Alongside the beginning of Legendary Week, Pokemon GO adds a special raid boss honoring Team Rocket’s Giovanni, but sadly, it is only available in Japan.
It has a busy day for raids in Pokémon GO, with the top tier gym battles adding a slew of legendary Pokemon to the mix. To kick off Legendary Week, Niantic is adding Kyogre and Groudon back to the game for a limited time as raid bosses, making all three gen 3 mascots available. However, these legendaries are not the only addition to raids.
In the spirit of Team Rainbow Rocket, Pokémon GO is making one of its iconic Pokémon a raid boss. Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, is known for having a Persian and a Nidoking, and the latter is the new raid boss. While Nidoking has previously been a raid boss, Giovanni’s Nidoking is stronger than its predecessors. Fans of Team Rocket may enjoy this nod toward the iconic antagonists of the franchise.
Sadly, this special raid boss is only available in Japan. Those players who manage to defeat the newly-added pocket monster will receive a special sticker from the staff. It will last from February 26 to March 11, appearing every 90 minutes from 4 pm throughout the week and from 11 am on weekends. This special raid boss ties in with the current Team Rainbow Rocket takeover of the Pokémon Center stores – an event in Japan where real-life counterparts to various team leaders such as Giovanni or Maxie give away special Pokémon.
While this Pokémon GO event is not occurring outside of Japan, Team Rocket is not entirely ignored in other countries either. Niantic has recently added Team Rocket clothing to the game’s apparel. Although it’s not as impressive as Giovanni’s Nidoking, at least it’s something for fans outside of Japan.
Nevertheless, it has been a busy month for Pokémon Go players, as several events have occurred. Players around the world may be preparing to tackle the aforementioned legendary raids or focusing on how to prepare for the upcoming Dratini community day. With all these events going on, it may be hard for fans outside of Japan to be upset over missing one event, but Giovanni’s Nidoking would still be a fine addition to any player’s roster.
Pokémon GO is available now in select regions for Android and iOS devices.
