Dealing with Team GO Rocket

 Have you noticed a strange-looking hot-air balloon following you around the map? That would be the mischievous Team GO Rocket. These pesky trainers can also be encountered at Pokéstops that they have taken over. Your duty as a trainer is to defeat them and rescue one of the captive shadow Pokémon. When you tap on one of the balloons or Pokéstops, you are challenged by one of the members of Team Rocket.

The members of Team GO Rocket are broken down into different levels. The first category would be the Grunts. When you encounter Team  GO Rocket for the first time, you will encounter a Grunt. The Grunt will either be a male or female in a standard Team Rocket jumpsuit. The Grunts are fairly easy to defeat since their team is made up of one type of Pokémon. The Grunt will say a phrase before you battle them that will give you a hint as to what type their team is made of. Some are pretty straightforward. For example, “Battle against my Flying-type Pokémon!” means it is a Flying-type Grunt. The Poison-type Grunt will say “Coiled and ready to strike!” which may be a little harder to decipher. They will also not use their shields when you use a charged attack during battle. Their Pokémon will also be fairly easy to defeat. Once you battle 6 of them, you will be able to create a Rocket Radar from the mysterious components you gather from winning the battle. 

The next level of Team GO Rocket is the Leaders. There are 3 different Leaders to Team GO Rocket; Arlo, Sierra, and Cliff. They are encountered by equipping the Rocket Radar and clicking on a taken-over Pokéstop or balloon, like the Grunts. The Leaders are a bit harder to defeat since they will use their shields against the first two charged attacks you send out. Plus, their lineup of Pokémon will be diversified, making it harder to figure out which Pokémon you need to bring to battle. The Pokémon that you encounter in these battles will depend on the current in-game event and are set. The Pokémon that you rescue in the end will be a specific one for each Leader. 

Finally, you have the Boss. The Boss of Team GO Rocket is Giovanni and can only be encountered by equipping a Super Rocket Radar. Like the others, you encounter Giovanni by tapping on a taken-over Pokéstop or Team GO Rocket balloon. In order to obtain a Super Rocket Radar, one must be active during an event such as Team Rocket Takeover. During this event, the trainer must defeat all 3 leaders to obtain the Super Rocket Radar as a reward for Field Research. Giovanni is very tough. At the end, you will have the opportunity to catch the selected Giovanni Pokémon of the event.