Hey all!
Rytellia here, I wanted to talk about the newest piece to the game that I’ve seen a lot of buzz and a bit of confusion about lately: Team GO Rocket stops. Here are some of the questions I’ve been seeing the most, from basic of what to some of the more intricacies.
First off – How can I find these?
Finding a GO Rocket stop is actually fairly simple as long as you can see the stop itself. They won’t show up under raids or the like and they disappear after some time, I think like 30 minutes, so you have to see the stop itself to find it.
Keep an eye on its color and its movement, if it’s still from far away it’s not going to be a GO Rocket stop yet. Is it darker and twitchy? Bingo! You found one! Another, super easy, way to verify? Once you’re within spinning distance the stop will turn black and red and a GO Rocket Grunt will be standing next to it.
Okay, I found one. What do I do now?
Great! Once you spin the stop you’ll get your items and the Grunt will appear and challenge you. These battles can be super easy or extremely soul wrenchingly difficult all depending on how you approach it. If you’re reading the screen, they will nine times out of ten give you a hint. Here are the current hints I’m aware of organized alphabetically by type:
- BUG – Go, my super bug Pokémon!
- DARK – Wherever is alight, there is also shadow.
- DRAGON – ROAR! … How’d that sound?
- ELECTRIC – Get ready to be shocked!
- FAIRY – Check out my cute Pokémon!
- FIGHTING – This buff physique isn’t just for show!
- FLYING – My bird Pokémon wants to battle with you!
- GHOST – Ke…ke…ke…ke…ke…ke!
- GRASS – Don’t tangle with us!
- GROUND – You’ll be defeated into the ground!
- ICE – You’re gonna be frozen in your tracks.
- NORMAL – Normal doesn’t mean weak.
- POISON – Coiled and ready to strike!
- PSYCHIC – Are you scared of psychics that use unseen power?
- ROCK – Let’s rock and roll!
- STEEL – You’re no match for my iron will!
- WATER – These waters are treacherous!
There are a couple of tips they give which are much less than helpful. These can be as simple as a team of Zubats or a Snorlax/Dragonite/Gyrados combination. Be prepared for anything if you see these:
- Don’t bother, I’ve already won.
- Get ready to be defeated!
- Winning is for the winners.
I’ve heard rumors that the hint itself is a clue to the Pokémon you’ll have a chance at catching at the end if you are successful. This is important to note because if you get a hint that points to a battle with Normal types and you put your team full of Fighting types, there is the chance you may still get a Golbat in there, which is Poison/Flying and flying will annihilate your Fighting.
My strategy? I’ll typically leave my two strongest in the battle, but as backups. I’ll have my strongest type that the tip hints at as my front runner. In example, I get a ‘My bird Pokémon wants to do battle with you!’ hint, my Tyranitar and my Snorlax are my strongest two, I’ll put a Raikou or a Mamoswine as my main because electric and ice line up with doing more damage to flying.
Even with all of this, I still lost!
Losing sucks, especially when you did all the preparation you could’ve! Don’t fret, the GO Rocket stop stays invaded even if you failed, as long as the 30 minute timer is up. Even if you back out and heal you can come right back to it and try again!
There are some of the battles even I haven’t been able to get through, some of the combinations all you can do is sit back and silently curse at the grunts, sigh, and walk away. Take it in stride. You can’t win every battle, and if you do lose it’s a great change to see where your teams are lacking in strength!
With a little luck and even more skill, you’ll find yourself mastering this new piece of the game in no time, if you haven’t already. Just remember, keep stardust high, keep powering up, and keep catching all you can. You never know when you’ll find that Pokémon that can turn the tide next time.
