Team Rocket has arrived in Pokémon GO at long last, and with it, has come a new quest that serves as a sort of introduction to the concept of the Rocket Pokestop invasion, Shadow Pokémon, and Purified Pokémon.
It’s a Special Research task from Professor Willow that has you fighting Team Rocket grunts, getting Rocket-based rewards and encountering Rocket-themed Pokémon. It is one of the shorter Special Research tasks out there and no, this is not going to end with a Mythic reward for you, just a few special prizes and some XP and a greater sense of how this whole event is supposed to work. Though I am still not clear on if this is an event, or if it’s going to be a permanent addition to the game that never goes away.
Here are the step for this quest:
Step 1:
- Evolve 2 Pokémon (Reward: Murkrow encounter)
- Power up a Pokémon 5 times (Reward: Sableye encounter)
Reward for both: 1,000 Stardust, 2,000 XP
Alright so that really doesn’t have to do with the event at all, but things pick up after this:
Step 2:
- Catch 2 Shadow Pokémon (Reward: Koffing encounter)
- Defeat 3 Team Rocket Grunts (Reward: Ekans encounter)
Reward for both: 2,000 Stardust, 2,000 XP, 5 Golden Razz Berries
Man, they couldn’t have made one of those a Grimer? Grimer remains the only Gen 1 Pokémon I’m still missing as I have the worst luck on planet earth. I even have a Muk. Anyway.
Step 3:
- Purify 3 Shadow Pokémon (Reward: 3,000 Stardust)
- Purify a Fire, Water or Grass-Type Shadow Pokémon (Reward: 3,000 XP)
Reward for both: 2,000 Stardust, 5 Silver Pinap Berries, 1 Rare Candy
You can do these both at the same time if one of the three Shadow Pokémon is one of the three starters, Charmander, Bulbasaur or Squirtle. Other than that I think only Mudkip qualifies for the second challenge?
Step 4:
This one is just a freebie I guess? I’m not sure what happened here. All you have to do is claim rewards offered to you, 2,000 Stardust and 1,000 XP. This will give you an additional final reward of a Fast TM, Charged TM and 3 Rare Candies. Again, no Mythic, sorry.
Kind of a weird quest, especially that last step, but it serves as an intro to the whole Shadow/Purify system and gets you out there killing, errr defeating, Rocket goons. And a good amount of rewards for something you should be doing anyway.
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