Pokémon Go players have found themselves stumped due to a mysterious disappearance.
Yesterday, developer Niantic deployed a massive update for its mobile game featuring Team Rocket as well as a brand new type of Pocket Monster for Trainers to catch. As it turns out, these so-called Shadow Pokémon were the result of corruption brought about by the villainous team’s meddling and could be encountered at Pokéstops newly-commandeered by its foot soldiers. Defeating any Team Rocket Grunt in battle would prompt them to flee and leave behind any poor ‘Mon corrupted by its influence.
Akin to raid battles, players could then use special Premier Balls to catch and subsequently purify the afflicted, yielding various benefits. This is all written in the past tense, of course, because as of several hours ago, the entire event has upped and vanished into thin air. Is its removal an accident on Niantic’s part or intentional? Given the subsequent update provided on Pokémon Go‘s social media channels, it looks to be the latter.
Professor Willow has noticed that sightings of discolored PokéStops and Pokémon enshrouded in a shadowy aura have…suddenly stopped? 🤔 🔍 Hmm… This phenomenon keeps getting more troubling the more we investigate it. 😨
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) July 23, 2019
Humorously framed as an in-universe occurrence, the developer confirms Team Rocket’s momentary vacation though declines to offer up any additional information. As for what prompted the event’s short-notice removal, chances are it comes down to the discovery of several glitches. Crashes when attempting to access Rocket-occupied Pokéstops, visual glitches and an inability to initiate battles are all faults to have been reported by players over the last 24 hours.
In regards to when Trainers eager to bag themselves some Shadow Pokémon can expect Team Rocket to return, we’ve sadly nothing to share. Niantic will assuredly supply some sort of timeframe over the coming days, though depending on the severity of issues, fans could well be forced to wait longer.
Either way, feel free to use this downtime as a means of brushing up on everything we know so far, of Pokémon Go‘s latest event.