Team Go Rocket was back in Pokémon Go and Trainers had the chance starting on June 21st at 12am until June 25th at 11:59pm to participate. During this take over, Trainers got the chance to face Go Rocket’s Leaders including Giovanni himself to rescue several Shadow Pokémon, including Legendary Pokémon Shadow Regirock.
Trainers had to make use of all the bonuses this event offered as well as both Season of Hidden Gems and the Solstice Horizons event. All three were happening simultaneously and their benefits all stack. Here’s what took place during the Team Go Rocket Takeover event in Pokémon Go.
New Shadow Pokémon
Team Go Rocket has plenty of Shadow Pokémon in their possession. As usual, Trainers were tasked with defeating Grunts, Admins, and Boss Giovanni himself to free them. As with most Go Rocket Takeover events, new Shadow Pokémon had been abducted by Team Go Rocket.
These new Shadow Pokémon, that Grunts possessed included:
- Shadow Aloan Geodude
- Shadow Ledyba
- Shadow Hitmontop
- Shadow Glameow
- Shadow Gible
Trainers had to try and get as many Shadow Pokémon as they could. With their boosts in battle, some Shadow Pokémon are among the best Raid attackers and PVP Battlers in the entire game. Shadow Gible especially is a must catch given how strong non Shadow Garchomp already is. Players had to be on the lookout for Dragon and Ground Type Go Rocket Grunts for a chance to catch one.
In fact, Shadow Garchomp is strong enough to be comparable to Groudon and Shadow Mamoswine. Although those two are slightly better due to their typings and movepools, it is not a bad thing to be be ranked just below two of the best Pokémon in the game. Shadow Garchomp is also comparable to some of the best Dragon Types in the game.
All in all, Garchomp might not be an absolute requirement for all Trainers, but getting a few Shadows, especially ones with high IVs, brings an immensely powerful Pokémon to the fold.
Keep in mind that Dragon Rocket Grunts are not very common. But Trainers could use the quotes said by Grunts to know what type they will possess before battle. If the Grunt says “ROAR! … How’d that sound?” then they will use Dragon Type Pokémon. If you wanted a shadow Gible, this was the only way to obtain one currently.
Team GO Rocket Takeover: June 2023 is also coming! Shiny Pancham, Shadow Gible and Shadow Regirock!https://t.co/9OeneFYsXv
— Pokémon GO Hub (@PokemonGOHubNet) June 13, 2023
Changes From Prior Events
During prior Go Rocket Takeover events, many of the changes to Shadow Pokémon especially which ones Team Rocket would posses specifically happened with Go Rocket Admins Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo. But starting with this event, Grunts also had their teams updated the same way as Admins and Giovanni do. Trainers had to be ready for rotating teams more often from Grunts moving forward.
Special Research
Trainers were able to encounter Team Go Rocket Grunts at any time by going to Pokestops taken over or by clicking on balloons that sought them out. Admins could be battled at any time by collecting mysterious components dropped by Go Rocket Grunts and combining them into Rocket Radars. But Giovanni could only be battled using items provided during special research.
Take part in the newest special research during the June Rocket Takeover Event to battle Giovanni and rescue Shadow Regirock from his clutches. Trainers have until Season of Hidden Gems ends on September 1st to complete this research.
Bonuses
In addition to the bonuses granted from other ongoing events, the Team Go Rocket Takeover Event had a few bonuses of its own for Trainers.
- Team Go Rocket appeared more frequently at Pokestops and their balloons sought out Trainers more frequently. The best move was to keep exploring and spinning Pokestops to take full advantage of all the battles and Shadow Pokémon.
- Charged TMs were able to remove the Charged Attack Frustration from Shadow Pokémon. To get the most use out of Shadow Pokémon, Trainers had to make use of this bonus while it’s active. Frustration is a suboptimal move that serve little purpose in battle.
12 km Egg Updates
12 km Eggs are obtained by defeating Go Rocket Admins as well as Giovanni. They tend to have extremely rare Pokémon in them. Some Pokémon can only be obtained by hatching them from 12 km eggs. These were the Pokémon Trainers that were able to be hatched from 12 km Eggs during the Go Rocket Takeover Event.
- Larvitar*, Absol*, Skorupi*, Sandile
- Scraggy, Pawniard*, Vullaby*, Deino*
- Pancham*, Inkay*, Skrelp, Salandit
Pokémon marked with “*” were able to be shiny from 12 km eggs. Pancham had not been able to be hatched shiny before this event.
The most notable Pokémon on this list though is Salandit. It could only be obtained from 12km eggs, and quite rarely at that. But being extremely rare isn’t the only reason that Trainers rarely see its evolution Salazzle. Hatching a Salandit alone isn’t enough. It has to be a female Salandit to evolve. And its gender ratio is 87.5 to 12.5 male to female. Better get hatching if you want one much less several.
Regular grunts would not drop 12km eggs. Only the Admins and Giovanni do. Since Giovanni could only be defeated once during the event, Trainers who want more eggs needed to use Rocket Radars and fight the Admins. Good luck hatching shiny Pancham and Female Salandit.
Here is Shiny Pancham
Here is Shiny Pangoro
Field Research Tasks
Between fighting Giovanni for the Special Research, obtaining 12 km eggs, and rescuing Shadow Pokémon from Admins, Trainers needed lots of mysterious components. While there were plenty of Go Rocket Grunts to obtain them from, spinning Pokestops may grant research tasks that also grant these items.
Field research tasks for Solstice Horizons were also active during the Go Rocket Takeover event. This meant that Trainers should try and spin as many Pokestops as they could to increase their chances of getting these field research tasks. Since Team Go Rocket were appearing at Pokestops, and the rewards from Solstice Horizons were also fairly good, its well worth it for Trainers to spin every Pokestop possible.
That’s everything that took place during the Team Go Rocket Takeover event. There is a lot happening in Pokémon Go and trainers can be assured that KeenGamer will have information as new events are announced. Check out our guides on the current and past events.
