In Pokémon GO you can now get Shaymin for free from a special research. But does the monster have what it takes?
Where is Shaymin? Environment Week has just kicked off in Pokémon GO, and with that event came the Plants and Gratitude Special Research.
A total of 7 research steps await you here, at the end of which you can meet the mysterious Pokémon Shaymin in land form. You could catch that for the first time at GO Fest 2022, but you needed a ticket back then.
Now follows the free release for players all over the world. But what brings the monster?
How strong is Shaymin in Pokemon GO?
Here’s what you can expect from Shaymin: Shaymin is one of the mysterious Pokémon and first appeared in the 4th game generation.
Shaymin landform stats look like this:
The landform’s stats aren’t bad per se, but the Pokémon suffers from a difficult moveset. He lacks a strong Instant Plant Attack. While there is a chance of getting Hidden Power, the attack type is random and cannot be changed depending on the Pokemon you caught.
If you get Hidden Power of the Plant type, you’re in luck – if you don’t, other attackers have the edge. In most cases, other candidates for being the best attackers in Pokémon GO, such as Katagami or various Grass-type Crypto monsters, are better choices.
Unfortunately, Shaymin cannot assert himself in PvP. It’s not a good choice here, looking at the PvPoke database rankings.
What about the zenith shape? The unique thing about Shaymin is that it can perform a shapeshift. It can change from landform to zenith form. This changes the stats a bit and also gives Shaymin the Flight type in addition to the Grass type.
The zenith form has the following values:
So the zenith form is slightly stronger offensively than the land form, but also suffers from a non-ideal moveset. Again, it takes luck to get the right type of “Power Reserve”. Zenith form is a slightly better choice for raids, but slightly weaker in PvP.
Overall, however, both forms don’t play a particularly important role in combat if they have the wrong moves.
Accordingly, Shaymin is more for the Pokédex and the completion of your collection. Once you’ve collected the special research from Environment Week, you’ll have unlimited time to snag Shaymin. By the way: Shortly before the event started, Pokémon GO canceled a bonus from the environment week.