Pokemon Go Adds Team Rocket & Shadow Pokemon

Team Rocket is now in Pokemon Go, taking over PokeStops and bringing with them Shadow Pokemon. These Shadow Pokemon are evil versions of normal ones, and they can even be Shiny. Why is that important? Because you can catch them after defeating their Team Rocket member. You can then purify them, and use them for your own purposes.

Prepare for trouble, and make it double! There, I got that out of the way, are you happy now? Yes, indeed, Team Rocket have indeed, at long last, made their way to Pokemon Go. Well, not Team Rocket proper, but definitely their grunts and their Shadow Pokemon (for some more info on those, check out our Pokemon Go Shadow Pokemon – How to Purify guide). You’ll spot them fairly easily. The PokeStops they’ve taken over are black and have a giant red R above them. I honestly think they couldn’t be more obvious if they tried.

So, what is one to do if one runs into these Team Rocket gals and fellas? Well, battle them, of course. You can fight against them as you would against regular Gym leaders. They have thee Pokemon that you’ll have to best in this PvE. If you do manage to defeat their monsters, the Team Rocket member will run away, and leave behind them a Shadow Pokemon. These Pokemon are clearly evil, what with the glowing, red eyes and a purple smoke enveloping them. And, yes, you can capture them with Premium Balls, and yes, they can be Shiny.

Now, fortunately, you can purify the Shadow Pokemon, which we explain in the above-linked guide. Why would you do that? Well, because this is going to boost their stats significantly, and drastically lower the costs to evolve them / power them up. With the right combo of items, you can build yourself quite the Pokemon out of ex-Shadow Pokemon. Plus, the cost to purify them is fairly piddling anyway, so might as well.