Team Rocket Balloons Are Showing Up In ‘Pokémon GO’ – Forbes

Pokemon GO
Credit: Niantic
I have to admit, I didnt think much of all the various Team Rocket balloon teases that Pokémon GO has been tweeting out over the past couple of days. I thought it was just a story thing, not such a direct line to a game feature. As it turns out, the teases for Team Rocket in balloons were hinting at just that: Team Rocket has begun to arrive in menacing balloons in-game, leading to fights for anyone that encounters them.
At the time of this writing, only trainers level 35 and up can see them, but as usual we expect that number to go down pretty quickly. I havent encountered one of them yet, but Ill update once one of them crosses my path.
For those that have seen them, it seems that theyre leading to fights with Team Rocket: some seem to be grunts, but some are leaders: Cliff, Sierra, Arlo, and even Giovanni. These fights can be tough, as usual, but can reward powerful shadow Pokémon. Apparently Sierra has a shadow Beldum, exciting for people that have been hunting that one.
Apparently, these Rocket balloons are not limited to the in-game world, either. A full-on physical balloon has been spotted over Munich. Over here in the US, its a sad reminder that countries able to get COVID-19 under control are able to do all sorts of things, like reopen schools and pull silly Pokémon stunts.
Still, this is a clever new feature for the COVID-19 era, to the degree that I wonder whether or not this was totally conceived of and developed sometime after mid-March. Because while it manages to capture some of the drama of that initial Team Rocket invasion last year, it does so in a way that cooperates perfectly with stationary play.
Well keep you updated on this as the situation shifts: Pokémon GO Fest isnt happening quite yet, so I expect some more shifts as we make our way to the big event. There has even been some datamined info suggesting that Team Rockets most famous, if not most talented, members might finally be making their appearance: well see if Jesse and James show up by the end of the month.

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