Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Niantic, Niantic Labs, pokemon, pokemon go, Team GO Rocket

Pokémon GO Team GO Rocket Celebration Event Review

The Team GO Rocket Celebration event ends today in Pokémon GO. Let's take a look at what this event offered and if it made for a worthy week of gameplay.

What Worked in this Pokémon GO Event

• New Shadows: It's been since October 2020 that we've gotten new Shadow Pokémon, and it appears that Niantic made up for the wait by adding some excellent ones to Pokémon GO. The addition of Shadow Swinub, in particular, has a huge impact on the game. Shadow Mamoswine is set to be a massive force in raids both as a Ground-type and Ice-type, making it the most relevant addition to the Shadow pool since Machamp.
• New Team GO Rocket Leader teams: The Leaders have new teams to beat and, as a result, new Shiny Shadow Pokémon. Trainers can now encounter the Shiny Shadow forms of Aerodactyl and Carvanha through Cliff and Sierra respectively, but Arlo's hitter came as a surprise: it's Shadow Beldum, returning. Normally, a returning Shadow Shiny when so few exist in the game may seem odd, but Shiny Shadow Beldum is among the most desirable catches in the game due to the usefulness of Shadow Metagross.
• Increased balloons: The pace of the Team GO Rocket balloons was perfect, giving trainers something to fight every couple of hours and also increasing the speed at which free-to-play trainers could build Rocket Radars. Perfect pace.

What Didn't Work in this Pokémon GO Event

• The Timed Research: This is no big deal as the rest of the event worked, but the two-page Timed Research that offered two Rocket Radars and a Misdreavus encounter felt like an afterthought. Even removing Misdreavus as an encounter and just going with the Radar would have been better, as we wouldn't be left with that "Oh, that's it?" feeling after seeing what the surprise Pokémon was.
• No Giovanni: This is the one major flaw here. Giovanni's presence was sorely missed, especially considering research leading to a battle with him used to be a monthly feature. Now, after a four-month hiatus from Rocket events, we definitely deserved a Giovanni appearance.

Overall

Overall, this was a fun event that introduced new Shadow Pokémon that have truly shaken the meta of Pokémon GO. Despite the Team GO Rocket Celebration having an inexplicable Giovanni-shaped hole in it, it remains a win for Niantic.

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