Team GO Rocket

"Trainers… For three years, we have been watching. The world of Pokémon GO is rife with unlimited resources. This privilege is wasted on Trainers like you who lack the vision to exploit this vast world of resources and Pokémon. You walk around and spin your PokéStops like this some kind of game. You battle in your Gyms and rejoice when they change colors. You care for Pokémon as though they're something more than tools! What a waste of potential! We've brought our Shadow Pokémon, strengthened to unimaginable levels that you could never reach through powering up alone. We're here to take over your PokéStops and steal from their unlimited supply of resources. Can't you see the beauty of our evil? This is just the beginning. Your resources are our resources. Your Pokémon are our Pokémon. Your world is our world! You can't stop us. Professor Willow, Spark, Blanche, Candela, and most of all, you—stay out of our way! We follow the villainous path of those before us—and we will succeed in finally bringing Giovanni's vision to the world! If you insist on trying to disrupt our plans, we wil lmake you feel a world of pain!"

- Team Go Rocket

are the main antagonists of Pokémon GO. Based on the original Team Rocket from the main series games, composes of Grunts and Leaders (also referred to as Admins) whose main goal is to steal items and Trainers' Pokmon.

Characters
Five unique characters are a part of, all of which will challenge the player to a battle.

Giovanni
The boss of. He can be encountered through the monthly Special Research associated with. The player must defeat all three leaders before gaining the opportunity to encounter and battle Giovanni.

Once Giovanni is defeated, the player will have the chance to capture the Shadow Legendary Pokmon featured for the month.

Leader Cliff
Cliff is one of the three leaders. He can be encountered at PokStops after constructing the Rocket Radar.

Leader Arlo
Cliff is one of the three leaders. He can be encountered at PokStops after constructing the Rocket Radar.

Leader Sierra
Cliff is one of the three leaders. She can be encountered at PokStops after constructing the Rocket Radar.

Grunt
The Grunt is the most common member of. The Grunt appears as either a male or a female, and can be encountered at PokStops appearing with a dark tint.

Encountering
Grunts and Leaders can both be encountered at PokStops taken over by the team. Grunts can be battled and are generally weaker than leaders.

Encountering Grunts
Grunts can be encountered from PokStops taken over by the team. These stops have a dark tint to the appearance and shake when viewed on the map. When approached, a member of will appear and challenge the player to a battle upon spinning the Pokstop. Grunts can be found at PokStops at any time of the day.

Encountering Leaders
Once the player has either won 6 Grunt encounters, the Rocket Radar can be equipped to find hidden locations of PokéStops where the Team GO Rocket Leaders are, featuring unique teams of Shadow Pokémon far stronger than the average grunt. The three leaders start appearing at 6 a.m. and leave at 10 p.m. daily in your local timezone.

Battling
All members battle the player with Shadow Pokmon, Pokmon corrupted and boosted to a CP beyond it's normal counterpart. Each Grunt specializes in one specific Type of Pokmon, usually giving away which type it will use from their battle message. Leaders have a set team of Pokmon that change monthly. These Pokmon are much stronger than the Grunt teams, making the leaders a challenge.