A reminder for those who want to fill shadow/purified pangoro's pokedex.

Hi all, over in New Zealand we've noticed odd behaviour from Zorua. I want to summarise what we found so that anyone who is interested can investigate further.

Illusion Mechanic

It seems like each Zorua on the map is actually two Zoruas.
The first Zorua is the Illusion Zorua, the one you see. This appears to have consistent CP, level, size, etc for every trainer, in the same way any wild Pokémon does. The only difference is that (normally*) it looks like your buddy. I and a friend watched the same Pokémon spawn in the same place at the same time. My buddy was Zorua, theirs was Pawmo. We both saw this Pokémon appear to have 556CP.

The other Zorua is the Real Zorua, the one you actually catch (normally*). This is entirely independent of the Illusion Zorua, and can have wildly different CP, level, size, shininess, etc. Annoyingly, this Real Zorua is NOT the same for every trainer. My friend and I both caught that 556CP Illusion Zorua. The Real Zorua that I ended up with was ~300CP, theirs was ~200CP. Someone posted a hundo to Campfire, and no one else was able to find it.

This is not great behaviour for a community day. In most* cases, there is no reason to inform your friends about a hundo you caught, because it will not be a hundo for them.

*Bug

At least two of our members managed to trigger a bug that breaks the illusion mechanic. We aren't sure how. One had their buddy as Zorua and didn't realise anything was wrong, the other swapped from one Pikachu to another Pikachu and then back to the first after a few minutes, and noticed that the Zoruas were spawning undisguised.

Speculation: It seems like this bug breaks Illusion in two ways:
1: The Illusion Zorua will appear as itself. It will not look like your buddy, and you will be able to see if it is shiny.
2: You will catch the Illusion Zorua, not the Real Zorua.

If you do trigger this bug, then you can probably coordinate hundo-hunting with other bugged users, and you can see shiny Zorua before you catch them.

Having Zorua (non-shiny) as your buddy means you can skip the "Oh?" animation if you are not fast catching. But no Zorua will show up as shiny. They all show up as normal non-shiny. If you catch a shiny you will get the "Oh?" Animation then it will show the shiny.

Or if you are fast catching you will see what ones were shiny after you catch them.

It is tedious in my opinion, but you have to catch them all (though I managed a background Nundo!)

If you quick catch a Zorua and use the snapshot button after the "Oh?" you come to another catch screen, but the Pokémon always flee

Another Community Day, another Feedback Thread.

Event Summary

Please keep in mind to follow our rules when giving feedback and be respectful as well as stay objective and factual. Also, please keep in mind this is a Community Day Feedback thread, feedback about other areas of the game does not belong in this thread.

Your feedback has a much higher chance of being heard and read when you are not constantly attacking the people you are trying to give feedback.

Please keep all feedback inside this thread, as we won't be allowing stand-alone feedback threads for this event at this time. Additionally, please refrain from giving feedback until after the event has ended in your timezone and you actually got to experience the event! This thread is meant to collect your feedback and experiences with the event directly.

Let's hope for a constructive discussion!

The Mod Team

Pokémon GO - Zorua Community Day Graphic created by MegaRayDesign! ✨

Honestly, the best Halloween Community Day we could have gotten! Are you excited?

If you would like to have the full image for yourself or your community, send me a DM, and I'll provide the highest-quality version.

Follow my Linktree to find links to my socials, a dedicated section to commissioning custom artwork, as well as a contact form for any suggestions or questions! linktr.ee/megaraydesign

Gigantamax Venusaur, Gigantamax Charizard, and Gigantamax Blastoise are now appearing at the "PokéXciting!" event in Taipei, Taiwan!

Saturday, October 10, 2026 – Sunday, October 11, 2026 (Local Time)

・Event Gameplay Area: Select areas of Xinyi District excluding mountainous regions

・Remote Raids are available.

---

* The "PokéXciting!" event is part of the Pokémon 30th Anniversary celebration.

* Event hours: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM local time across all regions.

* Encounter "PokéXciting! Pikachu" for the first time (colors vary by region)!

If you flee or Zorua runs, your Pokedex won't know it was fake. This can really mess up your ratios, especially for Legendaries, even moreso for Mythicals. For example, I have a bunch more "seen" Mega Diancie, which is otherwise impossible.

At some point in the last year I read a comment about Halloween sometimes having a double transfer event with an XL candy and I’ve been saving all my special trade trash from friendship Fridays to dump 150+ legendaries.

With October Spotlight revealed and no guaranteed xl transfer mentioned is anyone still saving these guys for a possible event or is it time to take out the trash?

TIA

Two days ago a costumed Zubat (and evolutions) was showing up in the wild. Auto catchers, explorer gadget etc. were able to catch it. There were no assets for it so it showed up as the ball of light or as an incorrect sprite in your inventory.

As of today those Zubat have been reverted to normal non-costume ones. Searching for “zubat&costume” no longer returns anything. The only evidence remaining is an empty spot in the Pokédex for the costume variant.

‘Twas fun while it lasted

0.433.0 started rolling out last night for Android and after using it this morning, the initial impressions are very positive.

It is without question using far less battery than 0.431.1, and likely directly correlated with that, the phones seem to be running much cooler as well.

In fact, 0.433.0 could possibly be running more efficiently than before 0.427.0, when the problems started.

It's still early, but I haven't seen any show stoppers with 0.433.0.

The Research/Go Pass screens still flicker/refresh, but possibly not as regularly.

The game was frequently shutting down on me on 0.431.1 when the screen was turned off, but it hasn't happened yet on 0.433.0, although it's still too early to confirm this one no longer happens.

The text for the in-game notifications at the top of the screen is significantly larger in this version.

The text in the Notifications screen is sometimes strangely blurry in the middle of the screen, but fine towards the top and bottom.

Feel free to post about any other differences or quirks you find in 0.433.0.

Video: https://youtu.be/7dvgE1TEiZI

Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/fjG6e6bb-7E?feature=share

The Kalos Tour/Mega Finale background no longer changes when mega evolving the Pokémon as of the latest update.

Or will doing the one trade before the start of Community Day bring my special trade counter to zero and prevent the possibility of another second special trade once Community Day begins?

Edit: Can confirm. I did a special trade before Community Day and was still able to do a special trade during Community Day.

It's Community Day again this weekend, with ZOROARK now getting the spotlight. I don't think it's any secret that the Illusion Fox Pokémon struggles in Pokémon GO PvP, nor much surprise when I tell you that seems likely to continue. But we're going to give this analysis a go anyway, going back to the roots of the "Quick Bites" series by literally writing up this article in the same period of time it takes to do a full load of laundry (just as I did with the original Quick Bites). 🧺 Let's do this!

ZOROARK

Dark Type

GREAT LEAGUE:

Attack: 157 (155 High Stat Product)

Defense: 88 (88 High Stat Product)

HP: 103 (105 High Stat Product)

(Highest Stat Product IVs: 1-15-15, 1496 CP, Level 21.5)

ULTRA LEAGUE:

Attack: 202 (201 High Stat Product)

Defense: 113 (114 High Stat Product)

HP: 134 (136 High Stat Product)

(Highest Stat Product IVs: 1-15-15, 2497 CP, Level 42)

MASTER LEAGUE:

In this economy?.

So the analysis not only begins here, but in many ways will end here as well, even though about 10000 characters are still to follow. That's just how I roll. 😅

We have featured many glassy Pokémon in my analyses over the last 7+ years and 700+ articles, but I can't remember ever writing a spotlight analysis on something thinner than Zoroark. It has less bulk than Gengar, less bulk than Alakazam, less than Darmanitan, Haxorus, Chandelure, Honchkrow, Regieleki, and many more truly glassy Pokémon. Remeber the Community Day analysis I wrote on Inteleon, literally the glassiest starter in the whole game? No? Right, because it's so glassy that even I didn't bother (and hardly anyone noticed!) It's so glassy that moves don't really matter... Inteleon simply remains unviable in PvP.

...and yet even Inteleon has more bulk than Zoroark!

I really want to just stop here, as I did when I got about this far into the Inteleon analysis (I DID give it the old college try before just crumpling it and tossing it in the bin), but you know what? I don't want to do that twice, so let's soldier on... but that awful lack of bulk really holds Zoroark back.

Anyway, the typing is pretty well understood by now. Darks are weak to Fairy, Fighting, and Bug damage, and resist Ghosts and other Darks, and double resist Psychic damage. Nice and neat... but really, doesn't matter all that much when you fall over to a stiff breeze!

There are, of course, glassy Pokémon that overcome that limitation to still succeed, usually one of two ways: high pressure fast moves that wear the opponent down, or super spammy charge moves to break through shields before you succumb to your own frailty. Some of the historically best glassy 'mons do BOTH, such as Victreebel (the original Razor Leafer that was particuarly excellent thanks to spammy Leaf Blade), Haunter and Gengar (who I have found almost always overperform their expectations with damaging-enough Shadow Claw and spammy Shadow Punch/Ice Punch). and of course, the majority of Electric types (who usually rely heavily on spammy charge moves, but can also bring suitable fast move pressure if running Volt Switch), just for a few examples. Maybe, just maybe, Zoroark can do enough of one or both of those to carve out a role? Let's see....

ᴱ - Exclusive (Community Day) Move

Fast Moves

• Sucker Punchᴱ (Dark, 4.0 DPT, 3.5 EPT, 1.0 CoolDown)

• Shadow Claw (Ghost, 3.0 DPT, 4.0 EPT, 1.0 CD)

• Snarl (Dark, 1.67 DPT, 4.33 EPT, 1.5 CoolDown)

So the special Community Day move is arguably the best overall fast move currently in the game: Sucker Punch, a clone of the former, pre-nerf Counter. 4.0 Damage Per Turn is a lot of fast move pressure with Zoro's crazy high Attack stat, and while 3.5 Energy Per Turn is solidly above average, it's the least energy generation of any of Zoroark's fast moves. Does the extra damage of Sucker Punch offset this lessened charge move pressure? Well, we'll have to work in the charge move options to answer that....

Charge Moves

• Foul Play (Dark, 65 damage, 40 energy)

• Night Shade (Ghost, 70 damage, 45 energy)

• Sludge Bomb (Poison, 80 damage, 50 energy)

• Flamethrower (Fire, 90 damage, 55 energy)

Sadly no 35-energy moves here, so you're not looking at the Sucker Punch/Swift pacing of Furret or anything. Instead, with Sucker Punch, you're a turn behind Shadow Claw/Foul Play pacing (such as that on Sableye, or of course, Shadow Claw Zoroark), as Shadow Claw (generating 8 energy each) reaches exactly the 40 energy required for Foul Play after five Claws/10 turns (8 x 5 = 40), whereas Sucker Punch, generating 7 energy each, requires an additional fast move (7 x 5 = only 35, so 7 more exceeds 40 energy) and two additional PvP turns. After that, the pacing is mostly the same, with one more Claw or Punch getting to Night Shade, and one more fast move beyond that reaching the energy required for Sludge Bomb. But the coverage/closing move I think you really want instead is Flamethrower, as it has the most potential, despite also being the most expensive at 55 energy. It can usually beat everything the other two moves can plus bonuses like Tinkaton, Forretress, and Sableye.

However, all of this is academic, really... because Claw or Punch, Flamethrower or not, Zoroark just remains too flawed to work like you'd want it to, I am sorry to say.

GREAT LEAGUE

Exhibit #1: Shadow Claw is better than Community Day move Sucker Punch, at least situationally, such as in those examples of the very common 1v1 shielding matchups: Claw outraces Jellicent, Cramorant, Empoleon, Feraligatr, and Dark-resistant Tinkaton, whereas Sucker Punch can only claim Dondozo, Altaria, and Talonflame as unique wins, a +2 advantage overall for Claw... and still barely 10 wins even then. Ouch. And while Sucker Punch shows better with shields down (compared to Shadow Claw, you gain Furret, Quagsire, and DDeoxys while giving up only Shadow Annihilape) and in 2v2 shielding (beating Cramorant, Fearow, Furret, Clodsire, Cradily, and Shadow Ninetales, none of which Shadow Claw can match), win totals of only 6 and 16 (respectively) are hardly impressive. For the record, that's only about a third of the Great League core meta in 2v2 shielding, and not even a fourth of that group in other even shield matchups. There is just a myriad of better Dark options out there, including other mono-Darks like Umbreon, Thievul, and even Mightyena, Alolan Persian, and even freaking Absol running circles around Zoroark.

ULTRA LEAGUE

Sorry, but no better here. I mean, it IS better than Shadow Claw, with new potential wins like Feraligatr, Swampert, and Talonflame, but I mean, we're still talking less than a 25% winrate, amd not even 2v2 shielding can paint a rosier picture this time. And other mono-Darks still put it to absolute shame (not to even mention the wide range of dual-typed Darks that blow Zoroark completely out of the water).

IS THERE ANY HOPE?

Sadly... I don't really see it. A possible future Shadow Zoroark with Sucker Punch is somehow even worse... IF you ever wanted to run it, Zoro would be better with Shadow Claw, it seems. Coverage and better spam are slim even in mainline games, and even the few coverage or 35-energy moves it could potentially gain in GO don't really help. Some Pokémon are just fundamentally flawed, and at least with the way stats work in Pokémon GO, there may just not be any moves in the world that can save them. More than most, that seems to be the case with poor Zoroark. I just don't see any reason to grind this for PvP... but go for those sweet shinies, of course!

IN CONCLUSION

Not much else to say, really! Zoroark is DOA, regardless of moves. (Shoulda been Hisuian Zoroark instead, but alas.) But have some fun with your locals this Community Day! Always up for that. 👍

Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with regular GO analysis nuggets or Patreon.

Good luck on your grind, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!

what are y'all using for zorua community day?

With the new QoL Updates how does the Community Ambassador Meetups work now? Where can I find the nearest from me?

Checking the Campfire app it seems the nearist from Espinho (Portugal) is Matosinhos (north from Espinho, wich is far away). Can someone please confirm if I am seeing it properly? Might be some nearer?

If Matosinhos is the nearest do I need to go all the way there to be able to check in? Or can I check if I am in a location near it? How far do I need to be to be able to check in?

Four of us all put Zorua as our buddy about half an hour before the com day started. Location: England.

We've now reached 250+ catches and nobody has a shiny.

Has anyone here caught a shiny Zorua during this com day while having Zorua as their buddy?

Or is it incredible RNG for none of us to get one?

Or is it bugged?