Team Rocket

After what feels like forever, Team Rocket has finally invaded the world of Pokémon Go, bringing with them infected PokéStops and Shadow Pokémon. Using this guide, you'll be able to better understand what Team Rocket's sinister plans are, and how you can help defeat them.

How to Find Team GO Rocket Grunts in Pokémon GO

You can tell if a PokéStop is infected by Team Rocket because, at a distance, the cube in the middle will be slightly darker than normal, and it won't rotate smoothly – instead, it will jitter about uncontrollably. Infected PokéStops only manifest themselves for around half an hour at a time, so if you see one nearby, you need to get to it quickly. Note that only trainers at Level 8 or above will see Team Rocket in their game.

Want to know how to battle the leaders of Team GO Rocket? Read our guide to battling Arlo, Cliff, Sierra and Giovanni and completing the special research quest, 'Looming in the Shadows'

Team GO Rocket Battle Basics

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If you have a Team Rocket PokéStop nearby, you'll be able to take on the Grunt contained within in a trainer battle. The Grunt will use a team of Shadow Pokémon; these are normal Pokémon which have been infected by Team Rocket.

Team GO Rocket Shadow Pokémon Team lists

Each Team Go Rocket Grunt you encounter will be given a Pokémon type, which is indicated by the dialogue they use when you begin your battle. For instance, "Normal doesn't mean weak" will give you a normal-type encounter, and "These waters are treacherous!" will be a Water-type encounter – for more examples, see our team lists below.

  • One Pokémon from each list will be encountered in the battle
  • Pokémon in bold are available to catch, though Pokémon in the second list are rarely encountered
Battle Group Associated Phrase Pokemon slot Pokémon Name
Bug "Go, my super bug Pokémon!" 1 Weedle, Venonat, Scyther
2 Kakuna, Venomoth, Scizor
3 Beedrill, Scyther, Scizor
Dragon "ROAR! … How'd that sound?" 1 Dratini
2 Dratini, Dragonair, Flygon
3 Gyarados, Dragonair, Dragonite
Electric "Get ready to be shocked!" 1 Electabuzz, Mareep
2 Electabuzz, Flaaffy
3 Electabuzz, Ampharos
Fighting "This buff physique isn't just for show!" 1 Hitmonchan
2 Hitmonchan
3 Hitmonchan
Fire "Do you know how hot Pokémon fire breath can get?" 1 Growlithe, Magmar, Houndour
2 Charmeleon, Houndoom
3 Charmeleon, Arcanine, Houndoom
Flying "Battle against my Flying-type Pokémon!" 1 Zubat, Golbat
2 Golbat, Scyther, Crobat
3 Gyarados, Dragonite, Crobat
Ghost "Ke…ke…ke…ke…ke…ke!" 1 Sableye, Shuppet, Duskull
2 Sableye, Banette, Dusclops
3 Sableye, Banette, Dusknoir
Grass "Don't tangle with us!" 1 Seedot, Cacnea, Turtwig
2 Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Gloom
3 Vileplume, Shiftry, Cacturne
Ground "You'll be defeated into the ground!" 1 Cubone, Larvitar, Trapinch
2 Cubone, Marowak, Vibrava
3 Marowak, Flygon
Normal "Normal does not mean weak" 1 Rattata, Golbat
2 Rattata, Raticate
3 Raticate, Snorlax
Poison "Coiled and ready to strike!" 1 Zubat, Venonat, Grimer
2 Golbat, Grimer, Muk
3 Golbat, Venomoth, Muk
Psychic "Are you scared of psychics that use unseen power?" 1 Abra, Drowzee, Ralts
2 Drowzee, Hypno, Ralts
3 Kadabra, Hypno, Kirlia
Rock "Let's rock and roll!" 1 Larvitar
2 Larvitar, Pupitar
3 Pupitar, Tyranitar
Water "These waters are treacherous!" 1 Psyduck, Poliwag
2 Golduck, Poliwhirl
3 Poliwhirl, Politoed
Kanto Team "Don't bother - I've already won. " 1 Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle
2 Ivysaur, Charmeleon, Wartortle
3 Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise
Magikarp "These waters are treacherous!" 1 Magikarp
2 Magikarp
3 Magikarp, Gyarados
Snorlax "Don't bother - I've already won. "
"Get ready to be defeated!"
"Winning is for Winners"
1 Lapras, Snorlax
2 Poliwrath, Snorlax, Gardevoir
3 Gyarados, Snorlax, Dragonite

Source: available Pokémon based on Pokémongohub.net study, October 2019

Capturing Shadow Pokémon

Once you have won the Team GO Rocket trainer battle, you'll earn the chance to capture one of the Shadow Pokémon you just fought. In the vast majority of instances you will get to capture the first of the Pokémon you fought. However, in certain battle groups – and with a lot of luck – you may instead encounter the second, usually stronger Pokémon. You will never get to capture the last Pokémon you fight. For a full list of available Shadow Pokémon see the ‘Full list of Catchable Shadow Pokémon’ section below.

In addition to a base number of Premier balls you get for your victory, you will also gain additional balls based on:

  • How well you did in the battle (i.e. number of your Pokémon that remain conscious)
  • The level of your ‘Hero’ medal (this increases as you fight more Team GO Rocket members, e.g. you gain a Bronze medal after 10 victories)
  • The level of your ‘Purifier’ medal (similar to the Hero medal, this rises as you purify shadow Pokémon)

Strangely, the catch-circle indicators for the Shadow Pokémon catching mini-game appear to be exaggerated – a red circle Shadow Pokémon is a lot more likely to end up in the ball than a normal Pokémon.

How To Purify Shadow Pokémon

Each Team Go Rocket Grunt you encounter will be given a Pokémon type, which is indicated by the dialogue they use when you begin your battle. "Normal doesn't mean weak" will give you a normal-type encounter. "These waters are treacherous!" will be a Water-type encounter (seems obvious, right?), while "Do you know how hot Pokemon fire breath can get?" will be a Fire-type encounter. Finally, "Don't tangle with us!" will lead to a Grass-type encounter.

Should you emerge successfully from the contest, you'll earn the chance to capture one of these Shadow Pokémon. The number of Pokéballs you have for this depends on how you did in the battle. If you manage to catch it, you'll get to keep it.

Team Rocket in Pokémon Go: Purifying Shadow Pokémon

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Purifying Shadow Pokémon is the next step of the Team Rocket metagame within Pokémon Go. Shadow Pokémon have a purple flame on their picture, so locate the Shadow Pokémon in your Pokémon storage by looking for this. They also behave erratically, and it costs more than normal to power them up with Candy and Stardust – three times as much, in fact. You can't trade Shadow Pokémon, either.

Tap on that Pokémon, and you'll be given the usual options of 'Power Up' and 'Evolve' – as well as the option to 'Purify'. Purifying a Shadow Pokémon costs you both Stardust and Candy, and the amounts in both cases are dependant on the Pokémon and its current power level.

Purified Pokémon offer many benefits. For example, the candy cost for powering up or evolving that Pokémon decreases by 10 percent, as does the Stardust cost for powering up or teaching that Pokémon a secondary move. IVs increase by 2 in every statistic and the monster's level will increase, up to a level cap of 25.

You can tell if a Pokémon is a purified Pokémon because it will have a blue star next to its picture in your Pokémon storage.

Should I Purify My Shadow Pokémon? Purified Pokémon Benefits

Should you purify you shadow Pokémon? Almost certainly yes. Purified Pokémon offer many benefits over Shadow Pokémon:

  • Purified Pokémon receive a 10% cost decrease for:
    • Levelling up/evolution Candy cost
    • Levelling up/move teaching Stardust cost
  • The IVs of a Purified Pokémon increase by 2 in every statistic (Attack, Defence, HP)
  • The monster's level will increase, often significantly, up to a level cap of 25
  • The purified Pokémon becomes tradeable

You can tell if a Pokémon is a purified Pokémon because it will have a blue star next to its picture in your Pokémon storage.

Despite the benefits of purification, many trainers like to catch and keep Shadow Pokémon for their aesthetics – while their stats will likely remain unimpressive, their red-eyed gaze and the purple miasma that surrounds them is a lot more striking than the vague white mist that surrounds a Purified Pokémon. Of course, keeping them like this technically makes you the monster (in Pokémon lore, Shadow Pokémon are described as “soulless fighting machines” who have had their emotions forcibly removed).

Full list of Catchable Shadow Pokémon

  • This list does not cover Shadow Pokémon obtainable via evolution – e.g. you can have a Shadow Venusaur if you evolve Ivysaur
  • This list does not include Shadow Pokémon you may encounter
  • Shadow Pokémon that Niantic have recently announced may have unknown Battle Groups at this time
  • See the Team GO Rocket Shadow Pokémon Team list for more information on the two points above

Dex No

Name

Battle Groups

1

Bulbasaur

Grass, Kanto Team

2

Ivysaur

Grass, Kanto Team

4

Charmander

Fire, Kanto Team

7

Squirtle

Kanto Team

8

Wartortle

Kanto Team

13

Weedle

Bug

19

Rattata

Normal

20

Raticate

Normal

27

Sandshrew

(New, November 2019)

41

Zubat

Normal, Poison, Flying

42

Golbat

Poison, Flying

43

Oddish

(Believed Removed)

44

Gloom

Grass

48

Venonat

Poison

54

Psyduck

Water

58

Growlithe

Fire

60

Poliwag

Water

63

Abra

Psychic

69

Bellsprout

(New, November 2019)

81

Magnemite

(New, November 2019)

88

Grimer

Poison

96

Drowzee

Psychic

104

Cubone

Ground

107

Hitmonchan

Fighting

125

Electabuzz

Electric

126

Magmar

Fire

129

Magikarp

Water, Magikarp

131

Lapras

Snorlax

137

Porygon

(New, November 2019)

143

Snorlax

Normal, Snorlax

147

Dratini

Dragon

179

Mareep

Electric

202

Wobbuffet

(New, November 2019)

228

Houndour

Fire

229

Houndoom

Fire

246

Larvitar

Ground, Rock

258

Mudkip

(Believed Removed)

273

Seedot

Grass

280

Ralts

Psychic

302

Sableye

Ghost

328

Trapinch

Ground

331

Cacnea

Grass

353

Shuppet

Ghost

355

Duskull

Ghost

387

Turtwig

Grass

52

Meowth

Cliff

123

Scyther

Arlo

215

Sneasel

Sierra

Source: Based on Pokémongohub.net study, October 2019