A few days ago, Niantic announced that Team Rocket duo Jessie and James would be sticking around in the Pokémon Go after the crossover event with the newest Pokémon film, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle ends on Dec. 17.
The developers also promised more details about when the pair will actually stop spawning again, which we now know won’t be until the end of February 2021.
Jessie and James will continue spawning in their Meowth balloon until the end of February, which has now been updated in the Today View section of the Pokémon Go app. This is great news for players who like battling the Team Rocket duo, but it also ties into something else Niantic clarified.
According to the string of posts, players who have already collected the Distracted by Something Shiny Special Research from the Secrets of the Jungle event can complete it at any time. This means they don’t need to rush to get all of the research tasks done before the event ends on Dec. 17.
They will still be required to finish all of the tasks to get the final rewards, however, which include a Shiny Celebi encounter. And because battling Jessie and James is a big part of the Special Research, Niantic have also increased the spawn rate of the pair’s Meowth balloon in the overworld until Dec. 21 at 10pm local time.
Jessie and James will also be spawning more frequently all day on Dec. 25, though after that it is unclear how often they will continue spawning until they blast off from the game sometime after February 2021.
Players might not need to rush to complete the Distracted by Something Shiny Special Research, but it will be impossible to do so once Jessie and James leave the game again. So if you don’t end up finishing it by the end of the event, you should probably try to get it done before the end of February.
