In Pokémon GO, trainers have the opportunity to battle against Team GO Rocket. Currently, however, the members are harder to defeat than usual. We at MeinMMO will show you what has happened.
What is Team GO Rocket? Those familiar with the original Pokémon series know that the members of Team Rocket made life difficult for Ash and his friends. Jessie and James, who are part of Team Rocket, repeatedly tried to steal Pikachu and other Pokémon, causing a lot of trouble.
In keeping with the series, the members of Team GO Rocket also cause trouble in Pokémon GO. To fend them off, you can fight against them. Similar to a PvP battle, you will set 3 Pokémon for the fight. If you defeat them, you will receive a reward as well as an encounter with a Shadow Pokémon.
However, the members of Team GO Rocket are currently stronger than they should be. We will show you why.
Why is Team GO Rocket so strong at the moment?
With a good team, battling the members of Team GO Rocket is usually no problem. However, the Grunts, the Rocket bosses Sierra, Arlo, and Cliff, as well as their leader Giovanni, are particularly strong right now. The reason for this is a bug in the game.
Missing delay in battle: If you fought against one of the members in the past, you could gain a few seconds by switching Pokémon or triggering a charged attack. During this time, you could continue to attack your opponent as usual, but Team GO Rocket paused for a moment.
As Niantic communicated through their helpdesk, there is currently a bug in the game that does not take this delay into account (via niantic.helpshift.com). Consequently, the Rocket Grunts and bosses now attack immediately after you have switched your Pokémon or performed a charged attack.
Is Team GO Rocket going to stay this strong? No, as Niantic has stated, the bug is expected to be fixed with the next update (0.225.2). When the new update will be available is not yet known.
How is the community reacting to the stronger Team GO Rocket?
Problems when fighting Giovanni: Opinions on this bug are divided in the community. Especially in battles against Giovanni, some trainers are facing difficulties.
For instance, mascotsarekool writes on Twitter: “Cool, they have ruined both PVP and Rocket battles. Have fun losing to Giovanni’s Persian scratching machine, again and again” (via twitter.com). This suggests that many players have already had difficulty winning against Snobilikat and Giovanni’s remaining team in the past.
A similar problem is noted by Bradley Rice: “Why Niantic? Their boosts are way too strong. We need the delay to defeat some of the tough (Snorlax) & leaders/bosses. Many people will now no longer be able to defeat them.” (via twitter.com).
And H4TM7N agrees on reddit: “Niantic should be better prepared for complaints when Giovanni comes back next time. I have lost count of the number of posts where people struggled to even beat him with the delay” (via reddit.com).
A special challenge: Other trainers see the bug as a special challenge and want to try to defeat Team Rocket without its attack delay.
User chdudlow asks on reddit: “Is there still a Rocket Grunt with a team consisting of Snorlax, Snorlax, and Dragoran? That will now be a much harder battle; I would love to try it if that’s still around.” (via reddit.com).
And Itsa_Me_Dario is also excited about the new strength of Team GO Rocket: “I never thought I would see the day when Team GO Rocket would stop going easy on us. I can understand that it is difficult for those who do not have the right Pokémon, but a game is meant to challenge you, and I believe anyone can build a winning team.” (via twitter.com).
What do you think about Team GO Rocket being stronger at the moment due to this bug? Do you see it as a special challenge that you want to test? Or do you find it too hard now and hope for a quick update? Feel free to share your opinions and experiences here in the comments on MeinMMO.
By the way: The Season of Origins has begun and brings you various bonuses, research, and other special features. We have taken a look at all the content of the new season and will show it to you.
