Pokemon Go Luminous Legends Team Rocket Challenge Now Live

Update: Players have hit the goal for Pokemon Go's Team Go Rocket challenge, Niantic has announced. The challenge asked players to collectively defeat 25 million Team Go Rocket grunts by May 23, and they cleared that total with more than two days remaining. As a reward, Niantic will make a variety of bonuses available during the second leg of the Luminous Legends Y event, and it's introducing Shiny Galarian Zigzagoon to the game.

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As part of Pokemon Go's Luminous Legends Y event, developer Niantic is holding a Team Go Rocket challenge until May 23. If players around the world can collectively defeat 25 million Team Go Rocket grunts by that date, the studio will unlock a handful of bonuses for the second part of the event, including a new Shiny Pokemon.

The bonuses will go live beginning May 25. First, all players will receive triple the normal amount of XP for catching Pokemon for the remainder of the event. On top of that, Galarian Zigzagoon will begin appearing in one-star Raid Battles. This opens up more opportunities to catch the regional variant in Pokemon Go.

Perhaps most enticing of all, Niantic will also introduce Shiny Galarian Zigzagoon to the game if players can complete the challenge. This Shiny variant will be available even after the Luminous Legends Y event ends.

As Niantic previously detailed, the Luminous Legends Y event is divided up into two parts. The first part runs from May 18-24 and features many Dark-type Pokemon, as well as the debuting Pancham. The panda Pokemon will be hatching from Strange Eggs along with a few other monsters. There will also be Team Go Rocket-themed Timed Research tasks to complete.

The second part of the event runs from May 25-31. This portion is themed around Eevee. The Evolution Pokemon will appear in the wild more frequently than usual during this leg of the event, while its evolved forms will be featured in three-star Raids. On top of that, Niantic is introducing Eevee's Fairy-type evolution, Sylveon, giving you your first opportunity to get one in the game.

The Legendary Pokemon Yveltal is also making its debut in Pokemon Go. The Pokemon Y cover monster will appear in five-star Raids throughout the entire event, from May 18 to June 1. You can read more details on the official Pokemon Go blog.