Pokemon GO Players Call For Removal Of Shadow Raid Gem Mechanic

Shadow Entei recently made its Pokemon GO debut in Shadow Raids, but players aren’t too happy with how the first round of raids unfolded. While the flaming Legendary Dog does put up quite a fight, players had a greater struggle battling the Shadow Raid Gem mechanic.

Rural Pokemon GO Players Demand Shadow Raid Gem Removal

Pokemon GO introduced Purified Gems in 2023 as a new mechanic that allows players to interact with Shadow Raids. If a Pokemon becomes enraged during a Shadow Raid, players could use Purified Gems to subdue the boss and make the fight much easier. However, players need to collect four Shadow Shards by defeating Team GO Rocket Grunts and Leaders in order to form a single Purified Gem.

That said, the process is easier said than done if you’re a rural player. Shadow Raids can’t be joined using Remote Raid Passes; you can’t carry more than 10 Purified Gems, and each Enraged Raid Boss takes multiple Purified Gems to nullify. And to top it all off, players have experienced a Purified Gem glitch that consumes gems when used but doesn’t count them toward the nullification.

User Breezer_Pindakaas recounted their experience on Reddit with the first wave of Shadow Entei raids when they encountered the glitch. “Start the raid, and it’s going great. Even had a resisted charge move. Then the enrage glitches out, once again, wasting our raid pass and our gems. Sadly, we were one gem short of a retry, so a good 30 min and resources wasted,” they wrote.

Breezer stated that Niantic needed to change the mechanic by either removing it and buffing the Shadow Pokemon’s HP or by only consuming Passes and Gems at the catch screen.

They weren’t the only ones who lamented over the glitchiness of Shadow Raids.

“This whole system is insanely difficult for no reason,” GoldenHair74 commented. They then explained how the limited number of Gems you can hold makes the process of grinding for raids feel frustrating.

Another user claimed that bigger cities or larger groups of players may not know these issues even exist for rural players as the Enrage mechanic barely affects them.

At a glance, it seems Pokemon GO players aren’t satisfied by the Purified Gem mechanic for Shadow Raids. You’d be hard-pressed to find a player who enjoys the limited resources, let alone the bug-riddled gameplay experience.