In 2025, it was reported that Pokemon GO had roughly 125 million monthly active users, with the daily player count consistently hitting 5.4 million. Pokemon GO is not as popular as it was in the summer of 2016, but its continued daily use and popularity are nothing to scoff at. Part of this is no doubt the live-service additions of new Pokemon, new mechanics, and so forth, but unfortunately, not everything goes smoothly. A viral post, for example, highlights how many players are upset over fusing Reshiram or Zekrom with Kyurem in Pokemon GO.
As fans know, Kyurem was first able to fuse with Zekrom (for Black Kyurem) or Reshiram (for White Kyurem) in Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 thanks to the DNA Splicers key item. In Pokemon GO, players need 1000 energy for each fusion based on raids for that particular type of Kyurem. It takes about 20 raids to get the energy required, as well as some candy. January 10 was Kyurem Fusion Raid Day, giving players another chance at these legendaries. Unfortunately, many players saw a pop-up that has been deemed “misleading” and “cruel.”
Pokemon GO Pop-Up About Fusion is “Disgustingly Misleading and Honestly Cruel”
As highlighted by Redditor RonnieThePurple, the pop-up to fuse Kyurem with Zekrom or Reshiram simply says, “Do you want to fuse this [Zekrom/Reshiram]? Pokemon can separate at no cost.” This is technically true, but it omits key information that should influence when to fuse or separate. Namely, it still costs energy to refuse the Pokemon later. Separating may be free, but refusing is not, meaning players are not given all possible information to make this decision. If someone is otherwise unaware, they may choose to separate and believe they can refuse later.
This is further complicated by other mechanics. Some argue that fusion should work like Pokemon GO‘s Mega Evolution, where once you unlock it for a specific Pokemon, you can redo that fusion. Kyurem, for example, is the determining factor for the states of the Black or White Kyurem, so fusing it should not cost more energy, according to some fans.
Others like Redditor JekkuOnNeekeri also point out that the pop-up on Dusk Mane Necrozma and Dawn Wings Necrozma does highlight that it costs more energy to fuse again later. In other words, the omitted information for Black/White Kyurem is highlighted elsewhere for other Pokemon.
While some don’t feel as strongly, given that there are few(if any) reasons to unfuse, others still argue that it makes no sense and can lead to unfortunate scenarios. Indeed, Pokemon GO is a resource-intensive game—both in-game and IRL. Many rural players still struggle to keep up with some players based on location, and while there are plenty of remote-friendly events like January 10’s Raid Day, there are still tons of factors that can contribute to how often someone plays or has access to this level. Unfusing the Pokemon means, unfortunately, waiting to fuse again for tons of players. And at the end of the day, the pop-up could easily read: “Pokemon can separate at no cost, but Fusing Again will cost Fusion Energy.”
Source: Icon Era
