A few months ago, Pokemon Go received a massive update that saw the introduction of Team GO Rocket. These nefarious villains were taking over PokeStops and corrupting Pokemon all over the world, and now, as of this week, their leaders have made their way into the game as well to cause even more havoc.
As developer Niantic revealed in a blog post on Thursday, Team GO Rocket Leaders Cliff, Sierra, and Arlo can now be encountered in Pokemon Go. Locating them is a challenge within itself, and once you finally find them, you’ll be presented with some of the more difficult battles the mobile game has to offer.
As you might expect, there are several steps to take in order to find these Team Go Rocket Leaders in the first place. Thankfully, Niantic included a helpful guide on its website, which I’ve pasted below:
- Open up your Special Research: Looming in the Shadows — Professor Willow has issued new Special Research for you. By helping Professor Willow, you can track down the villainous Team GO Rocket Leaders and even Giovanni himself.
- Find Mysterious Components — Team GO Rocket Grunts may drop Mysterious Components.
- Assemble Rocket Radars — The Team GO Rocket Leaders are concealing their locations at PokéStops. By assembling six Mysterious Components, you can create a Rocket Radar. Use the Rocket Radar to scan the area around you for the hideouts of Team GO Rocket Leaders.
- Battle the Team GO Rocket Leaders — Cliff, Sierra, and Arlo have made their move, and they’re here to challenge you! Approach the hideouts that you locate with your Rocket Radar, and have your best Pokémon battle parties ready. Defeat the Team GO Rocket Leaders, and rescue their Shadow Pokémon. These Pokémon might have special qualities! Only those with Rocket Radars will be able to detect hideouts and battle Team GO Rocket Leaders. But Trainers can still collaborate—if one Trainer detects a hideout at a particular PokéStop, others can detect the same hideout in the same place.
- Complete Special Research to battle Giovanni — By battling Team GO Rocket Grunts, defeating Team GO Rocket Leaders, and proving you’re an accomplished Trainer, you’ll be able to complete research to receive a Super Rocket Radar from Professor Willow. The Super Rocket Radar will help you locate Giovanni! But watch out—some Grunts have figured out what we’re up to. They may pretend to be Giovanni and get in your way! But keep at it, because if you defeat Giovanni, you may be able to rescue Legendary Shadow Pokémon.
As you can see, it’s something of a process to access the dangerous leaders, but the rewards are worth it. If you want to know more about the story behind Team GO Rocket and its leaders, be sure to read Professor Willow’s report on the Pokemon Go website. And then watch the trailer for the leaders below:
