Team Rocket for Pokemon Go Teased Again by Niantic

By Matt Purslow

Pokemon Go developer Niantic has teased that Team Rocket may soon arrive in the mobile monster catching game via a hot air balloon.

Pokemon Go Fest is currently underway in Dortmund, Germany, and Eurogamer reports that a black hot air balloon – sporting a huge red R logo – was flown above the event.

Team Rocket has long been associated with hot air balloons, most notably in the Pokemon anime, where they frequently fly around in a Meowth-shaped balloon.

Alongside the balloon sightings, pictures taken at the Dortmund event with Pokemon Go’s AR mode show members of Team Rocket leaning into the picture. The same effect happened at last month’s Pokemon Go Fest event in Chicago.

In addition, the official artwork for Pokemon Go’s third anniversary features two Team Rocket members hiding in the shadow of a tree on the right-hand side of the image. It seems like Niantic are gearing up to launch Team Rocket into the collecting game.

Going further down the rabbit (Scorbunny?) hole, Twitter user Chrales recently discovered mention of Team Rocket quest battles in the data for update version 0.147.1. It seems all but official that Team Rocket will be added to Pokemon Go soon.

If you’ve not been playing Pokemon Go for its first three years but want to get involved in battering Team Rocket, be sure to check out our Pokemon Go guide. You can also check out our list of everything you’ve missed if you haven’t played Pokemon Go since launch. And if magic is more your thing than monsters, see what Harry Potter: Wizards Unite could learn from Pokemon Go.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter.