How to fight Jessie and James in Pokémon Go

The iconic Team Rocket duo, Jessie and James, is now appearing in Pokémon Go. Trainers can challenge them to battles just like any other Team GO Rocket members.

All you need to do to battle Jessie and James is find their Meowth-themed balloon and interact with it.

Once you click on it, you’ll be prompted to fight them and their newly-acquired Shadow Pokémon. Unlike other special GO Rocket encounters, you don’t need an item equipped to find the pair, either. This is just a special spawn during the current GO Rocket event.

Jessie and James will only be flying around the overworld for a limited time. But if you manage to defeat them, you’ll have a chance to catch Shadow Ekans and Koffing. Both of the pair’s signature Pokémon can also be shiny, so you’ll want to battle them as many times as possible.

At time of writing, there are no definitive requirements to spawn the Meowth balloon instead of normal GO Rocket balloons. It will just eventually appear if you keep playing the game.

This article is being updated as more information becomes available.