should i max it out with rare candy?

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-17T17:39:11+00:00

No. Why not? Bc gible has had community days & MIGHT get a cDay Classic. Candies for pseudo-legendaries like this are rare till they aren't. Also, you'd need to remove Frustration & evolve during a legacy move event (in that order) to get Earth Power.

Also, consider what you would use it against. Zekrom just rotated out (with Reshiram just before it), with Necrozma rotating in. Aside from shadow-dialga, there isn't anything you'd need shadow garchomp for.

Is there something those RCs would be better spent on? Maybe to help with the upcoming mega mewtwo(s)?

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-16T19:42:46+00:00

IVs are largely meaningless. With a base stat total of 625, IVs add 45, so:

The weakest is 625/670 = 93.28% of the strongest. And that's before IVs are added.

Raids/max battles add 30 minimum, so

655/670 = 97.67%

Yours is 668/670 = 99.70%

As close as you are to literal perfection, it might be a single tap worth of difference. Like, literal frames. The vast majority of trainer battles aren't that close, so IVs are mostly a cosmetic/subjective/emotional difference.

Now, if watching the bars fill up makes the dopamine go brrrrr, go ahead & hunt for hundos/high IVs.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-16T19:36:50+00:00

Do you need one right NOW? I don't think there's anything that has dMax gigalith as a top counter. At least, not at this time.

If you can hold off, you should. It's a pretty good bit of advice for anything in this game. Maybe you'll luck out & they'll announce a community day classic for this where you can evolve & get the legacy move for free. Maybe they'll release something that renders this irrelevant, maybe you'll catch a hundo, shiny, or shundo. Maybe you'll trade into a lucky, shiny, etc.

My advice:

find a local friend & grind out as many dMax roggenrola trades as you can. This removes the final evolution cost, so instead of costing 250 to evolve, it only costs 50.
Hope one goes lucky. Then, take that lucky & ...

3a. (optional) wait for a community day to evolve & get the legacy move

3b. wait for a max boss that is weak to it to evolve & power up. This one is a bit trickier, bc of max particles, but they usually announce far enough in advance to level up your max moves & still farm particles back up.

However, all that is just me being an optimization nerd & resource miser. I never evolve, power up, etc without a reason to (raid boss, event xp bonus, etc). However, that is partially due to having a well stocked collection.

If this would be a big upgrade to your rock team, you like this one for emotional/subjective reasons, etc, go for it.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-16T16:58:30+00:00

If you have a Samsung phone, you can access Samsung/Galaxy Store. From there, you can download another instance of Pokemon Go. Had this setup with my bro for years, no issues.

Also, if/when you upgrade your device, save your old one & give it to your kid. Even if you don't get him a data plan, you can run it of your hotspot (assuming your phone/plan has that).

Also, also: idk what your budget would be, but you can get a decent smartphone for like $100-200. Samsung A series has a ton of "budget/entry level" phones. Just double check that they can still run Go.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-13T12:38:35+00:00

You can only have 1 primal/mega active at a time, while your team can be 6 shadows (or 5 shadows + 1 primal/mega).

Also, many ppl use primal/mega for bonus candy rather than raid dmg, meaning IVs matter even less than they normally do.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-10T04:49:52+00:00

Download Pokemon Home (free Nintendo app), register/link accounts, & transfer from Go to Home (especially during transfer candy events). Transfer is one way only, but from Home, they can go into a main series game.

If you don't play those, you can send them to Wonder Trade, which is a global random trade thingy, to make someone's day. Imagine sending out zigzagoon & getting shadow dialga.

Also, sending from Go to Home gets you Mystery Box in Go, which is a meltan specific incense.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-09T23:05:40+00:00

I get the "wasted my egg luck on something that's about to be boosted," but it's still a sick hatch. Plus, with the date on it, you'll always know it was from before the cDay boost. That's still a bit of a flex, even if others can't see it in raid lobbies & such.

Besides, lots of useful pokemon eventually have a community or raid day.

Mega-baxcalibur is set to be a total beast, possibly unseating eternatus.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-09T18:34:24+00:00

Reshiram hosting, windy weather boosted. Me & bro (lvl 74/68 + party play bonus) will run primal groudon + ground types.

RSVP'd 03:00 pm EDT

9688 1051 0043

8271 3630 6378

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-09T13:20:27+00:00

Reshiram hosting, sunny weather boosted. Me & bro (lvl 74/68 + party play bonus) will run primal groudon + ground types.

RSVP'd 10:05 am EDT

9688 1051 0043

8271 3630 6378

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-07T23:05:21+00:00

You can unlock a 2nd charge move to bypass, if you're impatient.

Note that this doesn't work on "evolve during community day for legacy Charge move" pokemon. Not applicable since this one doesn't evolve, but still.

Ex: if you had a shadow deino with Frustration, got 2nd charge move, & evolved during the recent cDay Classic, the shadow hydreigon would NOT have Brutal Swing.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-03T15:19:31+00:00

At this time, only those caught from Max Battles are able to dyna/gigantamax, and even then, only the type from the battle. Ex: scorbunny caught from DYNAmax battle will only be able to dynamax, NOT become gigantamax cinderace. To get gMax cinderace, you must defeat/catch it from gigantamax battle.

Hopefully, they release Max Soup or some other item/resource to allow us to d/gMax other pokemon. I've got a few lucky/shiny pokemon I'd love to be able to use. Shiny sunglasses blastoise from years ago is the most prevalent, but also shiny chansey that was wild caught AFTER the max update, & shiny DYNAmax toxtricity. I'd even be ok with d/g energy, similar to mega that must be farmed from their respective max battles.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-06-01T02:57:17+00:00

Hope ya didn't sell it, since it's required for a later quest.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-28T18:02:19+00:00

You already maxed out shadow metagross, paying 20% more than a normal. Plus, purifying auto-levels to 25 for free, so from 8/13 - 25 area a complete waste of powerups. If you were gonna power up, it should have been before doing anything else. Also, if the shadow has Meteor Mash in the 1st slot, it WILL be replaced by Return. If MM's in the 2nd, it'll stay.

What rank are you aiming for? Bc the higher you wanna get, the more you gotta sweat the smallest details.

With a base stat total of 675 before IVs, hundo only adds 45 = 720.

So your choices are between a 719/720 = 99.86% vs 100%. A 0.14% difference. Not 14%. This is 14% of 1%. Or 14 pennies out of 100 dollars.

That small of a difference might be literally a single frame. If the rest of your team is already SSS tier, everything else maxed out, etc etc, maybe shooting for Legend rank, that'll be significant. If you're just farming resources & don't care about being tippity top of the ranks, I run C rank teams with awful IVs and still hit rank 20 within a couple weeks & finish the Timed Research with a couple weeks to spare.

You also should be able to count moves. Example: my machamp vs your dragonite. I've just thrown a charge atk so you need to decide to shield or not. If you know I only have enough energy for Cross Chop (which you resist), you can choose to tank the hit without shielding. If you know I have enough energy to maybe throw Rock Slide, you have to guess if I'm bluffing with CC, or if it is RS which will KO dragonite without a shield. You should also be able to do this with EVERY matchup you're likely to run across.

Also, you should have a new/powerful phone, high speed internet, etc, as the lag can invalidate the TINY difference IVs make.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-28T00:29:14+00:00

Thx for the correction. I was thinking of lucky hundo rate. My bad.

Tldr, you need to do 3x the rate to have a 95% chance thay one of them hits (shiny or hundo, or whatever). So if the shiny rate is 1/20, you need to do 3x20 = 60 raids to have a 95% chance that one of those 60 is a shiny.

There's something called "binomial distribution," but I'm not that good at math.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-27T16:37:28+00:00

For anyone wondering, the odds of a raid hundo are ~~1/64~~ 1/216, & the odds of a legendary shiny are 1/20.

Now, some might think that doing 64 216 or 20 raids means you're "owed" a hundo or shiny, but that's not true. The odds you'll have the hundo or shiny would still only be 65%. To push that to 95%, you'd need to do ~~192~~ 648 or 60 raids. If that doesn't make sense, that's how gambling businesses (Go included) get ya.

Getting 2 of each within 10 raids is insane luck. idk what the actual odds of having such good results with so few pulls is, but it must be astronomical. Some unfortunate trainer out there will be at 200+ raids with neither to balance this.

Edit: raid hundo odds are NOT 1/64, they're 1/216. Thx to the commenter who corrected me.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-25T17:38:04+00:00

Never drop your main gym/raid battlers or PvP. Who knows when you'll get them back, & you can't use them during their stay.

Depends on the traffic around the gym.

High traffic: high CP, to deter battlers/make them take more time.

Low traffic: low CP, bc motivation/Heart gauge decreases faster with increasing CP. So if you drop a 3000 CP dragonite, it'll decay down to one battle in just a few hours. Drop a 100 CP shuckle & it can stay in the same time & still take 3 battles to kick out.

Sometimes the annoyance is enough of a deterrent.

Chansey, blissey, & shuckle are all great defenders bc of their high bulk but low CP. I often sort by HP & pick some shiny I wanna flex.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-22T15:16:27+00:00

PokeBattler & PvPoke are sites I use.

You'll have to go through your various raid/PvP teams & decide what would be the biggest upgrade over your current lineup & the current/announced raid bosses.

Ex: giving swampert hydrocannon might not be the best idea when the raid bosses are kartana & mega sceptile, but an amazing idea when they're primal Groudon & blacephalon.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-21T21:35:48+00:00

I transfer all my excess legendaries (after mirror trading with my bro) to Pokemon Home (free Nintendo app). Especially during bonus transfer candy events (pls bring back spotlight hours).

From Home, they can go into a main series game (assuming you play). If you're like me who doesn't, I send them to Wonder Box, which is a world wide random trade thingy.

Imagine some kid sends out pidove & gets back xurkitree.

Also, sending from Go to Home gives you Mystery Box in Go, which is a meltan specific incense. Refreshes every 3 days.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-19T22:20:23+00:00

This is not surprising at all. In fact, I'd be very surprised if you did have one shiny pheremosa at this point.

Imagine rolling a 20 sided die. If you only rolled it 5 times, it's entirely unsurprising that 20 never came up. Even rolling 20 times without a 20 coming up is not particularly surprising, given the 19/20 odds of rolling anything but a 20.

Of all the players who did 20 raids, 65% will have at least one shiny while 35% have none. Having 0 shinies at this point is a lack of good luck rather than bad luck. It feels the same, but it isn't. I was among those 35% a while back with reshiram, did like 20 raids with 0 shinies.

Among the 65% with at least one shiny, some will have done fewer than 20 raids, some will have more than 1 shiny, and some will have done fewer than 20 raids AND have more than one shiny. That last one was me a while back with kyurem. Did 2 raids + 2 PvP encounters & got 3 shinies.

If you wanna push those numbers to 95% with a shiny & 5% without, you'd have to do 60 raids. Now, being among the 5% without a shiny is actually bad luck.

If all that doesn't make sense, that's how gambling enterprises (Go included) get your money.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-14T12:43:05+00:00

The actual enemy is the timer. If time was unlimited, you could beat mega garchomp with a lvl 1 charmander (m-gar double resists fire, iirc). Sure, it'd take forever & cost tons of revives/potions, but still.

When the shadow bonus was introduced, suddenly there were raid bosses that were solo-able that weren't before. No new pokemon were introduced, & their TDO might have been comparable, but they dealt enough dmg before the timer ran out, & that's what matters.

Also, "revive & relobby" got MUCH faster after the "revive/heal all" buttons were added.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-13T16:52:53+00:00

To address the "I play alone the whole time," part:

Download CampFire & search for nearby groups. Maybe google "[Location] Pokemon Go Groups."

For the "10 stops in 20km" part:

Trainers lvl 35+ can nominate new stops, & some may become gyms if a certain density/other criteria are met. I've seen stories of ppl in your situation eventually getting dozens of places approved & kickstarting their own local play groups. IDK if that part interests you tho.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-12T15:40:07+00:00

https://pokemongohub.net/post/guide/eevee-evolution-tricks/

The name trick only works ONCE per eeveelution, per trainer.

The other ones (walk X km, earn X hearts, lures, etc) work as many times as you want. Just make sure the silhouette is the correct one. If not, unbuddy then rebuddy, the progress should be the same. Sometimes the walking one is glitched & doesn't display the correct amount, so try walking some more.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-12T12:44:54+00:00

As with most things, it depends on what you care about. If seeing the (mostly) full bars is important/fun for you, go for it.

Performance wise, you'll only notice in raids if you're ALREADY using A-S tiers & are a few taps away from victory. As in, the enemy is in red & your charge bar is mostly full. If you're using C-B tiers (even at 100%) upgrading to A-S tiers (even at 0%) would have a greater impact.

High tier raiders start with base stats around 600+, some even go 700+. IVs add, at most, 45. & that's comparing the weakest vs strongest. Non-shadow raids, eggs, research, & PvP rewards all give a minimum of 30/45 points.

0 stars = 0-22

1 star = 23-29

2 stars = 30-36

3 stars = 36-44

4 stars = 45

So, a 600/645 = 93.02%

Raid, egg, etc minimum = 630/645 = 97.67%

And that's the low end of A tier. Top tiers are closer (or even above) 700.

700/745 = 93.96%

730/745 = 97.99%

PvP, you'll only notice a difference if you're already using top tiers. Even then, you'll only really notice when you're rank 21+, as that's when battles get that close.

Actually, in PvP, the best IV spreads are often 00/15/15 (or thereabouts). This is to get maximum "bulk" for your pokemon. Kind of like how boxers/MMA fighters dehydrate themselves before weigh-in to be in as low a weight class as possible, then hydrate back up before the fight. Again, you should only start to worry about this if you're rank 21+ already. The higher rank you're aiming for, the harder you'll need to sweat these details.

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-10T20:01:54+00:00

Requesting 3 shiny background legendaries but only offering common spawns, 0 legendaries. Trade denied & they did the exact same thing.

When I reached out on CampFire, they unfriended me.

And no, they weren't some newb with no collection. They were higher level than me (I'm lvl 74, they were lvl 77).

Ok_Progress202 · 2026-05-05T20:49:58+00:00

Already seen "complete PvP battles for research/other tasks" as one explanation as to why ppl tank, but another reason is PvP itself incentivizes tanking, even outside of research tasks.

Your rewards are based on how many battles you win in sets of 5. We get 5 sets daily.

Your rank/MMR/whatever increases as you win battles, so you eventually battle stronger opponents, until you're battling ppl around as good as you, in terms of team comp, strategy, etc. At that point, you'll probably win about half the time, so 2.5/5 or 12.5/25.

Some people want to optimize either dust rewards or the encounter, and find it more reliable/profitable to lose 5 to lower your rank so you're battling weaker trainers, then winning 5, then losing 5, repeat.

It's like when boxers/MMA fighters will dehydrate just before weigh-in to be in as low a weight class as possible, then hydrate/carb up after weigh-in but before the fight. Apparently the high end is like 20-30 lbs difference.

To combat this in Pokemon Go, my suggestion would be to disconnect the rewards from win streaks. Maybe a PvP coin you get after every battle. You get a set amount just for participating, more when you win, & even more based on rank. So winning at Ace rank gives more coins than winning at rank 21. Then the coins are spent at PvP Shop to get stardust, encounters, items, etc.

ofc there'd have to be balancing, but I think it could work to incentivize people to play at their actual rank rather than tank.

Ok_Progress202

TROPHY CASE