Can a Purified Pokemon Become Lucky? The Ultimate Guide

As a long-time Pokemon GO trainer and tournament player, purified and lucky Pokemon hold a special place in my heart. Their combined potential is unmatched! In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore everything you need to know about these special variants.

Introduction

First, let‘s quickly recap what purified and lucky Pokemon are:

• Purified: Shadow Pokemon rescued from Team Rocket and restored to normal. They get a +2 IV boost and cheaper power up costs.

• Lucky: Pokemon obtained via trading that have an IV floor of 12/12/12 and halved power up costs.

Lucky status and purification provide separate bonuses that stack when combined. So you‘re probably wondering – can a purified Pokemon also be lucky?

The answer is yes! In this guide, I‘ll provide detailed insights on obtaining, powering up, and battling with these unique Pokemon. Let‘s get started!

The Purification Question

While purification makes Pokemon more usable, you may be wondering if it‘s better to keep them as shadows. Here are the key pros and cons of each approach:

Pros of Purification

• +2 to all IVs for a stat boost
• Level increased to 25 to unlock more power
• Frustration move replaced by Return – a strong Charged Attack
• Up to 20% cheaper candy/dust costs for powering up and evolving

Pros of Staying Shadow

• +20% damage bonus from the shadow boost
• Higher DPS potential in raids/PvP with the right moves
• Rarity value from an untouched shadow Pokemon
• Achieves higher final CP at maximum level

So which is better? Here‘s a numerical example:

As you can see, the shadow will overtake the purified CP wise by Level 35. However, the purified is much cheaper to get to Level 35, needing only 180,000 dust compared to 225,000 for the shadow.

In terms of real performance, shadows deal more DPS on average in raids. However, simulations show some purified Pokemon like Sableye and Medicham can outperform their shadow versions in PvP thanks to having access to their best moves.

So the choice comes down to your priorities – power or costs? For me, I purify Pokemon that need specific moves for PvP. But I keep my 100% shadows like Larvitar unevolved for the damage output.

Analyzing Lucky Purified Potential

Now that we understand purification, let‘s look at the potential of combining it with lucky status.

As a quick refresher, here are the benefits of lucky Pokemon:

• Minimum 12/12/12 IV floor
• Power up costs reduced by 50%

When combined with a purified Pokemon, this results in a Pokemon with excellent IVs that‘s extremely cheap to power up.

Let‘s see some examples:

• A 13/14/13 shadow Dratini becomes a perfect 15/15/15 purified lucky Dragonite
• A 2/5/3 shadow Magikarp turns into a 14/14/14 lucky Gyarados
• A lucky purified Sableye can hit 1500 CP for Ultra League with 75k dust instead of 150k!

In my opinion, the dual cost reductions make lucky purified Pokemon well worth hunting for in terms of investment needed to max them out. The IV boosts are just a nice bonus!

Here‘s a chart showing the dust costs to reach Level 40 for different variants:

Pokemon	Dust to Level 40
Normal	225,000
Lucky	112,500
Purified	150,000
Lucky Purified	75,000

As you can see, the savings of getting both lucky and purified status is massive!

How to Obtain Lucky Purified Pokemon

Now that you understand why lucky purified Pokemon are so useful, let‘s discuss how you can get your own!

Here are my tips and strategies based on extensive trading:

• Build friendship for random lucky chances – best and ultra friends have the best odds
• Use guaranteed lucky trades – become lucky friends or trade July/August 2016 Pokemon
• Target high appraisal shadows – purified IV boost can make them perfect
• Trade shadows as-is – both players get lucky entry if it triggers
• Reroll frustrations before trading – wait for Team Rocket events to get better moves
• Mark "special trade" fodder to track – only one per day so plan ahead

The key things to remember are patience and organization. It may take time to build friendship for random lucky odds. And you need to budget your daily special trade if hunting for guaranteed luckies.

But with a well-planned approach, you can build an amazing lucky purified collection!

Purification Candidates

While we‘ve covered the benefits, which Pokemon are actually good to purify? Here are my top recommendations:

• Medicham – Hits 1500 CP for Great League
• Sableye – Also maxes out under 1500 CP
• Machop, Geodude – Get exclusive moves after purification
• Magikarp, Dratini – Cheaper to evolve final forms
• Meditite, Larvitar – Max out under 1500 CP for PvP
• Starters like Bulbasaur – Removes Frustration for better moves
• Slakoth, Whismur – Useful for cheap evolution XP
• Eevees – More options to evolve for diversity

In general, target shadows that need specific moves or benefit from the CP cap for PvP. High candy cost evolutions also get a nice discount from purification.

Avoid purifying shadows with top raid DPS like Mewtwo, Metagross, Mamoswine, Moltres, and Origin Forme Giratina unless you need one for PvP and don‘t care about the damage loss.

Master League Potential

While Great and Ultra League get a lot of focus, lucky purified Pokemon have great potential for Master League as well!

The lack of CP limit means the attack boost from shadows isn‘t needed as much. And the IV floor from being lucky combined with +2 purification bonus makes hitting perfect IVs easier.

Some great Master League purification targets include:

• Dragonite
• Salamence
• Metagross
• Tyranitar
• Hydreigon
• Goodra

Of course, keep any hundos or 15/15/14+ shadows as well. But for those with lesser IVs, purification can give them new life!

A Special Variant

Beyond just stats, lucky purified Pokemon have an air of uniqueness:

• The dual cost reductions for powering up are exclusive to them
• Having the special Return move along with the lucky background looks amazing
• Low chances of obtaining make them prestigious
• Gives you personal history with how you got them

For me, my lucky purified Sableye named Gemstone is one of my proudest Pokemon. I‘ll always remember purifying her on Community Day and then getting lucky friends with my buddy Ryan. She‘s a symbol of good times!

Final Thoughts

To wrap up, here are my key takeaways on lucky purified Pokemon:

• They combine the cost reduction bonuses from both systems
• IV floors and purification boosts make perfect IVs easier
• Ideal for Master League from maximized stats
• Require planning and patience to obtain via trading
• Give you a personalized Pokemon with a unique history

So while the shadow vs purify debate rages on, I think lucky purified Pokemon deserve more spotlight. With the right approach, you can build a world class team of these cheap and powerful Pokemon!

Let me know which lucky purified Pokemon are your favorites. And as always, may your trades be lucky and your Pokemon battles glorious!