Introduction
Yet another APK has been released, and once again it's been torn apart by the team over at Pokeminers, and posted on their Discord. This tear-down is largely related to the upcoming Team Rocket content that has been teased for some time now, with some bits about future moves and Pokemon releases farther down the line.
Team GO Rocket
Team Rocket takes center stage this time, with quite a bit of new data and several new resources added to detail the upcoming Bosses and the eventual release of Giovanni himself
The Hideout Map piece detailed in the recent in-game notification
The "Hideout Marker" icon, likely an on-screen guide similar to the existing compass.
The icon for the compass that will be used to lead players to the Team Rocket bosses
The icon used to signify a Team Rocket Boss
An image of the Team Rocket leader Cliff, referred to in the data as "Exec Blue"
An image of the Team Rocket leader Arlo, referred to in the data as "Exec Red"
An image of the Team Rocket leader Sierra, referred to in the data as "Exec Yellow"
References to the map fragments, and an "Incident Ticket"
Each of the bosses are given clear connotations to one of the three teams. It's possible that this could be for upcoming story reasons, as each of the execs menace their team-leader counterparts in some way, or it could be that each one holds a specific role of importance to each of the three teams. Time will tell. Dataminers also found references to the map fragments and maps themselves in the data, as well as an item called an "Incident Ticket". No news as to what this means yet.
The compass that will direct players to Giovanni
Apparently the base image for the image above
Giovanni himself
Giovanni Badge reference
This all seems to signify that Giovanni will be joining Pokemon Go at the same time as the team Bosses, and will have a badge handed out for his defeat. Though this part could very well be staggered to a later update. However, it seems that the quest to meet the leader of Team Rocket may not be as simple as it appears on the surface:
Reference to a "Decoy"
A string related to Team Rocket "invasions", including the bosses, Giovanni, and decoys.
Data strings point to a "decoy" involved with this hunt, meaning it's possible that players could complete the map and work their way to the final point only to find that they've encountered a decoy and need to try again, or possibly start over. It also mentions invasions, meaning we will likely see more Team Rocket invasions in the future.
An image of a black gift box has also been discovered, hinting at an event box specifically geared towards Team Rocket content.
Team Rocket box
Other-Discoveries
Dataminers also discovered other resources and bits of data not directly related to Team Rocket, including new moves and upcoming Pokemon formes.
A resource simply called "digital_line_mask01".
A resource simply called "digital_line_mask02".
A resource simply called "digital_line_mask03".
The purpose of these images is currently unclear, though they're likely nothing more than details for upcoming screens in the game.
Reference to Galarian Formes
Reference to Galarian Formes
The Galarian Dex and Galarian Formes now exist in Pokemon Go, though only the currently announced Galarian Formes are showing up so far. The list mentions new formes of the following Pokemon:
Much like Alolan Forme Pokemon after the release of the release of the 7th Generation games, Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, we are likely going to see Galarian Pokemon coming to Go long before the rest of their generation is released. We will have speculation as to their viability in PVE and PVP formats as soon as we have their stats and potential movesets.
Aura Sphere and Flying Press text strings
This one is extremely interesting; two new Fighting Type moves have been discovered in the game's data: Aura Sphere and Flying Press. While they have no stats attached yet, it's fairly easy to speculate as to their potential users. Note that these lists will include all event/special cases of a Pokemon currently/soon to be able that are to learn these moves in the main series, as Niantic has shown to be willing to use these types of moves in the past.
Aura Sphere
The stand-out and most likely user here is Lucario. Aura Sphere has strong thematic ties to Lucario, and is somewhat considered to be its signature attack, despite the fact that other Pokemon have always been able to learn it.
Flying Press
This move is an odd one. In the main series, it has the very unique trait of being considered Flying- and Fighting-Types at the same time, though the lack of sub-effects such as this means it will likely just be Fighting Type, as this is its displayed type. It is only learned by the Generation 6 Pokemon Hawlucha, and a special cosplay "Luchador Pikachu" currently. However, this may signify that it will be more widely distributed in the upcoming Generation 8 games.
Conclusion
With every new version of Pokemon Go, we get a new APK that will inevitably be torn down. And with each new tear-down, we're getting closer and closer to the release of exciting new content. Right now it seems that we're on the precipice of being able to take on the infamous Team Rocket Leader, Giovanni, and his Rocket Executives. However, as is always the case, we can also see a glimmer of new content on the horizon, waiting to give us even more reason to play.
