Should You Purify or Evolve First in Pokémon GO? Evolve While Shadow for Raids, Purify for PvP
As an avid Pokémon GO player and content creator, one question I‘m often asked is: should you purify or evolve first when you catch an interesting Shadow Pokémon?
It‘s a great question, as both purification and evolution provide major boosts to your Pokémon. However, the approaches do tradeoff some key benefits.
The Case for Purifying First
I typically recommend purifying your Shadow Pokémon before evolving it if you plan to use it mainly for PvP battles like Go Battle League.
Why purify first for PvP? Two key reasons:
1. Cheaper Investment to Power Up
Purified Pokémon only cost 25% as much Stardust/Candy to power up compared to standard Pokémon, and a whopping 75% less than Shadow!
This table shows the total costs to reach Level 50 from Level 8:
| Pokemon Type | Stardust Cost | Candy Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow | 374,000 | 364 |
| Standard | 124,000 | 364 |
| Purified | 62,000 | 274 |
As you can see, you save a ton on costs by purifying first. This allows you to max out the Pokémon‘s stats at an affordable rate – which is key for PvP success.
2. IV Boost from Purification
Purifying adds +2 to each IV, raising them to a maximum of 15. As PvP battles come down to flip situations, having a 4* perfect IV Pokémon can give you the edge.
If you evolve first while Shadow, you miss out on this potential IV boost. Instead, your evolved Pokémon‘s IVs will range randomly between 0-15 like normal.
So if you care about IVs over the Shadow attack bonus, purify first.
When to Evolve While Still Shadow
On the other hand, I generally recommend keeping your Shadow Pokémon shadow if you plan to use it as a top attacker for raids and gym battles.
The reasons evolving while Shadow makes sense for PvE:
1. 20% Damage Boost
Shadow Pokémon receive a 20% damage bonus that applies after you evolve them. This directly translates into higher DPS performance.
For example, a Shadow Salamence has an average Time to Win of 153.1 seconds against a Tier 3 Raid Boss:
| Pokemon | Time to Win |
|---|---|
| Standard Salamence | 179.0 |
| Shadow Salamence | 153.1 |
As you can see, the Shadow has over 10% faster battle time thanks to that sweet bonus.
2. Resource Efficiency
Evolving while Shadow saves you 124,000 Stardust and 90 Candies per Pokémon by avoiding later purification costs.
Since you‘ll constantly be raiding and earning rewards with your Shadow attacker, the efficiency savings are massive long-term.
Cost Analysis Formulas
When deciding evolve first or purify first for a Pokémon, you can use these formulas I created to calculate total costs:
Total Purification Cost
Purification Cost = (Power Up Cost from Level 8 to 50 for Purified Pokemon) + (Candy and Stardust to Purify)
So for example, a Dratini:
62,000 + (1,000 Stardust + 3 Candy) = 63,003 resource cost
Much cheaper than evolving while Shadow!
Total Shadow Cost
Shadow Cost = (Power Up Cost from Level 8 to 50 for Shadow Pokemon) + (Eventual Purification Cost)
If you evolve while Shadow but purify later, the costs are higher:
374,000 + 63,003 = 437,003 resource cost
As you can save over 400,000 resources per Pokémon by purifying first, use these formulas to determine the best route!
…
Purification Tips for Finding Your Perfect PvP Pokémon
Now as an avid Go Battle League player myself, I want to offer some pro tips…
[Additional sections with statistics graphs on Pokémon performance, professional insights, battle examples, an FAQ, and concluding tips for fellow players.]So in summary fellow trainers, hopefully this guide gives you the information needed to decide if you should purify or evolve first per your gameplay goals with that special Shadow Pokémon. Personally, I aim for 100% IV purified Pokémon to dominate the Go Battle Leagues!
Let me know if you have any other questions, and good luck out there travelers. Time to get back to the hunt for Shundos!
