This is set of tasks that focus on taking down Team Go Rocket in Pokémon Go, introducing new Shadow Pokemon and rewards - but you can expect the familar gauntlet of grunt trainer battles and catching Shadow Pokémon before taking on the leaders and, eventually, Giovanni himself. You’ll also be rewarded with experience and a range of items for every quest steps you complete. Note: At launch, there appears to be a bug where the quest will be named after the previous Go Rocket quest Field Notes: Team Go Rocket, but this will change to Ultra Beast Protection Efforts from the second step onwards. On this page: Remember - you need to have completed your previous Team Go Rocket research quest, which started with A Troubling Situation back in 2019, to access this quest. This may be the Field Notes: Team Go Rocket, which was added to the game in July 2022. Thank you to Amiibofan101 from reddit for the help with the latter quest steps. ‘Ultra Beast Protection Efforts’ Step 1 of 4
Defeat 6 Team Go Rocket Grunts - 10x Hyper Potion Catch 4 Shadow Pokémon - 10x Poké Balls Purify 2 Shadow Pokémon - 10x Pinap Berries
Rewards: 1000 XP, 15x Great Balls, 3x Rare Candy Note: At launch, there appears to be a bug where the quest will be named after the previous Go Rocket quest Field Notes: Team Go Rocket, but this will change to Ultra Beast Protection Efforts from the second step onwards. ‘Ultra Beast Protection Efforts’ Step 2 of 4
Defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Arlo - 1500 XP Defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Cliff - 1500 XP Defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Sierra - 1500 XP
Rewards: 2500 XP, 1000 Stardust, Super Rocket Radar ‘Ultra Beast Protection Efforts’ Step 3 of 4
Find the Team Go Rocket Boss Giovanni - 5x Max Potion Battle the Team Go Rocket Boss - 20x Ultra Balls Defeat the Team Go Rocket Boss - 5x Max Revives
Rewards: 3000 XP, 1x Lucky Egg, 2x Golden Razz Berry ‘Ultra Beast Protection Efforts’ Step 4 of 4
Claim Reward - 2500 XP Claim Reward - 2500 XP Claim Reward - 2500 XP
Rewards: 5000 XP, 2500 Stardust, 2x Silver Pinap Berries Ultra Beast Protection Efforts, which appeared in November 2022 at the start of the Greedy Gluttons event, is the latest in the line of Team Go Rocket quests. To access this research quest, you must first complete the ’tutorial’ quest, A Troubling Situation, and complete any previous Team Go Rocket quest you might have already started, such as An Inter-egg-sting Development and The Shadowy Threat Grows. Don’t worry if you’re far behind in the Team Go Rocket lineup, because, once you’ve completed your current Rocket quest, you’ll automatically jump to the latest quest. Each Team Go Rocket quest is based around defeating the crime organisation grunts and purifying Shadow Pokémon, which can be found at invaded PokéStops around the world. You’ll also need to battle the Leaders Arlo, Cliff and Sierra and, eventually, Giovanni. Remember, the highlighted Shadow Legendary made available with the quest’s debut - in the case of Ultra Beast Protection Efforts, this is Shadow Mewtwo - is technically not part of the quest itself, but rather the reward for battling Giovanni. This means if you have multiple Super Rocket Radars, you can fight Giovanni multiple times - and catch multiple of the highlighted Shadow Legendary Pokémon! Aside from these specific tasks, Team Go Rocket works exactly the same as the other research quests, which challenge you to complete a number of objectives in a specific order. You’ll have a good amount of time to complete Ultra Beast Protection Efforts. These types of quests don’t expire, but ideally you’ll want to complete everything before the next Go Rocket quest arrives - usually in three months time - to ensure you can start that one promptly. The Season of Mythical Wishes continues with the Winter Holiday event, which has brought Mega Glalie to Pokémon Go. Don’t forget to partake in the new Go Battle League season. Elsewhere, be sure to use Daily Adventure Incense for the chance of encountering Galarian Articuno, Galarian Zapdos and Galarian Moltres.
Don’t forget to use Pinap Berries when catching Shadow Pokémon to ensure you gather enough Candy to purify the Pokémon once it’s yours. Before battling the three Team Go Rocket Leaders and Giovanni, make sure you check the possibilities for their lineups, so that you can plan an effective team of counters. Since both the Leaders and Giovanni have a selection of Pokémon they can use, it’s a good idea to investigate their team before properly defeating them - provided you have some healing items on standby for this first ’trial’ encounter. You can do this by using a Pokémon which is guaranteed to defeat their first Pokémon, which will always be the same, and, once you know what they’re second choice is, you can plan accordingly. Just remember that their lineup may change if you move to a different PokéStop.
Good luck completing the latest Team Go Rocket research quest!
