One of the original legendary birds has returned in a more powerful form, and you can catch it by following these steps. Shadow Moltes is a Team Rocket GO exclusive Pokémon with its own unique extra move and enhanced stats, and they’re totally new — Shadow Moltres appeared as of January, 2020, giving you a new goal to chase in this fresh decade.
There’s a lot more new content you can explore going on in Pokémon GO right now. January also has new Breakthrough Research, giving you a shot at a special Lapras with Ice Shard and Ice Beam. The Adventure Sync Hatchathon event has returned — Jan. 2nd through Jan. 16th you’ll earn bonus Stardust, Rare Candies, and a Unova Stone for walking the distance. And you’ll get Pokémon with 2020 Party Hats if you hatch eggs!
You’ll also find Heatran in new 5-Star Raids, and completely new Unova Region Pokémon in the new year. We don’t know what Pokémon are coming yet, but they’ll be here soon.
More Pokémon GO guides:
All The Shadow Pokémon You Can Catch (So Far!) | Full List | How To Catch (And Purify) Shadow Pokémon | Capture Guide | How To Fight Team Rocket GO | Invasion Event Guide | How The New Buddy Adventure System Works
To get your very own Shadow Moltres in Pokémon GO, you’ll need to follow the Team GO Rocket Special Research quests from Professor Willow. By completing these quests and defeating Team Go Rocket Leader Giovanni, you’ll earn the Shadow Moltres.
It’s a tricky task, and if you’ve never done it before, let’s break down all the steps you’ll have to take.
Before you begin, you’ll need to be at least Level 8 and complete the ‘A Troubling Situation‘ quest to later unlock ‘Looming in the Shadows’.
- How To Fight Giovanni – Step-By-Step
- Get The Rocket Radar – Defeat Team Rocket Grunts, collect Mysterious Components.
- Defeat All 3 Team Rocket Leaders – Use Rocket Radar to locate special Invaded Pokestops.
- Complete the ‘Looming in the Shadows’ Special Research to unlock the Super Rocket Radar.
- Use the Super Rocket Radar to locate Team GO Rocket Leader Giovanni.
Team GO Rocket Grunts spawn at random Invaded Pokestops, and sometimes they’ll drop special items called Mysterious Components.
Collect six Mysterious Components to create a Rocket Radar, leading you to one of the three GO Rocket Leaders. You’ll need to repeat this step three times, then complete the ‘Looming in the Shadows’ special research to finally confront Giovanni. Make sure to check your items and use them to craft the Rocket Radar — and each Rocket Radar can only be used once!
You can continue to fight Rocket Leaders multiple times after locating their hideout. Rocket Radars also will become available in the shop — so you can spend some money and get them faster if you don’t want to grind.
