After weeks of anticipation, Niantic has finally added the Looming in the Shadows Special Research quest, giving Pokemon GO players the chance to fight Team Rocket Leaders and eventually the head honcho Giovanni himself. Like with any Pokemon GO Special Research, players have multiple pages of tasks that they need to complete, all of which come with their own unique rewards.

As one might imagine, the Pokemon GO Looming in the Shadows Special Research is all about fighting Team Rocket. Players are tasked with taking on Team Rocket grunts and catching shadow Pokemon. Furthermore, they will also need to purify many of the shadow Pokemon they catch, fight in raids, and build the Rocket Radar to help them narrow down the location of the Team Rocket bosses.

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Here are all the steps for the Pokemon GO Looming in the Shadows Special Research quest, along with the rewards players will get for completing each task.

Step 1

Spin 10 PokeStops - 500 XP

Defeat 3 Team GO Rocket Grunts - 500 XP

Catch 1 Shadow Pokemon - 500 XP

Rewards: 500 Stardust, 10 Pokeballs, 10 Razz Berries

Step 1 in the Pokemon GO Looming in the Shadows Special Research quest is pretty self-explanatory. For this step, players simply need to spin 10 PokeStops, defeat three Team Rocket grunts in battle, and catch one shadow Pokemon. Shadow Pokemon can only be caught after Team Rocket grunt battles, and while there's a chance they will run away, they are usually pretty easy to catch.

To find a Team Rocket grunt in Pokemon GO, players need to look for distorted PokeStops that are marked with the Team Rocket logo. They shouldn't be terribly hard to find and spawn throughout most of the day. Find some, beat the grunts, and catch shadow Pokemon to complete this step.

Step 2

Spin a PokeStop 5 days in a row - 750 XP

Purify 15 Shadow Pokemon - 750 XP

Win 5 raids - 750 XP

Rewards: 1,000 Stardust, 3 Hyper Points, 3 Revives

The next step for the Pokemon GO Looming in the Shadows Special Research will slow players down a bit, as it forces them to spin a PokeStop five days in a row. While Pokemon GO players are out spinning PokeStops, they can continue looking for Team Rocket grunts to do battle with, as they will need to catch and purify even 15 shadow Pokemon. This step also requires Pokemon GO players to win raids, but luckily the difficulty level of the raids don't matter, so basically every player should be able to complete this step without too much difficulty.

Step 3

Build a Rocket Radar by taking down Team Rocket grunts and combining six Mysterious Components

Rewards: ???

The third step of the Pokemon GO Looming in the Shadows Special Research is where things may get confusing for some, but it's really not so bad. In this step, players have to build a Rocket Radar by finding six Mysterious Components. Mysterious Components are collected by defeating Team Rocket grunts, so players really just need to keep doing what they have been doing - spinning Team Rocket PokeStops, battling Grunts, and fighting shadow Pokemon.

Step 4

Find Team Rocket Leaders using the Rocket Radar and catch their Shadow Pokemon

Rewards: ???

Using the Rocket Radar item, Pokemon GO players can use it to find a PokeStop that has been invaded by a Team Rocket leader. Once players have located the Team Rocket leader, the next step is to defeat them and catch their Shadow Pokemon. There are three Team Rocket leaders in the game - Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra - and fighting them should play out exactly like a battle with a regular Team Rocket grunt, just a little tougher.

The rewards for beating a Team Rocket leader are better than just beating regular grunts, as players have a chance at getting a Unova Stone for their efforts.

Step 5

Track down Giovanni with the Rocket Radar and rescue a Legendary Shadow Pokemon

Rewards: ???

The final step of the Pokemon GO Looming in the Shadows Special Research is to take on Giovanni himself. Giovanni actually has a legendary shadow Pokemon at his disposal, with the current one being shadow Articuno. It's expected that Giovanni will have different shadow legendaries in the future, so Pokemon GO players should keep that in mind.

Once Giovanni has been defeated, Pokemon GO players can pat themselves on the back for another Special Research quest completed.

Please note that this guide is a work in progress and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Pokemon GO is out now for iOS and Android mobile devices.

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