Pokemon Go players devastated by Apex Shadow Lugia Research reset glitch

Brent Koepp
Pokemon Legends Arceus protagonist next to Apex Shadow Lugia from Pokemon Go screenshot.

A new Pokemon Go bug is preventing players from completing the Masterwork Research for Apex Shadow Lugia and Shadow Ho-Oh. The frustrating bug is resetting weeks of progress for Trainers. 

Players who paid for the Pokemon Go Tour: Johto ticket in February were given access to an exclusive Masterwork Research that led to an eventual counter with the brand new Apex versions of Shadow Lugia and Shadow Ho-Oh.

Some Trainers are reporting that they are unable to complete the quest due to a pesky glitch. According to multiple users, progress on their research is being reset, resulting in a month worth of work being wiped out.

Pokemon Go Johto Tour Apex Shadow Ho-Oh and Apex Shadow Lugia promotional screenshot.
The new Apex Masterwork Research is bugged for some Pokemon Go players.

Pokemon Go bug is breaking the Apex Shadow Lugia Masterwork Research

Introduced in 2021, Masterwork Research is purposely designed to be an extremely difficult challenge that can sometimes take months for Pokemon Go fans to complete. As a part of the Johto Tour in 2022, Niantic released a new one for Gen II Legendary birds Lugia and Ho-Oh.

One of the most tedious tasks in the research is “earning a heart with your buddy 30 days in a row.” While it can be completed by simply booting up the game every day for a month, an annoying glitch is reportedly resetting the counter back to zero days at random for some Trainers.

A wave of players began reporting the glitch on the r/TheSilphRoad forum, such as one who wrote, “Just had my hearts reset on the special research. I had about 14 hearts and evolved my buddy and my heart’s reset to 1. I have never missed a day but now I have to start over. Has anybody else had this issue?”

 

The frustrated Trainer was not alone as other fans of the mobile game also took to the forum to post about the issue.

“Just progressed backwards from 9 to 0 when I did my heart today???” another said, and included a screenshot of the glitch.

 

Pokemon Go users reacted to the bug and shared their own similar experiences with the glitch. “I lost 7 days; but without any proof to report to Niantic I had to chalk it up to ‘I guess I forgot a day,’” a comment read. Another player wrote, “It’s happened to me for this mission three times already.”

One user simply exclaimed “mine reset at 16 days. great game :)” 

Other players called on Niantic to change the task: “Niantic should realize this is bugged and simply change it to 30 days, not necessarily in a row.” 

Pokemon Go plyers react to Apex Shadow Lugia bug in Pokemon Go screenshot.

It’s unclear what exactly is causing the bug as the community has run various tests to try to figure it out. Only time will tell if Niantic will fix it, but the glitch is leaving Trainers baffled and frustrated. 

Players trying to tackle the Apex Shadow Lugia and Shadow Ho-Oh Masterwork Research should make sure to take screenshots of their counter and time. Some Go fans have reported customer service helping them if they can provide proof of the glitch. 

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About The Author

Brent is a former writer at Dexerto based in the United States, who covered topics such as Pokemon, Gaming, and online Entertainment.