Pokémon GO fans up in arms over lackluster compensation for botched Shiny Shadow Zapdos raid

The Shiny Shadow Zapdos could not be encountered during the time players thought it would be available.

Anna Bernardo
·Contributor
Updated ·3 min read
Shiny Shadow Zapdos didn't appear in Raids on 16 September and Niantic has given three raid passes as compensation, but the players think it's not enough. (Photo: NIantic)
Shiny Shadow Zapdos didn't appear in Raids on 16 September and Niantic has given three raid passes as compensation, but the players think it's not enough. (Photo: Niantic)

Whenever an extremely rare Pokémon is made available for Pokémon GO raids, trainers everywhere are usually more excited and make an effort to participate.

One such raid was the for the Shiny Shadow Zapdos, which took place on 16 September.

Shadow Raids are some of the most sought-after raids because they’re some of the most challenging yet rewarding battles in the game — with an opportunity to catch a powerful Shadow Pokémon that is useful in PvP and PvE.

However, many were met with disappointment because the promised Shiny Shadow Zapdos didn’t show up.

This was promptly acknowledged by Niantic in a tweet on 17 September. Apparently, the Shiny Shadow Zapdos could not be encountered earlier on the 16th.

Then, on Thursday (28 September), Niantic issued a complete apology, along with some compensation for the players affected.

The free item bundled includes three Premium Battle Passes and can be claimed from 28 September to 8 October.

Pokémon Trainers complain about the compensation, saying it’s ‘not gonna cut it’

However, this post shared on the X app (formerly Twitter) appeared to trigger widespread backlash from Pokémon GO enthusiasts.

For one, the post was flooded with trainers who notified Niantic Support that they participated in the raid but did not receive the said compensation.

“THREE passes as compensation? That doesn’t make up for the wasted time, travelling to each raid, and those having done over 10+ raids during the affected period,” pointed out Pokémon GO player “sungjinhong.”

Popular Pokémon GO streamer Daniel “FleeceKing,” also asked, “What if people did more than three raids,” with another suggesting on the thread to “compensate the amount [of raids] people did.”

Another content creator, who goes by the X (formerly Twitter) name “FilmVlogs,” also asked Niantic in response to the apology tweet to “compensate more Premium Raid Passes”, adding that “3 is just not gonna cut it!" with many others agreeing with him.

AlolanJoris also pointed out that “players do not get any rare candy XL for 5-star shadow raids,” so there should also be rare candy XLs in the compensation, like the compensation for the Shadow Mewtwo weekend.

Players can get a chance to encounter Shadow Zapdos in raids on 6 October (Friday), local time.

Niantic has not clarified if this would also be a Shiny Shadow Zapdos or not.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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