Precious Pals: Taken Over Special Research was released during the Precious Pals: Taken Over event in Pokémon Go.

It’s been quite a while since we got a new Team Rocket quest in Pokémon Go, so make sure you’re stocked up on healing items before go Grunt hunting. Keep in mind that their Shadow Pokémon lineups have changed! So have the ones for the Rocket Leaders and Giovanni.

So let’s take a look at the Precious Pals: Taken Over quest steps, tasks and rewards in Pokémon Go.

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‘Precious Pals Taken Over’ quest steps and rewards

Precious Pals: Taken over is part of the Team Rocket storyline in Pokémon Go and you have until Tuesday 3rd March at 9:59am (local time) to claim it. Once you’ve got it though, you can complete it whenever you like.

There’s a couple of things you need to know before we get into the quest steps though. Firstly, you need to complete any Team Rocket quest you might currently have to unlock this questline. Secondly, the Shadow Legendary Giovanni has is decided upon when you complete this quest. This means, if you leave it too long, Giovanni might not have Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus anymore!

Below you’ll find all of the Precious Pals: Taken Over quest steps and rewards in Pokémon Go. Be wary of spoilers!

‘Precious Pals: Taken Over’ Step 1 of 5

Rewards: 1,500 XP, 500 Stardust and female Nidoran.

‘Precious Pals: Taken Over’ Step 2 of 5

  • Catch 20 Pokémon – 5 Pinap Berries
  • Purify 5 Shadow Pokémon – 10 Great Balls
  • Defeat 6 Team Go Rocket Grunts – 3 Mysterious Components

Rewards: 2,000 XP, 1,000 Stardust and male Nidoran.

‘Precious Pals: Taken Over’ Step 3 of 5

  • Defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Arlo – 2,500 XP
  • Defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Cliff – 2,500 XP
  • Defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Sierra – 2,500 XP

Rewards: 2,500 XP, 1,500 Stardust and Super Rocket Radar.

‘Precious Pals: Taken Over’ Step 4 of 5

Rewards: 3,000 XP, 2,000 Stardust and Vulpix encounter.

‘Precious Pals: Taken Over’ Step 5 of 5

  • Claim reward – 1,500 Stardust
  • Claim reward – 1,500 Stardust
  • Claim reward – 1,500 Stardust

Rewards: 6,000 XP, 5,000 Stardust and three Charged TMs.



The Precious Pals event is currently running! Team Rocket has invaded too – bringing changes to the Giovanni, Team Leaders and Grunt lineups. Plus, there’s the Precious Pals: Taken Over quest.

There’s a lot to do in Pokémon Go outside of the current event! From the Go Battle League, Remote Trading, PokéStop Showcase, Routes and Max Battles. Don’t forget to catch rare Pokémon while you’re at it.

How Precious Pals Taken Over works

Precious Pals: Taken Over was released in January 2026 during the Precious Pals: Taken Over event and is another installment in Pokémon Go’s Team Rocket storyline.

To access this quest, you must first complete the ‘tutorial’ quest, A Troubling Situation and completed any over Team Rocket quest you might have, such as Psychic Spectacular: Taken Over.

Each Team Go Rocket quest is based around defeating the crime organisation grunts, purifying Shadow Pokémon, the Team Rocket Leaders – Arlo, Cliff and Sierra – and Giovanni.

Don’t forget that the highlighted Shadow Legendary released alongside this quest – Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus in this case – is not actually one of its rewards, instead being a reward for defeating Giovanni. Thanks to this, you can actually catch the current Shadow Legendary twice if you haven’t finished the previous Team Rocket quest.

Aside from this, the Team Go Rocket quests work exactly the same as the other research quests, which challenge you to complete a number of objectives in a specific order.

Due to being a Special Research quest, Psychic Spectacular: Taken Over will never expire. It does need to be claimed, however, before Tuesday 3rd March at 9:59am (local time). I do recommend completing this quest before the next Taken Over event to ensure you’ve caught a Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus.

Tips for completing Psychic Spectacular Taken Over in Pokémon Go

Here’s some tips to help you complete Precious Pals: Taken Over in Pokémon Go:

  • Don’t forget to use Pinap Berries when catching Shadow Pokémon to ensure you gather enough Candy to purify the Pokémon once it’s yours.
  • Keep an eye out for the Team Go Rocket Balloons, because the grunt, Team Go Leader and even the Giovanni battles you encounter through them all count towards this quest.

  • Make sure you check the lineup possibilities before battling the three Team Go Rocket Leaders and Giovanni, so you can plan an effective team of counters.
  • Since both the Leaders and Giovanni have a selection of Pokémon they can use, it’s a good idea to scout out their team before properly defeating them – provided you have some healing items on standby for this first ‘trial’ encounter. You can do this by using a Pokémon which is guaranteed to defeat this first Pokémon, which will always be the same, and, once you know what they’re second choice is, you can plan accordingly. Just remember that their lineup may change if you move to a different PokéStop.

Best of luck completing Precious Pals: Taken Over!