Pokemon Go fans furious over Shadow Lugia’s “disappointing” design

Some Pokemon Go fans are outraged after Niantic announced Shadow Lugia’s debut in the mobile title. They are furious over its “generic” design.

After years of anticipation, Niantic finally announced that Shadow Lugia would be getting its release in Pokemon Go as a part of the Festival of Lights event on November 9, 2021. What was supposed to be a celebratory moment, however, was met with backlash.

Fans waiting for its debut were angered when the developer revealed that the Johto Legendary would be skipping its design from the GameCube title Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness.

The Pokemon Company

Many Pokemon Go players expected Shadow Lugia to use its Gale of Darkness model.

Pokemon Go players hate Shadow Lugia’s design

Shadow Pokemon originally made their series debut in 2004’s Pokemon Colosseum. Its sequel, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, famously centered around Shadow Lugia, which decades later has been many fan’s favorite version of the Legendary ‘mon.

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So after Pokemon Go implemented the regular Legendary in 2019, players expected that when Shadow Lugia was eventually added to the mobile title, it would get its iconic design from the GameCube RPG.

On November 8, Niantic revealed that this wouldn’t be the case as Lugia’s new form in Pokemon Go would instead use his regular model just with the shadow effects applied. Some fans in the community were not happy, to say the least.

Many Trainers dealt with their disappointment in the decision by creating hilarious memes to express their frustrations over Shadow Lugia’s official model.

[OC] My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined byu/HercuLinho inpokemongo

All hope is lost byu/Byotan inpokemongo

Over on the r/PokemonGo forum, players voiced their anger such as one user who wrote, “Seriously… A recolor of Lugia would’ve been close enough for me, but Niantic didn’t even want to do that.” Another fan simply replied, “This brings me extreme sadness.”

Other users were critical of Niantic. “While I’m not shocked Niantic dropped the ball, it’s still disappointing to see how epically they’ve dropped it,” a comment read.

While there was never a guarantee that Lugia’s XD: Gale of Darkness design would ever be added to Pokemon Go, many players were critical of how much hype was being made around the debut of the Legendary ‘mon for it to only use its regular model.

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It should be pointed out that Shadow Lugia’s look in the GameCube game has often been associated with the popular Pokemon variant. Only time will tell if the developer will consider adding the popular design in the future.