A Redditor has discovered and shared a way to bypass the win sequence following the defeat of a Rocket Grunt in Pokémon GO.

Pokémon GO has a variety of different players. That’s the key to not only its popularity, but also its longevity. Some people stop playing and even forget about the app for months at a time, only to be reeled back in by a big event or just because they felt like it. Others play it more consistently and are keen to complete their Pokédex, but not necessarily take part in battles and raids.

Then, there are the hardcore Pokémon GO players. Players who run through grunts, brush off raids, and will only catch Pokémon with the perfect IV. For this unique batch of players, anything that slows down their play is considered incredibly frustrating. That includes some of the game’s long-winded cutscenes.

One of those cutscenes takes place upon defeating Team GO Rocket’s grunts. Some players might be reading this thinking, “really? That scene takes about 20 seconds.” Well, for players trying to grind out as many grunt wins as they possibly can, those are 20 valuable seconds they could be using elsewhere. This is why a handy glitch discovered and shared by a Redditor will be an important timesaver for some.

After making light work of the grunt’s team of three, the player hits the “exit battle” button just as the final Pokémon faints. From there, it’s not clear what to do to make the glitch work from the video alone. As the screen turns to black, trainers need to hit where the “yes” option would normally appear. If timed right, the defeated grunt will pop up above the map along with an error message.

Opening the Pokéstop again should reveal your shadow reward, ready for collection. The only thing trainers will miss out on by using this time-saving technique is catching the grunt’s shadow Pokémon. However, anyone eager to use this method probably has enough shadow/purified Zubat to last them a lifetime, so it’s not the biggest loss in the world. The key to making it work is hitting that black screen at the right time. Hit it too early and you may miss out on your rewards.

Source: Reddit