Trainers! Team GO Rocket have officially arrived to Pokémon GO and have no intentions on leaving this time! Beginning July 25th, 2019 through August 1st, 2019 Pokémon significant to Team GO Rocket’s arrival will be appearing more frequently in the Wild, Eggs, and Raids, shiny Ekans and Koffing will be released and you will be able to catch as many Shadow Pokemon as you wish. Team Rocket Invasions are expected to become much more frequent than they were during the teaser event a few days ago.
Team GO Rocket Event
| Event | Team GO Rocket Event |
|---|---|
| Date + Time | START: July 25th, 2019 END: August 1st, 2019 |
| Features |
|
| Bonuses |
|
Infographic
Shiny Ekans, Koffing, Sneasel, and Zubat Families
Two new shiny Pokemon are being released alongside the Team Rocket Event. Of course, it’s the iconic Team Rocket duo: Ekans and Koffing. We’re quite sure these two will be highly sought after by shiny hunters, as both Pokemon are iconic anime characters. Sadly, shiny Meowth wasn’t mentioned in the official announcement.
| Normal Version | Shiny Version |
|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Both Pokemon are Poison types whose spawns are boosted by Cloudy weather, but we expect these to be spawning like crazy during the event. Be sure to shiny check every Koffing you encounter, as these are quite rare outside of themed events. Ekans is found in the same biome as Pidgey, Rattata and other “trash tier” spawns.
Increased Spawns
The following Pokémon will appear more frequently the Team Rocket event:
Rattata
|
Ekans
|
Sandshrew
|
Zubat
|
Meowth
|
Machop
|
Magnemite
|
Grimer
|
Gastly
|
Drowzee
|
Cubone
|
Koffing
|
Sneasel
|
Murkrow
|
Houndour
|
Poochyena
|
Pokemon appearances will be increased in all places where they can naturally be found: Wild encounters, Egg hatches and Raid battles. Please be aware that these event spawns will take over some of your local spawns once the event starts and will stop spawning once it ends. It’s hard to predict rarity tiers at this moment.
Special Field Research
As of now it unknown if a complete Raid Boss shakeup will happen or if it will be just a few more Bosses added to the existing Raid pool. Keep checking back, as we will update as soon as we know what the Raid Bosses and Field Research are.
| Quest | Reward |
|---|---|
| Stage 1/4 | |
| Evolve 2 Pokémon |
Murkrow
|
| Power up a Pokémon 5 times |
Sableye
|
| Stage Rewards |
|
| Stage 2/4 | |
| Catch 2 Shadow Pokemon |
Ekans
|
| Defeat 3 Team GO Rocket Grunts |
Koffing
|
| Stage Rewards |
|
| Stage 3/4 | |
| Purify 3 Shadow Pokemon | 3000 XP |
| Purify a Fire-, Water-, or Grass-type Pokémon | 3000 XP |
| Stage Rewards |
|
| Stage 4/4 | |
| Auto Complete | 1000 Stardust (x2) |
| Auto Complete | 1000 XP |
| Stage Rewards |
|
Special Raid Boss List
| Tier | Boss | Raid Guide |
|---|---|---|
| EX |
Speed Deoxys
|
Link |
| 5 |
Armored Mewtwo
|
Link |
| 4 |
Absol
|
Link |
| 4 |
Houndoom
|
Link |
| 4 |
Alola Marowak
|
Link |
| 4 |
Victreebel
|
Link |
| 3 |
Gengar
|
Link |
| 3 |
Hypno
|
Link |
| 3 |
Machamp
|
Link |
| 3 |
Alola Raichu
|
Link |
| 2 |
Gloom
|
– |
| 2 |
Magneton
|
– |
| 2 |
Muk
|
– |
| 2 |
Sandslash
|
– |
| 2 |
Sneasel
|
– |
| 1 |
Cubone
|
– |
| 1 |
Ekans
|
– |
| 1 |
Koffing
|
– |
| 1 |
Meowth
|
– |
| 1 |
Zubat
|
– |
TLDR
- Increased Encounters via Wild, Eggs, and Raids
- Special Raid Battles and Field Research
- Shiny Ekans/Koffing
- July 25 – August 1
