic had made a mistake, numerous players chimed in to confirm.

According to the official Twitter account shiny shadow Archen is available? I’m guessing this is NOT true and yet another mistake? byu/TrainerDaasC inTheSilphRoad

Once you defeat either of the two villainous NPCs, Shadow Archen, the lead in the Rock or Flying type Grunt lineup, becomes available for capture.

Despite the Adventure Week event’s emphasis on Fossil Pokemon such as Shadow Archen, it remains highly accessible through the Grunts. Unfortunately, trainers around the world have been unable to locate its shiny variant as originally anticipated.

Shortly after, the incorrect information was removed from Pokemon Go’s X account and a new post about Shadow Archen was made, this time without any reference to its shiny version.

The rare catch proved to be a challenge for fans, who were disappointed and frustrated by their unsuccessful attempts. A trainer shared their experience of encountering a rocket team pokestop battle, but unfortunately did not manage to obtain a shiny.

Despite the shiny version of Shadow Archen not being available in the game yet, its regular form can still be shiny. In fact, players have a higher chance of encountering a shiny Archen during the Adventure Week event, which will be taking place until August 12, 2024. This is due to boosted odds for shiny encounters from Field and Timed Research tasks during the event.

Once you have defeated the Team Rocket Grunts and Leaders, make sure you are ready to take on their Boss Giovanni. He includes Shadow Cresselia, the Legendary Pokemon, in his team.