Shadow Zapdos can be a powerful legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Go. The only time you capture it is when Giovanni is holding it. The latest time to try and catch it is during the Season of Legends, from April 1 to April 30. Giovanni has returned after spending some time away and spending the Season of Legends bringing back shadow Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres each month. Trainers will need to complete the Team GO Rocket timed research, which runs from April 1 to April 8, so you have a limited amount of time to complete it. If you don’t, you will not be rewarded a Super Rocket Radar and battle Giovanni. When you capture shadow Zapdos, it is a powerful Pokémon, but how does it compare to the original?
Shadow Zapdos is a superb Pokémon, and we highly recommend it for the Master League and in other five-star raids.
Shadow Zapdos is an Electric and Flying-type Pokémon. It’s only weak to Ice and Rock-type moves, but it’s resistant to Bug, Fighting, Flying, Grass, Ground, and Steel-type attacks. For PvP, it has a maximum CP of 3,527, an attack of 211, a defense of 158, and a stamina of 175. When using shadow Zapdos in PvE, it has an attack of 253, a defense of 185, and a stamina of 207.
Zapdos is the strongest of the three legendary birds. It does the best in the Master League among them, and both the shadow version and regular Zapdos perform roughly the same. Picking between the two of them is pretty tough because of how similar they are. We recommend them both in PvP, so if you have not captured a standard Zapdos, the shadow one will do just fine.
While Zapdos does well in the Master League, it does fail in the Ultra League, at least, compared to Articuno. Articuno, the Flying and Ice-type legendary bird, can remain a powerful combatant in this league because of its lower maximum CP. It doesn’t lose as much of its stats when capped off at 2,500, whereas Zapdos does. If you need an Electric-type Pokémon for the Ultra League, we recommend several better choices, such as Magnezone, Electivire, or Raikou.
If you plan to use Zapdos in the Ultra League, the shadow version performs better in this category. Make sure to use that one when battling against other trainers.
Shadow Zapdos is a good Pokémon. It’s just as strong as its regular counterpart, and in some regards, stronger when you use it in the Ultra League because it loses some of its defenses to boost its attack. You can’t go wrong with it. While having one of both is preferred, having a shadow Zapdos comes with more benefits than only having the regular version.
If you do capture a shadow Zapdos, we do not recommend purifying it into a standard one. You’re better off using the shadow version and waiting for a Team GO Rocket event to happen where players have the opportunity to clear a Pokémon of its frustration charged move.
