The balloon will follow the Trainer if they move, but they only stick around for a limited time and will eventually fly away. Outside of special events, one balloon spawns in a six-hour time period (00:00 to 5:59, 06:00 to 11:59, 12:00 to 17:59, and 18:00 to 23:59), always spawning immediately when the game is opened if it hasn't in the same period, thus each Trainer can encounter four balloons per day. There is a rare chance that the balloon will be a special Meowth balloon carrying Jessie and James and it can show up regardless of equipped Rocket Radar.If the Trainer did not have any Rocket Radar equipped, a Team GO Rocket Grunt will be riding in the balloon.If the Trainer had a standard Rocket Radar equipped and did not have a Super Rocket Radar equipped at the same time, a random Team GO Rocket Leader will be riding in the balloon.
If the Trainer had a Super Rocket Radar equipped, Giovanni will be riding in the balloon.The Trainer can tap on the balloon to encounter the Team GO Rocket member riding in it, which will depend on the situation: These balloons spawn above the Trainer in the Map View and are specific to each Trainer other Trainers cannot see or interact with another Trainer's balloon. Since July 7 th, 2020, Team GO Rocket members occasionally appear in hot air balloons. Even if five minutes have not passed, the Photo Disc will be available to spin again. It will also not behave differently from a normal PokéStop when interacted with, unless the Trainer has a Rocket Radar equipped, in which case the PokéStop will become black with the Team GO Rocket logo and the Leader or Giovanni will appear next to it.įor more information, see Team GO Rocket Leaders → Finding leaders and Giovanni → Finding Giovanni.Ĭapturing a Shadow Pokémon at a PokéStop resets the PokéStop. If a Team GO Rocket Leader or Giovanni takes over a PokéStop, it will still appear as a normal PokéStop in the Map View. The Trainer can also tap on the Grunt directly, skipping the items and Field Research. If the Trainer spins the PokéStop's Photo Disc, they'll still receive items and Field Research if applicable, but the Team GO Rocket Grunt will appear in the Photo Disc view to challenge the Trainer to a Pokémon battle. Once a PokéStop is taken over, it remains that way for 30 minutes for all nearby Trainers, but defeating the Grunt is instanced to each Trainer. If the Trainer approaches the PokéStop, it becomes black, the Team GO Rocket logo appears over it, and the Grunt appears next to the PokéStop. PokéStops taken over by Grunts appear differently in the Map View from standard PokéStops when out of range, they appear darker than normal and the cube on top shakes around violently. Since July 25 th, 2019, Team GO Rocket members occasionally take over PokéStops.