Purified Gems in 'Pokémon GO' Lets You Weaken Shadow Raid Bosses — How to Use Them

While slowly filling out their PokéDex, Trainers in Pokémon GO will acquire many unique items. Some are geared toward growing the strength of Pokémon or are uncommon PokéBalls perfect for capturing specific creatures.

Outside of items for general uses, others only work under certain conditions. For instance, Purified Gems are necessary to subdue and weaken enraged Shadow Pokémon raid bosses during a match.

If you're heading into one of these fights and wondering how to use Purified Gems in Pokémon GO, here's a rundown of everything you need to know about them

To create a Purified Gem, Trainers must gather four Shadow Shards. You can collect them by defeating Team GO Rocket members or as a reward for overcoming Shadow raid battles. All four Shadow Shards will automatically be added to the Shard Refiner to make a Purified Gem.

A surefire way to amass Shadow Shards quickly is to battle against the Team GO Rocket's boss Giovanni or the Leaders within the group.

By taking the time to track down Giovanni's hideout with the Super Rocket Radar, you can defeat him and obtain four Shadow Shards, instantly making a Purified Gem.

Leaders will award you three Shadow Shards, making them the second-best option if you can't locate Giovanni. You could also battle against Team GO Rocket Grunts, but they'll only drop one Shadow Shard.

As a reminder, Trainers can't pick up Shadow Shards if they own ten or more Purified Gems, so it's best to use the gems before deciding to grind out Team GO Rocket battles.

During a Shadow raid encounter, the boss will become enraged and gain several buffs when it loses around a third of its health. While the Shadow Pokémon is in this state, you can use a Purified Gem to subdue it and remove the buffs.

Trainers can only use five Purified Gems per Shadow raid battle, and there is a five-second cooldown between each gem use. In total, it takes eight Purified Gems across all participating Trainers to subdue the Shadow raid boss.

As long as you enter the encounter with five Purified Gems, you can help subdue the Shadow Pokémon over time and weaken it enough to come out on top!