Update #2, A special guest has taken over the Pokebattler channel to provide you critical information about how to build a Team Rocket battle party!

On July 22nd, Team GO Rocket started to mysteriously steal Pokestops and challenge players to Trainer Battles putting up little black tents over Pokestops! With them, they brought purple shrouded Shadow Pokemon, with Combat Power far higher than we’ve seen previously in Trainer Battles.

Check out our article by PVPoke master KakunaMattata for updates on the actual CP formula, which Niantic keeps changing to keep us on our toes.

July 28th at 4pm local time the event which they’ve been teasing is set to launch. through the Pokemon Go social media channels, ‘taken over’ by Team GO Rocket, and the New York City takeover ad stunts. A live streaming countdown on the Pokemon Go Youtube channel led to the announcement by Team Rocket of a global takeover.

Pokebattler was updated just 2 hours after Team Rocket took over New Zealand to help with the threat. Pokebattler currently gives a good idea of which Pokemon to use to beat the Team Rocket Invasion but there is still much research to do! It seems that Team Rocket’s Pokemon are not as effective as they should be given their enormous stats. Perhaps the Pokemon are resisting the orders of Team Rocket? Time will tell!

Here are the current stats used by Pokebattler for these Shadow Pokemon:

Pokemon	CP	Tier	Level	Attack	Defense
Shadow Bulbasaur	3381-3649	1	27	x3	x2
Shadow Ivysaur	5229 – 5561	1	27	x3	x2
Shadow Charmander	2957 – 3209	1	27	x3	x2
Shadow Charmeleon	5081 – 5410	1	27	x3	x2
Shadow Squirtle	2848 – 3096	1	27	x3	x2
Shadow Wartortle	4559 – 4871	1	27	x3	x2
Shadow Zubat	1974 – 2183	1	27	x3	x2
Shadow Golbat	6110 – 6470	1	27	x3	x2
Shadow Crobat	8246 – 8662	1	27	x3	x2
Shadow Dratini	3370-3654	2	30	x3	x2
Shadow Dragonair	6097-6475	2	30	x3	x2
Shadow Dragonite	13234 – 13793	2	30	x3	x2
Shadow Venusaur	9425 – 9894	2	30	x3	x2
Shadow Charizard	10023 – 10508	2	30	x3	x2
Shadow Blastoise	8522-8968	2	30	x3	x2
Shadow Snorlax	11207-11732	2	30	x3	x2

In the initial wave, there were different multipliers applied and we were able to do some research regarding Trainer Level CP adjustment. It appears that something like (TrainerLevel – 15) / (40 – 15) works. Pokebattler has assumed that this caps out at TrainerLevel 20 for a minimum of 5/35 but there is lots more research to do here! Here are some Shadow Pokemon that were encountered by players with different trainer levels:

Pokemon	CP	Trainer Level	Trainer Level Factor	IVs
Snorlax	2356	40	x1	12/5/7
Snorlax	2151	38	x0.92	8/6/14
Rattata	1487	40	x1	14/12/8
Rattata	1128	34	x0.76	15/9/10

If you know more about what the heck is going on with these Team Rocket Events let us know on Twitter!

UPDATE: We have new info on the Team Rocket ‘Grunt Teams’! The Grunts give hints as to what you are going to fight. The 3rd Pokemon will be of the type, and typically the other two Pokemon will be the same type or Normal type. There are also 3 hints that are used when you will be fighting a Tier 2 raid! So if you see anything about winning or defeated, know you will be fighting a harder fight.

Hint from Grunt Team	3rd Pokemon
Don’t tangle with us	Grass Type
Do you know how hot Pokémon fire breath can get	Fire Type
These waters are treacherous	Water Type
Normal doesn’t mean weak	Normal Type
ROAR! … How’d that sound	Dragon Type
Coiled and ready to strike	Poison Type
My bird Pokémon wants to battle with you	Flying Type
Winning is for winners.	Tier 2 Pokemon
Don’t bother, I’ve already won	Tier 2 Pokemon
Get ready to be defeated	Tier 2 Pokemon