After an exciting month of celebrating nearly every generation of the franchise that has been released in the mobile AR game, Pokemon GO is now giving the bad guys the opportunity to have some festivities of their own. This week brings a surprise Team GO Rocket Celebration event to the game that will shake up the standard February 2021 Battle Raid lineup and offer the chance to encounter and catch some exciting shadow Pokemon.

The Team GO Rocket event kicks off on Tuesday (today) and will challenge trainers to throw down against Team GO Rocket grunts and team leaders in fierce battles to earn the chance to encounter some new and exciting shadow Pokemon who need saving. The Pokemon GO event is also shaking up each Team GO Rocket leader's lineup, so be ready to update those established counter rosters.

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In order to get the most out of the next week of play, players are going to want to familiarize themselves with all of the special bonuses and features that will be in place during the Team GO Rocket Celebration. All of the details about the event that are public knowledge at this point can be found right here...

Sources point to this event occurring from Tuesday, February 2, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Sunday, February, 7, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. local time.

Half Egg Hatch Distance when an Egg is placed inside an Incubator during the event

Swinub

Nosepass

Aron

Spheal

Lileep

Anorith

Golbat

Koffing

Ariados

Houndour

Nuzleaf

Stunky

Qwilfish

Sneasel

Skorupi

Venipede

Qwilfish

Larvitar

Corphish

Absol

Skorupi

Sandile

Scraggy

Pawniard

Vullaby

Deino

One-star raids: Alolan Meowth, Alolan Grimer, Gligar, Sneasel, Shinx, and Klink.

Three-star raids: Nidoqueen, Ariados, Umbreon, Tyranitar, and Absol.

Team GO Rocket battles are a very popular feature and the encounter rewards are nearly always powerful enough to make the challenge well worth the effort for most players. That should help this event turn out to be yet another very active one that gets the community logged in and engaged with the mobile game this week. PoGO has been having a very strong 2021 so far and with Pokemon GO Tour: Kanto just around the corner, it's likely that things won't be slowing down anytime soon.

Over the next week or so players should begin to learn a lot more about what other events are on the way in February. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Pokemon GO strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!

Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.

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Source: Pokemon GO Hub