Pokemon Go Fest players are being photobombed by Team Rocket Boss Giovanni

By Heather Wald
published

Who’s that Pokemon? Oh no wait, that’s not a Pokemon at all!

Pokemon Go Team Rocket
(Image credit: Niantic)

The last Pokemon Go Fest of the summer is taking place in Yokohama, Japan right now, and one expected face has joined in on the action. Team Rocket’s big boss man Giovanni has been popping up alongside wild Pokemon on AR snapshots taken by those attending the event. At this special event, players have the opportunity to catch a shiny Poliwag, along with a hat-wearing Pikachu, but the presence of Team Rocket’s leader was not something anyone was expecting to see out in the wild. 

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Outside of the fest in Japan, a special Pokemon Go gift event is currently running until August 19. The event raises the amount of gifts players can open and hold at a time. At the moment, you’ll be able to store up to 20 gifts and open 30 each day. During the event players may also be in with a chance of receiving an egg with a shiny Bonsly.

Team Rocket blasted into the Pokemon Go Fest in Chicago back in June, and soon after, the 'R' shirt wearing bunch started invading Pokestops. With Giovanni's first appearance, it seems quite likely that we'll be seeing him come to Pokemon Go very soon, but what he'll be doing exactly remains to be seen. Giovanni is well known for wanting to collect rare Pokemon, so could it even be hinting at some kind of special event in the future? For now, we'll just have to wait and see. 

If Team Rocket has been causing mischief in your town, our Pokemon Go Team Rocket guide is here to help.

Heather Wald
Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.