Overview
A Shadow Shard is a fragment of energy recovered after defeating Team GO Rocket members or completing Shadow Raids. Unrefined shards have no direct effect on their own; instead, once you hold four Shadow Shards, Professor Willow's Shard Refiner automatically combines them into one Purified Gem.
Introduced on May 22, 2023 alongside Shadow Raids, Shadow Shards work separately from Mysterious Components: four Shadow Shards build a Purified Gem to subdue enraged Shadow Raid Bosses, whereas six Mysterious Components assemble a Rocket Radar to track down Team GO Rocket Leaders.
How to get it
Defeat Team GO Rocket Grunts (1 shard), Leaders (3 shards), or Giovanni (4 shards), or complete Shadow Raids while you have space in your Item Bag and hold fewer than 10 Purified Gems.
Standard Shadow Shard drops stop when you are already holding the normal maximum of 10 Purified Gems or when your Item Bag is full before a Team GO Rocket battle.
How to use it
Collect four Shadow Shards and allow Professor Willow's Shard Refiner to combine them automatically into one Purified Gem at no Stardust or Candy cost.
Use the resulting Purified Gem during a three-star or five-star Shadow Raid to help subdue an enraged Boss (up to 5 Gems per Trainer, 8 Gems total across the raid group).
Worth knowing
Standard Team GO Rocket rewards grant 1 Shadow Shard from a Grunt, 3 from a Leader (Arlo, Cliff, or Sierra), and 4 from Giovanni.
Shadow Shards are separate from Mysterious Components: 4 Shadow Shards make 1 Purified Gem for Shadow Raids, whereas 6 Mysterious Components make 1 Rocket Radar for Leader battles.
Shard rewards and the Gem limit
Standard Team GO Rocket victories award fixed quantities of Shadow Shards by opponent tier: 1 Shadow Shard from a Grunt, 3 from a Leader (Arlo, Cliff, or Sierra), and 4 from Giovanni. Completing a Shadow Raid also awards 1 or 3 Shadow Shards as a base reward, plus potential bonus bundles of 2 Shadow Shards depending on the raid tier and your performance.
Both unrefined Shadow Shards (while holding 1 to 3) and completed Purified Gems occupy space in your Item Bag and can be discarded manually if you need room. Once you reach the normal cap of 10 Purified Gems, standard Shadow Shard drops from Team GO Rocket battles and Shadow Raids stop until you spend or discard Gems below 10.
In addition, if your Item Bag is completely full before you battle a Team GO Rocket member, you will not receive Shadow Shards from that victory.
Converting rewards into Gems
Because Professor Willow's Shard Refiner triggers automatically at four shards, your current shard count (0 to 3) determines how quickly your next battle produces a Purified Gem. For example, defeating one Grunt (1 Shadow Shard) followed by one Team GO Rocket Leader (3 Shadow Shards) reaches the 4-shard threshold and immediately refines into 1 Purified Gem. Defeating Giovanni awards 4 Shadow Shards at once, enough to form a full Purified Gem from a single battle whenever you hold fewer than 10 Purified Gems.
The first time you ever collect 4 Shadow Shards, a short scene with Professor Willow introduces the Shard Refiner; every subsequent refinement happens automatically without spending Stardust or Candy.
Check both your Item Bag capacity and your Purified Gem total before starting a long Team GO Rocket session. Holding a Rocket Radar stops Grunts from dropping Mysterious Components, whereas holding 10 Purified Gems stops Team GO Rocket members and Shadow Raids from dropping Shadow Shards. Because these two caps are tracked independently, a Grunt can still award a Shadow Shard while you hold a Rocket Radar, or award a Mysterious Component while you are capped at 10 Purified Gems.
Unrefined Shadow Shards cannot be used in battle. Only completed Purified Gems appear during enraged three-star and five-star Shadow Raids. Subduing an enraged Shadow Raid Boss requires 8 Purified Gems total across the raid group, and a single Trainer can contribute at most 5 Purified Gems per raid. Because 4 Shadow Shards produce only 1 Purified Gem—one-eighth of the 8 Gems needed to subdue a Boss—assemble your Gems before entering the lobby and coordinate with at least one other Trainer.
