Pokemon Go players slam “terrible” Team Rocket Grunt reward encounters

Encountering the “worst option” after defeating Team Rocket Grunts in Pokemon Go has become a concerning trend as players express their frustration with not getting the reward they’re grinding for.

Shadow Pokemon are among the strongest in Pokemon Go, as they dish out 20% boosted damage in both PvP and PvE battles, making them highly sought-after among players.

While defeating Team Go Rocket boss Giovanni and the Leaders Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo give fixed encounters, the Grunts are often random, giving trainers a chance to catch either the first or second Pokemon in the Shadow team of these NPCs (non-playable-characters).

But after a user named ‘javauom’ on the Pokemon Go subreddit shared a meme titled: “Anyone else feel the same” that highlighted a trainer expecting Shadow Machop after a Grunt battle, only to be greeted by a Shadow Hitmoncham instead, several fellow players talked about similar experiences in the comments.

Users commented: “Every single time…” and “Cranidos to Anorith is f**king painful.” Another mentioned: “That’s nothing, the dragon, the ghost, the fire, and the ground grunt hurt more.”

Anyone else feel the same
by inpokemongo

To this, a fan agreed: “Even worse when it’s Gible —> Exeggutor.” Trainers are disappointed that they are grinding for meta-relevant Shadows in Pokemon Go, but end up getting the Mon which is hardly useful.

When a person stated: “They are programmed to give you the literal worst option every time, it is never satisfying,” a user replied that the RNG (random number generator) “shows 85% to be offered the first Pokemon. 15% to be offered the second Pokemon.”

This threw everyone off-guard as the first Pokemon is always the better one and has higher odds, but they still end up with the “terrible” encounter.

But that’s not all as the community even believes the current crop of encounters aren’t good enough. “I totally agree they really gotta put some better shadows in the fighting and psychic rocket grunts,” a trainer wrote before another added: “The last rotation used to have Litwick,” a top-notch Ghost and Fire-type Pokemon.

If you’re looking to get some other powerful grabs in Pokemon Go, check out how to get Volcarona and Garchomp.