Beginning November 9th at 12 am local time and running through 8 pm local time on the 14th, players will have some tough new encounters in Pokemon GO. The Season of Mischief storyline in Pokemon GO continues and Team GO Rocket leader Giovanni is returning with a capture Shadow Lugia at his side.

The Season of Mischief storyline focuses on trainers trying to local the mythical Pokemon, Hoopa. In addition to Giovanni leading the charge with Shadow Lugia, the other Team GO Rocket leaders will also be using different shadow Pokemon during the Festival of Lights.

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To help players participate in these encounters, Team GO Rocket grunts will be appearing more frequently at Pokestops and in balloons. Once a Shadow Pokemon has been freed captured, players will now be able to use a Charged TM to help the affected Pokemon forget the Frustration ability. Finally, in addition to the event-themed Pokemon appearing in Field Research Tasks, players will now encounter Vullaby and for the first time in Pokemon GO, a shiny Vullaby, if lucky.

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It appears the data mine from a few days ago was accurate, and Pokemon GO's big bad is returning in a big way. Updates like this may appear small in terms of overall change, but go a long way in keeping a live service title like Pokemon GO feeling fresh and the player base engaged. It keeps encounters from feeling repetitive and allows collectors to round out their rosters with Shadow Pokemon they may have missed.

Lugia has been a longtime fan-favorite. To see a more well-known Pokemon return to the game, especially as a Shadow Pokemon, is great news. With the increased spawn rate of grunts, players will have more chances than ever to take on Giovanni and get their perfect Lugia. Plus, having another storyline to play through is always engaging and gives folks a good reason to log in daily.

While adding Vullaby is nice as it's a new Pokemon for the regular Field Research, and another shiny to hunt is always welcome, it does little to address issues like Field Research Breakthrough rewards. There was a time when legendaries like Lugia and Moltres would appear for completing the weekly research. While legendaries and rarer Pokemon shouldn't rain down on players, it would make completing the week-long challenges more worthwhile. With higher chances of finding a three-star or that elusive perfect IV Pokemon for more popular species, it would keep more players playing more consistently. But for those that are fans of Vullaby or those that want a new legendary Shadow Pokemon, this is the event to play.

Pokemon GO is available for Android and iOS.

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Source: Pokemon GO Live