The nasty Team GO Rocket returns to Pokémon GO. And it has a new legendary monster for the first time as a Shadow.
What kind of event is this? Team GO Rocket is taking over the event “Steeled Resolve” with a takeover. This will take place from Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 12:00 AM to Monday, May 4, 2026, at 8:00 PM.
Familiar bonuses will be available, new monsters can be caught as Shadow for the first time, a new Shiny, and a new legendary Shadow monster during the boss Giovanni.
What to expect during the Rocket takeover
Which legendary Shadow is making its debut? If you find and defeat Giovanni at the event by using a Super Rocket Radar, you can get Landorus (Incarnate Form) as Shadow from the boss of the team for the first time.
Since the regular form of the monster is already one of the best attackers in Pokémon GO, the Shadow variant will be even stronger.
While you previously obtained the Super Rocket Radar through research, it is now part of the GO Pass, which is active during the “Steeled Resolve” event.
Which monster is making its debut as a Shiny in the game? With the start of the event, you can obtain Varoom as Shiny for the first time. You will find this monster in 12 km eggs.
Which monsters are making their debut as Shadows? While you can first obtain Landorus in its Incarnate Form as Shadow from Giovanni, there are also some monsters that you will first obtain from the grunts as Shadow:
- Helioptile*
- Dewpider*
- Morelull*
- Stufful*
What bonuses are there in the event? As is usual with Rocket events, there are also a few bonuses that are part of the event. These include the following bonuses:
- Frustration can be unlearned by using a Charged TM
- Team GO Rocket appears more frequently in balloons and at PokéStops
- Shadow monsters that you defeat in 1- and 3-star Shadow raids may have a greater variance in IV
In addition, the GO Pass that is active in Steeled Resolve is also active during the takeover. Here, you can obtain, in addition to the Super Rocket Radar, other rewards such as event monsters, mysterious parts, and Shadow shards. There are also 2 milestones that unlock bonuses that remain active until the end of the event.
Not only the Rocket event awaits you in the current month in the game. There are, as usual, more content such as events, Dynamax monsters, and raids. If you want to know what content awaits you when in the game, feel free to take a look at our overview with all events in April 2026 in Pokémon GO.
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