Pokemon GO developer Niantic has officially released Jirachi's Special Research quest, "Thousand Year Slumber," for players of the mobile ARG, with these new quests requiring players to complete a variety of tasks. This includes evolving a Feebas into a Milotic, earning a golden Hoenn badge, and battling a team leader 3 times. Most of these tasks require a little time and know-how to complete, but as far as battling a team leader, it's a game feature that may have gone under the radar.

The ability to battle Team Leaders actually arrived in Pokemon GO late in 2018 when the PvP system was finally added to the game. It seems like a mechanic intended to prepare players for PvP battles, but interestingly enough, this is also the first instance of PvE, in terms of battle, to appear in the game. The recent Team GO Rocket Invasions event was the next. Regardless, the mechanic didn't get a lot of attention, so for those who do not know, here's how to battle team leaders.

From the main user interface of the game, players need to select the 'Nearby' menu on the bottom right, and then choose Battle located on the far left. From there, players can select the image of Candela, Blanche, or Spark to battle one of them. Simply repeat this process twice more to finish this task and move on to what the Pokemon GO Special Research has to offer next.

RELATED: How to Evolve Feebas into Milotic in Pokemon GO

Completing this task puts players one step closer to unlock and catching Jirachi, the legendary Steel/Psychic pokemon. And while many are indubitably excited by this addition, it's worth adding it isn't the only big feature coming to the game. Pokemon GO also revealed the Gen 5 release date, meaning a ton of new Pokemon will be arriving in the mobile ARG soon.

Chances are, this new wave of Pokemon will begin with the gen 5 starters — Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott — before being expanded to include other Pokemon. Gen 5 ghost pokemon will likely be added around Halloween, per previous patterns, and the gen 5 mascot legendaries Reshiram and Zekrom will probably come later as raid bosses.

Pokemon GO is out now in select regions for Android and iOS.

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