Everything you need to know about Shadow Mewtwo in Pokemon GO

Mewtwo has always inhabited a special place in fans’ hearts and endures as one of the most popular Pokemon in the entire franchise.

Naturally, that has made Mewtwo one of the most sought-after Pokemon in all of Pokemon GO. So what happens when a special Shadow Mewtwo launched? Well, it goes without saying that fans were very interested in snapping up the event Pokemon.

But how did players get it then? And how can players get it now?

How to get Shadow Mewtwo in Pokemon GO

Shadow Mewtwo is the greatest prize for the Special Research questline “An Inter-egg-sting Development.” While the name would suggest that it revolves around hatching eggs, it mostly tasks players with battling Team Go Rocket opponents. The full mission list is as follows:

Step 1 of 6

• Spin 5 Poké Stops (500 Stardust)
• Defeat Team Go Rocket Grunts (500 Stardust)
• Catch 1 Shadow Pokémon (Meowth encounter)

Rewards: 500 Stardust, 10 Poké Balls, 10 Razz Berry

Step 2 of 6

• Defeat 5 shadow Pokémon (750 XP)
• Make 3 nice curveball throws in a row (750 XP)
• Purify 5 shadow Pokémon (750 XP)

Rewards: 1,500 Stardust, 10 Great Ball, Larvitar encounter

Step 3 of 6

• Defeat a Team Go Rocket leader 3 times (1,000 XP)
• Hatch 3 eggs (1,000 XP)
• Earn 5 candy walking with your buddy (1,000 XP)

Rewards: 1,500 Stardust, 3 Golden Razz Berries, Toxicroak encounter

Step 4 of 6

• Defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Arlo (1,250 XP)
• Defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Cliff (1,250 XP)
• Defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Sierra (1,250 XP)

Rewards: 5 Super Potions, 1 Super Rocket Radar, 3 Revives

Step 5 of 6

• Find the Team Go Rocket Boss (2,500 Stardust)
• Battle the Team Go Rocket Boss (1,500 XP)
• Defeat the Team Go Rocket Boss (3 Silver Pinap Berries)

Rewards: 3,000 Stardust, 1 Fast TM, 1 Charged TM

Step 6 of 6

• Claim Reward (2,000 XP)
• Claim Reward (2,000 XP)
• Claim Reward (2,000 XP)

Rewards: 3 Max Revives, 20 Ultra Balls, 1 Elite Charged TM

As part of step five, players are tasked with defeating Team Go Rocket Boss Giovanni. Hearkening back to the original Pokemon movie, Giovanni battles using Shadow Mewtwo. Once players defeat him, they have the chance to capture Shadow Mewtwo and are given the choice of purifying it at any time.

How do you get An Inter-egg-sting Development?

The An Inter-egg-sting Development Special Research missions were added to Pokemon GO automatically to players who had completed all Go Rocket research. Players who aren’t seeing An Inter-egg-sting Development appearing in their Special Research missions may be able to unlock it by clearing other Go Rocket-related Special Research missions that they are working through.

Should you purify Shadow Mewtwo?

Players should not purify Shadow Mewtwo. Though it’s likely tempting to instantly get a high-CP Mewtwo without much effort, Shadow Mewtwo’s damage output is significantly higher than a regular Mewtwo because of how the Shadow Pokemon mechanics work in the game. Even if this changes at some point, Shadow Mewtwo can be purified at any time. 

On top of that, Shadow Mewtwo is significantly rarer than regular Mewtwo and may ultimately prove to be one-of-a-kind for players. Though players that purify their Shadow Mewtwo will still get a very strong Pokemon for their efforts, they’ll still be missing out on a stronger, rarer Pokemon if they take the plunge by purifying it.

Who is stronger, Mewtwo or Mew?

Mewtwo is significantly stronger than Mew in every Pokemon game that has been released to this point.

In the Pokemon video games, Mewtwo boasts 670 total base stats compared with Mew’s 600. In Pokemon GO, Mewtwo’s maximum CP is 4,724 compared with Mew’s 3,691. Though the first Pokemon movie presented Mew as an equal to Mewtwo, that has never been the case in the games.

The only area where Mew excels over Mewtwo is its moveset. All the way back to Red and Blue, it has been a tradition that Mew can learn every teachable move there is including TMs, TRs, and move tutor moves with very few exceptions. This gives Mew a great deal of versatility in how a player trains it, but Mewtwo has always moved faster, hit harder, and just been generally better.