When is Shadow Cresselia coming to Pokemon GO?

Shadow Cresselia is the next Shadow Legendary Pokemon set to make its debut in Pokemon GO. This creature debuted in the fourth generation as a secret roaming Legendary that players could find if they pursued a sidequest in the original Sinnoh region titles. Ever since, Cresselia has become a staple in competitive play thanks to its high bulk and great supporting movepool.

However, Shadow Cresselia will undoubtedly make things a bit more interesting for the creature, as now it has the potential to deal high amounts of damage as well. Shadow Cresselia will be coming to Pokemon GO on August 8 as a part of the upcoming Team Rocket Takeover event where it will be the ace creature of Giovanni. Here is everything to know about Shadow Cresselia.

How to get Shadow Cresselia when it debuts in Pokemon GO

Shadow Cresselia will be the final member of Giovanni's team (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Before players can catch Shadow Cresselia, they must defeat it in battle. It will be the final Pokemon Giovanni uses when players challenge him from August 8 until the next Team Rocket Takeover event. Once they defeat Giovanni in battle, they will be rewarded with the opportunity to catch Shadow Cresselia.

Since it is a Shadow Pokemon, it will have the Shadow Boost, increasing Cresselia's attack, but weakening its defense. This means it should not be as hard to take down as standard Cresselia, but since it will be Giovanni's last creature during the battle, the player's team will be significantly weakened, potentially allowing Cresselia to sweep through their remaining team members.

As such, it may be helpful to learn some of the preferred counters to bring when dealing with Shadow Cresselia in Pokemon GO. Since Cresselia is a pure Psychic-type, there are many powerful options trainers can consider.

How to counter Shadow Cresselia in Pokemon GO

Cresselia will be more vulnerable to glass cannon attackers with the Shadow Boost (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Cresselia is a pure Psychic-type, which means it is weak against Bug-, Ghost-, and Dark-type attacks. It is always a good idea to have one creature on a battle party reserved exclusively for a match against Cresselia. With the Shadow Boost lowering Cresselia's defense, glass cannons like Darkrai and Pheromosa are much more viable against it.

Additionally, the battle against Giovanni is one of the rare circumstances players can use Mega Evolutions outside of Raid Battles. This opens the door for other potential counters like Mega Tyranitar, Mega Absol, and Mega Gengar. Bringing a Mega Evolution is not required, but it makes this fight considerably easier.

While the concept of Cresselia with the Shadow Boost is somewhat scary given its status as a Legendary Pokemon, the species' greatest asset was its high bulk. Sacrificing this valuable resource for more damage output does not sound like it would benefit the species very much, but this is mere speculation.

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Edited by Siddharth Satish