Team GO Rocket is crashing the Precious Pals event and will be bringing some new Shadow Pokémon with them. Notably, Trainers will be able to challenge Team GO Rocket Boss Giovanni and rescue Shadow Thundurus (Incarnate Forme) from him.
Now, check out what’s happening during the Precious Pals: Taken Over event with our guide below:
Pokémon GO’s Season of Precious Paths – Precious Pals: Taken Over
Begins: Friday, January 23rd, 2026 at 12 a.m. your local time.
Ends: Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 8 p.m. your local time.
Pokémon debuts – Shadow Chespin, Shadow Fennekin, Shadow Froakie, and Shadow Thundurus (Incarnate Forme)
Team GO Rocket will be turning some Pokémon into Shadow Pokémon for the first time. These include Shadow Chespin, Shadow Fennekin, and Shadow Croakie which can be found with Team GO Rocket Grunts. As for Shadow Thundurus (Incarnate Forme), Team GO Rocket Boss Giovanni will have this Shadow Legendary Pokémon.
Event Bonuses
- Team GO Rocket will appear more frequently at PokéStops and in balloons
- You can use a Charged TM to help a Shadow Pokémon forget Frustration (Charged Attack)
- Pokémon caught via 1-Star and 3-Star Shadow Raids during the event will have a wider variance of Attack, Defense, and HP
More bonuses will be available due to the Precious Pals and Raikou Shadow Raid Day events happen during the Precious Pals: Taken Over event:
- Precious Pals (until Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 8 p.m. your local time):
- Additional Candy XL when walking with your Buddy Pokémon
- Earn additional hearts with your Buddy Pokémon
- Increased chance to encounter Shiny Goldeen
- Increased chance to hatch Shiny Goldeen and Shiny Fidough
- Limited-time Evolution requirements (until Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 8 p.m. your local time):
- Evolve Eevee into Sylveon after earning 20 hearts with Eevee as your buddy
- Evolve Pancham into Pangoro after catching 10 Dark-type Pokémon with Pancham as your buddy
- Evolve Pawmo into Pawmot after exploring 5 km with Pawmo as your buddy
- Shadow Raikou Raid Day (Saturday, January 24th, 2026 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. your local time):
- Up to five additional free Raid Passes from spinning Gym Photo Discs (for a total of six)
- Increased chance of encountering Shiny Raikou from Shadow Raids
- The Remote Raid limit will increase to 20 from Friday, January 23rd, 2026 at 4 p.m. to Saturday, January 24th, 2026 at 7 p.m. PST.
- … and more if the paid event ticket is purchased.
Plus, the following Season of Precious Paths bonuses will be in effect:
- One additional Special Trade per day
- Increased Stardust for the first catch of the day
- Increased friendship bonus damage dealt by Pokémon in Raids
And if Trainers reach specific ranks in the GO Pass and/or GO Pass Deluxe, then the following bonuses will also be active until Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026 at 9 a.m. your local time:
- Tier 1 (Rank 25):
- Open up to 40 Gifts per day
- Receive up to 125 Gifts per day from spinning PokéStop and Gym Photo Discs
- Hold up to 10 additional Gifts in your Item Bag
- Tier 2 (Rank 50):
- 2× Daily Adventure Incense duration
- Tier 3 (Rank 75):
- Additional rewards for completing in-person Raids and Max Battles
If GO Pass Deluxe is purchased, then the following bonuses will also be active when Rank 25 is reached, until Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026 at 9 a.m. your local time:
- Tier 1 (Rank 25):
- Open up to 50 Gifts per day
- Receive up to 150 Gifts per day from spinning PokéStop and Gym Photo Discs
- Hold up to 20 additional Gifts in your Item Bag
Event Boxes
If any special event boxes or bundles are released during the event, they’ll be listed here once the event is live. Daily bundles are also available and can be viewed online via the Pokémon GO Web Store.
Team GO Rocket Grunts and Leaders’ New Shadow Pokémon and Rotations
At the start of the Precious Pals: Taken Over event, new Shadow Pokémon will be added to Pokémon GO as well as rotations being altered for the Team GO Rocket Leaders and Boss. Team GO Rocket members can be found at PokéStops and Team GO Rocket hot air balloons. Leaders require an active Rocket Radar and Boss requires an active Super Rocket Radar.
- Team GO Rocket Grunts: Shadow Chespin, Shadow Fennekin, and Shadow Froakie.
- Team GO Rocket Leaders:
- Arlo: Shadow Mawile*
- Cliff: Shadow Magikarp*
- Sierra: Shadow Hoppip*
- Team GO Rocket Boss Giovanni: Shadow Thundurus (Incarnate Forme)
Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”
Eggs
Defeating Team GO Rocket Leaders and Boss will reward Trainers with a 12 km Egg (if there is at least one open slot in their Egg Inventory).
- 12 km Eggs
- 1-Egg Rarity: Sandile*, Vullaby*, Shroodle, Pancham*, Salandit*, and Varoom.
Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might hatch a Shiny one!”
Raids
Standard and Shadow Raids will be active during the event.
Standard Raids
The following Pokémon will be appearing in Raids:
- One-Star Raids:
- Ekans*, Vanillite*, Sinistea*, and Smoliv* (until Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time).
- ??? (starting on Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time).
- Three-Star Raids:
- Chimecho*, Greedent, and Cetitan (until Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time).
- ??? (starting on Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time).
- Five-Star Raids:
- Thundurus (Incarnate Forme)* (until Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time).
- Tornadus (Incarnate Forme)* (starting on Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time).
- Mega Raids:
- Mega Sceptile* (until Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time).
- Mega Ampharos* (starting on Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time).
Shadow Raids
The following Pokémon will be appearing in Shadow Raids:
- One-Star Shadow Raids: Shadow Dratini*, Shadow Gligar*, Shadow Cacnea*, and Shadow Joltik.
- Three-Star Shadow Raids: Shadow Alolan Marowak*, Shadow Lapras*, and Shadow Stantler*.
- Five-Star Shadow Raids:
- Shadow Cresselia* (when Shadow Raikou* is not active in Five-Star Shadow Raids).
- Shadow Raikou* (Saturday, January 24th, 2026 from 2 p.m to 5 p.m. your local time).
Additional Notes:
- Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”
- Standard Raids:
- Tornadus (Incarnate Forme)* will be available after the event (in Five-Star Raids), until Wednesday, February 4th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time.
- Mega Ampharos* will be available after the event (in Mega Raids), until Wednesday, February 4th, 2026 at 10 a.m. your local time.
- Shadow Raids:
- One- and Three-Star Shadow Raids will be available daily.
- Five-Star Shadow Raids will be available on weekends (Saturday and Sunday), unless otherwise stated by Niantic.
- Shadow Raikou* will be given priority during their Raid Day event on Saturday, January 24th, 2026 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. your local time.
Max Battles
Max Battles will be active during the event.
- One-Star Max Battles: Dynamax Bulbasaur*, Dynamax Charmander*, Dynamax Squirtle*, Dynamax Caterpie*,Dynamax Abra*, Dynamax Gastly*, Dynamax Krabby*, Dynamax Omanyte*, Dynamax Kabut0*, Dynamax Ralts*, Dynamax Spheal*, Dynamax Pidove*, Dynamax Woobat*, Dynamax Drilbur*, Dynamax Trubbish*, Dynamax Inkay*, Dynamax Bounsweet*, Dynamax Grookey, Dynamax Scorbunny, Dynamax Sobble, Dynamax Skwovet*, Dynamax Rookiedee*, Dynamax Wooloo*, and Dynamax Hatenna.
- Two-Star Max Battles: Dynamax Machop*, Dynamax Eevee*, Dynamax Shuckle*, Dynamax Wailmer*, and Dynamax Darumaka*.
- Three-Star Max Battles: Dynamax Chansey*, Dynamax Sableye*, Dynamax Beldum*, Dynamax Cryogonal*, Dynamax Passimian*, Dynamax Drampa*, and Dynamax Falinks*.
Additional Notes:
- Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”
- Max Battles require Max Particles (MP):
- One-Star Max Battles cost 250 MP.
- Two-Star Max Battles cost 400 MP.
- Three-Star Max Battles cost 400 MP.
- Six-Star Max Battles cost 800 MP.
Field Research Tasks
There will be event-exclusive Field Research Tasks available and the rewards include the following: Mysterious Component, Fast TM, and Charged TM. These Field Research Tasks can be found when spinning PokéStops (and acquired if you have an open slot in your Field Research menu) when the event is active.
A complete list of tasks and rewards will be shared here once the event is live.
- Task: Defeat a Team GO Rocket Grunt
- Reward: 1 Mysterious Component
- Task: Purify 3 Shadow Pokémon
- Reward: 1 Fast TM OR 1 Charged TM
Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”
Special Research – Precious Pals: Taken Over
An event-exclusive Special Research Story will be available. It is possible if you have an active “Taken Over” Special Research Story from a previous Team GO Rocket event, you may not be able to claim the Precious Pals: Taken Over Special Research until that other Special Research is completed. You have until Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026 at 9:59 a.m. your local time to acquire the Precious Pals: Taken Over Special Research.
A complete list of tasks and rewards for this Special Research will be shared here once the event is live.
- Step 1/5
- Task: Catch 15 Pokémon
- Reward: 5 Pinap Berries
- Task: Purify 2 Shadow Pokémon
- Reward: 10 Poké Balls
- Task: Defeat 3 Team GO Rocket Grunts
- Reward: 1 Mysterious Component
- Completion Rewards: 1,500 XP, 500 Stardust, and Nidoran ♀ (female)* encounter
- Task: Catch 15 Pokémon
- Step 2/5
- Task: Catch 20 Pokémon
- Reward: 5 Pinap Berries
- Task: Purify 5 Shadow Pokémon
- Reward: 10 Great Balls
- Task: Defeat 6 Team GO Rocket Grunts
- Reward: 3 Mysterious Components
- Completion Rewards: 2,000 XP, 1,000 Stardust, and Nidoran ♂ (male)* encounter
- Task: Catch 20 Pokémon
- Step 3/5
- Task: Defeat Team GO Rocket Leader Arlo
- Reward: 2,500 XP
- Task: Defeat Team GO Rocket Leader Cliff
- Reward: 2,500 XP
- Task: Defeat Team GO Rocket Leader Sierra
- Reward: 2,500 XP
- Completion Rewards: 2,500 XP, 1,500 Stardust, and 1 Super Rocket Radar
- Task: Defeat Team GO Rocket Leader Arlo
- Step 4/5
- Task: Find the Team GO Rocket Boss
- Reward: 10 Hyper Potions
- Task: Battle the Team GO Rocket Boss
- Reward: 10 Ultra Balls
- Task: Defeat the Team GO Rocket Boss
- Reward: 6 Max Revives
- Completion Rewards: 3,000 XP, 2,000 Stardust, and Vulpix* encounter
- Task: Find the Team GO Rocket Boss
- Step 5/5
- Task: Claim Reward!
- Reward: 1,500 Stardust
- Task: Claim Reward!
- Reward: 1,500 Stardust
- Task: Claim Reward!
- Reward: 1,500 Stardust
- Completion Rewards: 6,000 XP, 5,000 Stardust, and 3 Charged TMs
- Task: Claim Reward!
Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”
PokéStop Showcase
During the event, PokéStop Showcases will be active. The theme of these contests is to submit the biggest Pokémon being requested. This section will be updated once the PokéStop Showcases are active.
- Saturday, January 24th, 2026 at 10 a.m. to Sunday, January 25th, 2026 at 8 p.m. your local time: ???
Collection Challenge – Precious Pals Collection Challenge: Gathering Shadows
A special, event-exclusive Collection Challenge will be available. This Collection Challenge will reward Trainers with XP, Stardust, 1 Rocket Radar, and an addition to the Elite Collector medal. A complete list of what Pokémon must be caught/traded/evolved and the associated rewards will be added here once the event is live.
Precious Pals Collection Challenge: Gathering Shadows
- Catch: Shadow Chespin, Shadow Fennekin, and Shadow Froakie.
- Completion Rewards: 6,000 XP, 1 Rocket Radar, and 6,000 Stardust
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Written by Jennifer Burch
Illustrator, designer, writer and big Nintendo geek, you can find Jennifer with an N3DS within reach 24/7. As the oldest of three, she has survived many Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart sessions intact in addition to getting her brothers hooked on some really weird games. (Cubivore anyone?)
