Pokemon GO Looming in the Shadows: Step-by-Step Guide

Niantic

The leaders of Team GO Rocket are now live in Pokemon GO, and you can fight them through a new Special Research quest known as “Looming in the Shadows.”

To complete Looming in the Shadows, you need to have completed a previous Special Research quest known as “A Troubling Situation,” according to Niantic’s support website for Pokemon GO. You can receive this Special Research quest once per calendar month, according to the website.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on the Pokemon GO Looming in the Shadows Special Research quest.

The Team GO Rocket Leaders have blasted their way into Pokémon GO!The world of Pokémon GO is in peril! Team GO Rocket Leaders Cliff, Sierra, and Arlo have made their move and can be encountered by Trainers worldwide! Not only have they caught more Shadow Pokémon and strengthened them through unnatural means—their arrival also confirms a suspicion Professor Willow has held for a while: Giovanni, the…2019-11-07T14:00:10.000Z

Quest 1 of 6

Spin 10 Pokestops – Reward: 500 XP

Defeat three Team GO Rocket Grunts – Reward: 500 XP

Catch one Shadow Pokemon – Reward: 500 XP

Completion Reward: 500 Stardust, 10 PokeBalls, 10 Razz Berries

Tips: This is a pretty easy first step. You’ll find Team GO Rocket Grunts as you walk around spinning PokeStops. You’ll know they’re there because the PokeStop is noticeably darker and quivering.

Quest 2 of 6

Spin a PokeStop five days in a row – Reward: 750 XP

Purify 15 Shadow Pokemon – Reward: 750 XP

Win five Raids – Reward: 750 XP

Completion Reward: 1,000 Stardust, 3 Hyper Potions & 3 Revives

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Tips: This step is going to take a bit more time, so just be patient and don’t forget to spin PokeStops each day for five days. Make sure that you have the Candies and Stardust to purify all those Shadow Pokemon. Shadow Pokemon like Shadow Ratata and Shadow Zubat are relatively inexpensive to purify compared to other Shadow Pokemon. As for the Raids, you can complete Raids of any difficulty tier and complete the task. You don’t need to go after the five-star Raids if you don’t want to.

Quest 3 of 6

Use six super effective Charge Moves in Gym Battles – 1,000 XP

Win three Great League Trainer Battles against another Trainer – 1,000 XP

Defeat six Team GO Rocket Grunts – 1,000 XP

Completion Reward: 1,500 Stardust, 15 Great Balls & 5 Pinap Berries

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Tips: After spending five days in a row spinning PokeStops, you can really get the ball rolling now.

You can find other players to battle with pretty easily if you coordinate with them over dedicated Pokemon GO social media groups. You can find a lot of players around five star Raids, especially during the weekly Legendary Raid Hour. Just be aware of strangers.

Quest 4 of 6

Defeat Team GO Rocket Leader Arlo – Reward: 1,250 XP

Defeat Team GO Rocket Leader Cliff – Reward: 1,250 XP

Defeat Team GO Rocket Leader Sierra – Reward: 1,250 XP

Completion Reward: 2,000 Stardust, one Super Rocket Radar & three Golden Razz Berries

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Tips: Here’s how to beat Cliff, Sierra and Arlo in Pokemon GO.

According to a new blog post from Niantic, Team GO Rocket Grunts may now drop Mysterious Components when defeated. Assemble six of those to make Rocket Radars that can be used to sniff out the Team GO Rocket Leaders and battle them. You should have picked up six Mysterious Components from the previous step.

Note: It looks like you can get components even if your item box is full, according to one user on The Silph Road Subreddit.

Once you craft a Rocket Radar, you can equip or unequip it from your bag. Tap the Rocket Radar button below the compass to activate the Rocket Radar. Using the Rocket Radar reveals all the Leader Hideouts in range, according to Niantic’s support website. They resemble regular PokeStops until you get within range of them, at which point the Team GO Rocket Leader will appear next to the PokeStop. Be careful as Leaders are more powerful than the average Grunt. If you lose a battle against the Leader, you can challenge them again until the Leader Hideout disappears from the map. Once you defeat them, the Rocket Radar breaks.

Even though players with Rocket Radars are the only ones able to detect hideouts for the leaders, they can still collaborate since hideouts appear to players in the same places, according to the blog post. After you create your first Rocket Radar, the items will then be available to purchase from the in-game shop with PokeCoins, according to Niantic’s support website. Only players level eight and above can get Mysterious Components and take on the Leaders, according to the website.

Quest 5 of 6

Find the Team GO Rocket Boss – Reward: 2,500 Stardust

Battle the Team GO Rocket Boss – Reward: 1,500 XP

Defeat the Team GO Rocket Boss – Reward: 3 Silver Pinap Berries

Completion Reward: 3,000 Stardust, one Fast TM & one Charged TM (plus the rewards you get from Giovanni including Shadow Articuno)

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Tips: Here’s how to beat Giovanni in Pokemon GO.

The last step rewarded you with a Super Rocket Radar, which will help you locate the big boss of Team GO Rocket, Giovanni. According to a trailer released today, Giovanni will be able to use Shadow Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos. The Super Rocket Radar gives you the location of Hideouts, but there will be decoy Grunts disguised as Giovanni as well as Giovanni himself, according to the support website. Just keep looking at all of the highlighted PokeStops until you find him.

Update: It looks like so far Giovanni is only using Shadow Articuno according to reports on The Silph Road Subreddit. It’s possible that he may switch out what Legendary Pokemon he uses every month similar to the rewards for Research Breakthroughs, but that’s just speculation on our part.

Update (November 30, 2019): Players reported that Giovanni has Shadow Zapdos and Serebii confirmed that completing the Looming in the Shadows Special Research quest in December will let you fight and catch Shadow Zapdos from Giovanni. It looks like our prior speculation was correct. If it holds true, then Giovanni will use Shadow Moltres in January.

Quest 6 of 6

N/A (Already Complete) – 2,000 XP

Completion Reward: 3 Max Revives, 20 Ultra Balls & three Rare Candies

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Tips: There aren’t actually any tasks to complete for the final step since all three slots for the tasks are already complete. Just tap on them and the Completion Reward to collect the rewards.

Congratulations! You’ve completed the “Looming in the Shadows” Special Research quest. You can complete this quest again once per calendar month, according to Niantic’s support website.

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