In Pokémon GO, a large event featuring Team Rocket has unexpectedly started! The battle challenge focuses heavily on the villains.
How long will the event run? You can benefit from the bonuses until July 15th. The Rocket event ends at 10 PM local time.
During this period, everything revolves around the villains and their Pokémon. There are matching bonuses, and even new shiny Cryptos have appeared.
Spawns, Quest Line, and Shinies in the Rocket Event
What about the spawns? In the event, Poison and Dark-type Pokémon will spawn everywhere. Here is a selection of interesting spawns:
- Alolan Meowth
- Pionskora
- Sleima
- Alolan Rattata
- Rettan
- Smogon
- Bluzuk
- Nidoran male and female
- Sniebel
- Fiffyen
There are various shiny checks in the event. Even Alolan Meowth appears again. The Pokémon usually only hatches from eggs. It only spawns in the wild during events.
What has changed with the Rocket Grunts: You can now encounter grunts that fight with Shnebedeck or Skunkapuh.
Also, the bosses fight with other Pokémon that can also be shiny:
- Cliff uses a Sleima first
- Tannza is the first Pokémon of Arlo
- Sierra uses a Lapras first
While Lapras has recently been available as a Crypto-Shiny in the game, the other two Crypto-Pokémon are completely new as shiny. Here you can go on a shiny hunt again.
You can find out how to defeat the three Rocket bosses in our guide to the villains.
What has changed with Giovanni: The boss of Team Rocket also has a different Pokémon that you must defeat. He fights with a Suicune. You can obtain the legendary Pokémon as a reward.
You can find out how to defeat Giovanni in our guide to the Rocket boss.
Rocket Takeover This Sunday
What happens on Sunday? This Sunday, July 12th, from 11 AM to 2 PM, the big Rocket takeover in Pokémon GO will take place.
More Team Rocket balloons will appear in the sky, and PokéStops will be more besieged by the villains.
In addition, there are the following bonuses:
- Double Stardust for defeating the Rocket Grunts
- Jessie and James will appear more frequently
- The attack Frustration can be changed with a TM
- The Team Rocket music plays in Pokémon GO
New Raid Bosses for the Rocket Event
These are the bosses: In line with the Rocket theme, the Raid bosses you can fight have also changed. This time it’s all about Poison and Dark-type Pokémon:
| Raid Level | Raid Boss |
| Level 1 (pink egg) | Glibunkel* Sheinux* Klikk* Praktibalk* Pionskora* |
| Level 2 (pink egg) | Sniebel* Alolan Rattikarl Alolan Kokowei* Zobiris* Flunkifer |
| Level 3 (yellow egg) | Arbok Tentoxa Alolan Raichu* Smogmog Schlukwech |
| Level 4 (yellow egg) | Alolan Knogga* Schlurp* Absol* Nidoking Sarzenia |
| Level 5 (black egg) | Kyurem |
Battle Challenge – All Steps
What kind of task is this? This is a small special research task that you should solve during the week. By completing the first 3 steps, you will help unlock Pokémon for the GO Fest .
This week, you can unlock Kastadur, Alolan Sleima, and Alolan Knogga for the GO Fest. We list the tasks for you below.
Step 1 of 3
- Use a Power-Up on a Pokémon
- Reward: 100 Stardust
- Evolve a Pokémon
- Reward: 1 Candy
- Defeat a Team Rocket Grunt
- Reward: 2 Hyper Potions
Reward for completing the step: 100 XP, 5 Revives, and 5 Hyper Potions
Step 2 of 3
- Rescue 2 Crypto-Pokémon
- Reward: 2 Max Revives
- Use 2 Power-Ups on Pokémon
- Reward: 200 Stardust
- Defeat 2 Team Rocket Grunts
- Reward: 2 Max Potions
Reward for completing the step: 3 Max Revives, 3 Max Potions, and an encounter with Hitmonlee
Step 3 of 3
- Rescue 3 Crypto-Pokémon
- Reward: 3 Max Revives
- Use 3 Power-Ups on Pokémon
- Reward: 500 Stardust
- Defeat 3 Team Rocket Grunts
- Reward: 3 Max Potions
Reward for completing the step: Encounter with an Absol, a Candy, and a Super Rocket Radar
What happens after the challenge? If you complete the task within the week, the Elite Challenge awaits you. These are slightly trickier tasks that you can solve:
- Defeat 15 Team Rocket Grunts
- Reward: 5 Ultra Potions
- Defeat 5 Team Rocket Bosses
- Reward: 5 Hyper Potions
- Defeat the leader of Team Rocket (Giovanni)
- Reward: 5 Max Potions
However, don’t forget amidst the commotion surrounding Team Rocket that you can also pick up daily little gifts. Pokémon GO has activated this feature for all players, allowing you to collect free boxes from the in-game shop.
