UPDATE 25th July: Team Rocket are back in Pokémon Go – and this time it appears to be for good.
The invaded PokéStops have returned in force, and Niantic has released an eerie new teaser to kick it all off.
Pokemon Go – Team GO Rocket Invades Teaser Trailer Watch on YouTube
It also made a new post today, stating: “Professor Willow and the team leaders have been hard at work observing and researching these happenings with Team Go Rocket, and they’ve come up with a plan to restore the PokéStops and rescue the Shadow Pokémon!”
Alongside Team Rocket’s return comes a new quest to complete, A Troubling Situation, as well as some changes to Shadow Pokémon, which can now no longer be traded before they are purified.
UPDATE 24th July: Team Rocket seem to have vanished from Pokémon Go almost as quickly as they appeared.
In a tweet from the official Pokémon Go account yesterday afternoon, it was announced that the appearance of Shadow Pokémon has “suddenly stopped”.
Professor Willow has noticed that sightings of discolored PokéStops and Pokémon enshrouded in a shadowy aura have…suddenly stopped? 🤔 🔍 Hmm… This phenomenon keeps getting more troubling the more we investigate it. 😨
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) July 23, 2019
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The “discoloured” PokéStops were only spawning for around 24 hours before being shut off. It’s unknown yet whether this is all part of Team Rocket’s plan, or perhaps Pokémon Go needs just a little more time to work on the feature.
ORIGINAL STORY 23rd July: After weeks of buildup, the villainous Team Rocket have finally touched down in Pokémon Go.
Reports of their entrance began trickling in after 9pm UK time last night, as the first sightings of “invaded” PokéStops began. These Stops – which appear blackened and glitched – reveal a waiting Rocket grunt when approached.
Engage with the Rocket gang member and you’ll be taken into a PVE battle against three of their Pokémon. If you win, you’ll then get to catch a Shadow Pokémon the grunt has left behind.
Shadow Pokémon are a special type whose souls have been “closed off” by an artificial process. They’re Pokémon made to do bad things by bad people, essentially. You can choose to keep said Shadow Pokémon as it is, all glowing red eyes and all – or you can pay a relatively small Stardust/Candy cost to Purify it, raising its stats.