Team GO Rocket Grunts

Team GO Rocket Grunts are members of Team GO Rocket and subordinates of Team GO Rocket Leaders and Giovanni. They tend to takeover PokéStops and battle using Shadow Pokémon.

Appearance
They look very similar to their original counterparts from main game series. They wear black clothes with bright-grey gloves, boots and belts. They also wear black berets. There are red "R" symbols on their chests, being the logo of their team. They also have pink hair just like in the original game series.

Encountering grunts
To encounter a grunt, Trainer has to approach a taken over PokéStop. As a Trainer does that, it becomes black, the Team GO Rocket logo will appear over it and Team GO Rocket grunt appears next to the PokéStop. If a Trainer interacts with the PokéStop or the Grunt, there is a possibility to battle encountered grunt.
 * For more information on taken over PokéStops, see: Team GO Rocket.

Trainer can also engage battle with a grunt tapping the Rocket Balloons that may spawn above the Trainer's avatar in the Map View.
 * For more information on Rocket Balloons, see: Team GO Rocket.

Battling grunts
An battle encounter begins when a Trainer interacts with a Team GO Rocket Grunt. Team GO Rocket Battles work similarly to Trainer Battles (with the notable exception of not returning Pokémon by trainer to full health after the battle).

In order to defeat a Grunt, Trainer has to select a party of three Pokémon and use their Fast and Charged Attacks to defeat the opponent’s Shadow Pokémon. Enemy Shadow Pokémon fought in Team GO Rocket Battles have greatly increased CP above normal limits. It appears their strength is offensive-biased, meaning they can dish out quite a lot of damage but does not take hits as well as their CP suggests.

All trainers face the same Shadow Pokémon fighting the grunt from the specific PokéStop, but their Combat Power is scaled to the trainer's level, making the battle challenging to all players.

After winning the battle, 500 Stardust and a Mysterious Component will be rewarded and there will be a chance to catch one of the Shadow Pokémon they have left behind. If the battle is lost, a rematch will be offered. Winning Team GO Rocket Battles also increases the rank of the Hero medal.

Grunts' parties
These are current available Grunts and their parties.


 * In a single battle with a grunt, Pokémon of each grunt are randomly chosen from Pokémon in each column. Pokémon highlighted with green can be caught after winning a battle.

Changes to grunts' parties
From the release of Battle against Team GO Rocket Grunts, until now, there were several changes to their Pokémon parties.

Type hints
Before entering the battle, Grunts say a line that hints at a certain type of Pokémon in their party.

There are type hinting lines for every type in the game, however only some of these are currently used in the gameplay.

Trivia

 * Once trainer spin the photo disc and the Grunt starts speaking, it is safe to move away from the PokéStop while battling the Grunt and capturing the Shadow Pokémon, unlike with gym and Raid Battles battles which require player to be in range for the whole time. If you couldn't defeat it the first time, you must allow all your Pokémon to faint so you could do a rematch; if you leave the match, you won't be able to get a rematch unless you walk back to that PokéStop again.
 * Grunts in Rocket Balloons have the exact same dialogue as those at PokéStops, even the lines that specifically refers to PokéStops.