Team Rocket Invades Pokemon GO

The newest invasion update of Pokemon GO features Team Rocket, the villainous team that exploit Pokemon. It just rolled out yesterday and according to users, they’re not easy to find.

According to PokemonGo.com, the event is being rolled out in stages so not all accounts may have it yet (like me).

You won’t be battling the notorious duo Jesse and James nor their boss Giovanni, though. Instead, you’ll face Team Rocket Grunts who will stand guard at some PokeStops. These PokeStops will look a little “glitched out” and change from blue to black as you get closer to them. PokeStops already taken over by Team Rocket will be greyed out with an “R” above them.

Here’s how it looks like:

Guys! Team rocket pokestop doesn’t look black from far away! It’s slightly darker blue! pic.twitter.com/2b0w6eSmlB

— Kaito Nolan (@KaitoNolan) July 22, 2019

These battles are done in Master League, but the Pokemon GO team assures that the teams you’ll face “should be pretty easy”.

If you beat them in the fight, you’ll win:
– 1x Ball per Alive Pokemon (maximum of 3)
– 2x Ball per Grunt Defeated
– Bonus Balls per Hero Medal level
– Bonus Balls per Purifier Medal level

Team Rocket Grunts will also leave behind their Shadow Pokemon. According to IGN, they were once ordinary Pokemon but were subsequently forced into doing bad deeds that “eventually close off their souls”.

Compared to ordinary Pokemon, Shadow Pokemon have a more sinister appearance with red eyes enveloped in ghostly purple smoke. They will also know a default Charged move called Frustration. Just like regular Pokemon, these can be transferred, traded and placed in gyms.

So far, the list of Shadow Pokemon include: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Rattata, Zubat, Snorlax, Dratini and Mudkip.

If you want to purify your Shadow Pokemon, you can use Small Candy and Stardust. Purified Pokemon will gain a significant amount of CP, cost less Stardust to power up and learn the exclusive Charged Attack called Return.

Here’s more info on Purified Pokemon:
– Learn the charge move called Return.
– Will keep the move Return even when they evolve.
– Get +2 to all IVs when purified (15 max).
– Are Level 25 with a 10% discount on Stardust and Candy for powering up.
– Receive a 20% cost reduction to get the 2nd charge move.
– You can get 55% total Stardust discount with Purified Pokemon from Lucky Trades.

To see a preview of the battle with Team Rocket Grunt, watch:

Looks pretty cool, and it sure does spice things up in the game! If you’re like me, still waiting for Team Rocket to show up in my game, don’t forget to check back often.