Team Rocket in Pokémon GO has received a major overhaul. This includes adjustments to the Pokémon of the 3 Rocket bosses Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra, which simultaneously leads to new Crypto-Shinies.
What has changed? As part of the event “Illuminating Legends Y”, numerous changes have been made to Team GO Rocket:
- The three Rocket bosses Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra have received a new set of Pokémon
- Each boss offers a new Crypto-Pokémon after the victory, which can also be caught as Shiny
- In the 12-km eggs, there is a new Pokémon, Pam-Pam. The evolution Pandagro is particularly useful in PvP
- With a victory over the Rocket grunts, you can temporarily catch other Crypto-Pokémon
- Additionally, Crypto-Pokémon can now forget Frustration
These Pokémon now await you at Team GO Rocket
This is new for Arlo: The boss now starts his battle with Bluzuk. Following as the second Pokémon are either Ursaring, Iksbat, or Voltenso. In the third battle, you will encounter Giflor, Magnezone, or Scherox.
How you can best defeat the boss is revealed in our counter guide to Arlo.
This is new for Cliff: Cliff starts his battle with Samurzel. As the second Pokémon, you may encounter Quappo, Kingler, or Hariyama. The third Pokémon is either Despotar, Tohaido, or Chelterrar.
How you can best defeat the boss is revealed in our counter guide to Cliff.
This is new for Sierra: Sierra uses Sniebel as her first Pokémon. It is followed by either Ampharos, Granbull, or Skorgro. In the third duel, you will encounter Hundemon, Seedraking, or Piondragi.
How you can best defeat the boss is revealed in our counter guide to Sierra.
What new Crypto-Shinies are there and how to get them? The first Pokémon of each Rocket boss can be caught after the successful battle. With a bit of luck, you might also get it as a Shiny version. However, this is the only way to get one of the three new Crypto-Shinies:
- Crypto-Bluzuk – Arlo
- Crypto-Samurzel – Cliff
- Crypto-Sniebel – Sierra
Pam-Pam as a new Pokémon in the Weird Eggs
What has changed with the Weird Eggs? The special 12-km eggs now contain the Pokémon Pam-Pam.
Pam-Pam is a new Pokémon that only came to the game during the Xerneas event and could be caught in the raids. Now you can get it with some luck from the Weird Eggs.
New Crypto-Pokémon among the Grunts, but only for a short time
From May 18 to May 24, you can receive new Crypto-Pokémon from the Grunts. These include:
- Tangela
- Seeper
- Snubbull
- Makuhita
- Kramurx
- Magnayen
- Fiffyen
- Staralili
- Pionskora
- Frizelbliz
Additionally, it may happen that multiple Grunts challenge you at once in a battle. This was announced by Niantic in a blog post (via Niantic).
What do you think about the changes to Team GO Rocket? Which Crypto-Pokémon are interesting to you? And are you actively playing the new event around Team Rocket?
During the “Illuminating Legends Y” event, the Pokémon Yveltal is in raids. We will tell you how to best defeat it here: Pokémon GO: Yveltal counter – the best attackers for the legendary boss.
