Hello Trainers, the PokéMiners have come through with some more details on the Team Go Rocket balloon, and how it functions. Let’s have a look! Previous data mining article: Pokémon GO 0.179.0 APK Breakdown: It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Team Go Rocket?!
🚨⚠️ Disclaimer ⚠️🚨
Please be aware that everything posted here has been publicly reported by data miners (PokeMiners). Information shared through these channels is not affiliated nor approved by Niantic, and is always subject to change. Do not take it for granted, features change and get scrapped all the time. It is very important that you are aware that these things CAN and WILL CHANGE. Additionally, this article contains my thoughts and opinions in regards to the code that was shared online – all of these should be treated as conjecture, not as hard statements. If you’re OK with that, feel free to read further. Potential spoilers ahead.
Spawning
- The Balloon doesn’t appear to be tied to Pokéstops or Gyms, so their spawn location can be completely random.
- The game will check to see if a few before spawning in.
- Is the Balloon is on cooldown? Which implies that only one can spawn in at a time.
- Does another Balloon already exist? Which implies that only one can be on the map at a time.
- Is the Balloon disabled? Which is probably for Niantic to turn the feature on and off.
- There is also a tag for Invalid item, which implies that you might need to equip an item to get it to spawn? Maybe a different type of Rocket Radar? Balloon Radar?
Behaviour
- The balloon will move around and eventually float away
- There is code for tapping on the balloon.
New Grunts
- A new type of Rocket Invasion (GRUNTB) was made for the Balloon, separating it from the Pokéstop invasions.
- Two new grunts were added CHARACTER_GRUNTB_FEMALE and a CHARACTER_GRUNTB_MALE
Conclusions
Some interesting new things here, one Balloon at a time. I wonder how long they’ll stay on the map for? When do you think we’ll see these introduced?
Given the hidden Team Go Rocket Balloon that was in the Go Fest picture, there’s speculation that they’ll be introduced on Day 2 of Global Go Fest.
That’s all for now trainers, stay safe out there.
