While this is not new information, I thought it was interesting to share how this has expanded the way the Pokemon Go mobile game is played. Since the start of the PvP side of the game, I have seen mixed feelings about its gameplay and in my personal case, it never brought much my interest as I have seen how passionate some players in the community have been when competing in battle with other trainers in game. However, the ability to battle team Rocket which now show up at random PokeStops for intervals at a time has been interesting for me.
Given that it comes with the incentive to capture a unique “dark” Pokemon is pretty fun to take the time and stop when seeing a PokeStop with one of the Team Rocket grunts available to battle. Their battles are often tough as the CP of their Pokemon are much higher than when facing regular PvP matches. Like PvP matches, you must select 3 Pokemon to battle against the Grunt’s three Pokemon. Their Pokemon are often related to a type of damage and during the text conversation they provide, the Grunt provides a hint as to what type of Pokemon they will be using which helps you select your teams accordingly. Some players have memorized these as not all of them are obvious although some are easy to figure out if you pay close attention.
Once you defeat the Grunt, you are giving an opportunity to rescue the Pokemon by capturing him. They are more difficult to catch as they often move and dodge more quickly than normal catches. Once caught, you can purify the Pokemon by spending Stardust and Candy on it. Unfortunately, I have not really paid attention to whether or not purifying the Pokemon provides benefits as I have only done it for the Special Research tasks that started with the initial event of Team Rocket appearing in game.
Overall, I think it was an innovative way to introduce key characters in the iconic game which definitely needed some type of computer based challenge to make us the players recall the memories from the original games. I remember hating run into them in the game as they were always in the way towards meeting the objectives of the game. However, having them in Pokemon Go gives some good nostalgia!
Thanks!