Summary
Pokemon GOplayers are surprised that Niantic has ignored the Shadow Absol for so long, as the Pokemon hasn’t been available in the game since the start of 2020. The fact that it’s been so long since the Pokemon could be caught inPokemon GOand it is not tradeable has led many players to believe that it doesn’t exist in the game altogether.
While there is no dearth of events inPokemon GO, fans have been quite disappointed with the Pokemon featured in the game in recent times. For instance, thePokemon GOspawns prioritizing Kanto Pokemonhas been an ongoing concern for players. Amid that, players are unhappy that a Shadow Pokemon has been neglected by Niantic for over 4 years.
In a new post on thePokemon GOsubreddit, user EllieGeiszler highlights a Pokemon that has slipped under Niantic’s radar all this while. ThePokemon in question is Absol, which is a Dark-type Pokemon hailing from the Hoenn region in Generation 3. Absol was added toPokemon GOall the way back in 2017 along with its shiny variant. However, fans have been talking about Shadow Absol in particular, which was released toward the end of 2019 and was never seen in the game again.
Shadow Absol made its debut on Jun 15, 2025, and was rotated in February 2020. While the pool of Shadow Pokemon is usually rotated every once every season with the release of the Team GO Rocket Takeover events, Niantic has surprisingly ignored Absol all this while. It should be noted that back in the day,Giovanni and his team’s lineup inPokemon GOused to switch more often, but lately, it has been once every three months or so. This has somewhat contributed to Shadow Absol’s absence from the lineup, but the fact that many other Pokemon have featured multiple times can’t be ignored either.
Strangely enough, it’s not only Shadow Absol that has been ignored by Niantic, as the Mega variant seems to have suffered as well. As one user highlights,Mega Absol was also added back to thePokemon GOraid poolafter a long time, and what made things worse is that it was removed three days earlier than advertised. Despite the player’s complaints, Niantic didn’t acknowledge the issue.
Absol Isn’t The Only Shadow Pokemon Ignored By Niantic
In fact, this is not the only Pokemon that has been strangely missing from the lineup. Others highlighted that several other Pokemon, such as Delibird and Carvanha, have been missing for roughly the same amount of time. In fact, one user highlights that Shadow Delibird was available for a much smaller time frame, which makes it even rarer than Shadow Absol. Many were surprised at the fact that Niantic doesn’t rotate ShadowDelibird every year during the Holidays inPokemon GO, considering it is the perfect Pokemon to capture the essence of the festive season.
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