Pokemon Go leak suggests Shadow Raids, advanced Avatar Customization, and more

A Pokemon Go data mine indicates that enhanced Avatar Customization and Shadow Raids are coming to Pokemon Go sometime in the future.

Shadow Raids first came up on March 13 when data mining revealed the new mechanic possibly coming to the game.

Shadow Raids are allegedly a way for Pokemon Go players to obtain powerful Shadow Pokemon which currently only appear as rewards for battling Team Go Rocket.

Now the data miners came out with further details about the system, while also claiming that new Avatar Customization options, such as changing hairstyles separate from the current headwear category.

On top of all of that, Pokemon Contests are to make a return in the upcoming version of the game, making Pokemon sizes have more of a gameplay impact by affecting your Contest results.

Pokemon Go data miners break down Shadow Raids

In a Twitter post by PokeMiners, the data mine account sums up their latest finds stating: “Lots of massive updates around Shadow Raids, Shadow Gems, Routes received a disastrous update, Contests are back and more flushed out, Neutral Avatar with body customization, and more.”

Their full “In-Depth APK Teardown” published April 8 on the official PokeMiners website provides more details on the new features possibly coming to Pokemon Go in a future update.

According to their findings, players will battle “Raid Mascots” during the Shadow Raids, which are essentially just various members of Team Go Rocket like the grunts, leaders, and Giovanni himself.

A new “stat modifier” or possibly a buff will be available during Shadow Raids called “Shadow Enrage,” but the miners are not entirely sure what it is, only that it’s a temporary for the raid, possibly a buff item of sorts.

Additionally, two new item names thought to be associated with the Shadow Raids were found in the game’s code, they are referred to as “Shadow Gem,” and “Shadow Gem Fragment,” but their purpose remains yet another mystery.

And last but not least PokeMiners discovered that a new clothing system might be added to the game in the future.

“A bunch of changes are coming to the player avatar. It appears they have copied the current avatar system and have this new ‘Neutral’ system. It contains Avatar Articles, which are basically all the types of clothing (shirt, belt, mask, hat, etc) that already exist,” wrote PokeMiners in their report.

They also then went on to specify different shape names found in the files, as well as parameters like “Size, Musculature, Bust, Hips, Shoulders,” suggesting more options to customize your player avatar.

The developers could be cooking up a monster-sized update to the game, or none of these features could make it into the final product as they aren’t officially confirmed by Niantic. When any statements are made by the company we will be sure to cover them, so follow our coverage of Pokemon Go right here.