Highlights

  • Some Pokemon GO players are currently criticizing Niantic for restricting Shadow Mewtwo raids to local players only.
  • Shadow Mewtwo remains one of the most sought-after Pokemon in the game due to its elite attacking stats and overall popularity.
  • Completing a five-star Mewtwo raid in Pokemon GO normally requires at least three high-level players, assuming everyone in the group is using good counters.

Niantic is currently catching a lot of heat from Pokemon GO fans for preventing remote players from participating in the ongoing Shadow Mewtwo raids. Complaints about this limitation have been surfacing online at a steady pace ever since the elusive creature returned to Pokemon GO in late March.

Shadow Mewtwo originally debuted in Niantic's hit mobile game in July 2020 as a Special Research reward. Aside from being a fan-favorite creature, it is also statistically one of the most powerful attackers in all of Pokemon GO. Those factors contributed to its Shadow variant quickly becoming one of the most sought-after creatures in the game. But the opportunities to catch it have been fairly scarce so far.

pokemon go earth logo
Related
Pokemon GO Code Gets You 10 Purified Gems for Free

A newly released Pokemon GO code gives players 10 Purified Gems to help them when fighting the game's powerful Shadow Raid Bosses.

Pokemon GO Failed to Announce Shadow Mewtwo Raids Will be Limited to Local Players

Given that state of affairs, the player community welcomed Niantic's mid-March announcement of the Pokemon GO World of Wonders: Taken Over event, which promised to see Shadow Mewtwo return to the game as a five-star raid boss over the final five days of the month. But what the company failed to mention was that these battles won't support Remote Raid Passes and will instead be exclusively available to local players. This only became apparent once World of Wonders: Taken Over kicked off on March 27, prompting a wave of criticism from the fandom that is still ongoing three days later.

While many fans joining in on the backlash didn't mince any words when describing how they feel about this limitation, others opted to make memes illustrating their growing disillusionment with the game. One particularly creative complaint was authored by Reddit user Hydraulic_30, who posted an old screenshot of a Pokemon GO Mewtwo shundo from 2021 and sarcastically proclaimed how happy they are not to live in a rural area so that they were finally able to get one of these rare specimens.

As is the case with most five-star raids, Shadow Mewtwo normally requires at least three high-level players to defeat. Although trainer levels themselves aren't what's really important, it is somewhat unlikely that low-level players will have access to the best Shadow Mewtwo counters, such as Mega Gengar and Mega or Shadow Tyranitar. Most rural players are hence unlikely to ever meet the requirements for completing these raids without venturing into highly populated areas or being allowed to partner with remote players.

The inability to use Remote Raid Passes for the Shadow Mewtwo raids isn't the only thing that the fandom found questionable about World of Wonders: Taken Over. Some players have also criticized the latest Pokemon GO event for its lackluster rewards, especially relative to the difficulty of its raids and Field Research tasks.