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Team Rocket Update
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 |