How to beat Giovanni in Pokemon GO in July 2021

In Pokemon GO, once players have defeated the Team GO Rocket Leaders and have assembled the Super Rocket Radar, they have the opportunity to battle the cruel kingpin Giovanni.

Though Giovanni’s team of Shadow Pokemon isn’t as diverse as his underlings, he has the backing of a Shadow Legendary Pokemon. Currently, this Pokemon is Ho-Oh, and it can be a handful for players that aren’t prepared to battle it.

Compared to the rest of Team GO Rocket, Giovanni is the least likely to fall easily. However, his Pokemon are beatable and just require some planning and counters to defeat effectively. Fortunately, since Giovanni’s battle party doesn’t have as many variables, it is easier to prepare against.

Pokemon GO: Types to take advantage of to beat Giovanni

While there are tons of individual Pokemon and moves in Pokemon GO that can be made into effective counters against Giovanni, the relatively static nature of his team allows players to devise a cogent gameplan and therefore broaden their Pokemon choice.

Since Giovanni’s first and third Pokemon slots on his teams are set, Pokemon GO trainers can focus on countering whichever Pokemon is in his second slot knowing full well what his other two choices will be.

To begin battle with his current Pokemon GO team, Giovanni will send out his iconic Persian. This Pokemon is an easy out for trainers that are able to use Fighting-type moves and Pokemon.

Since Persian is a Normal-type Pokemon, this is really its only elemental weakness, so it is best to hammer away at it with moves such as Counter, Close Combat, Focus Blast, and Dynamic Punch.

If players have a Lucario, that may be one of the best bets as a counter, considering Aura Sphere hits hard and Lucario’s status as a partial Steel-type Pokemon reduces damage from many of Persian’s attacks.

Giovanni’s second Pokemon choice is the tricky part of this particular Pokemon GO battle. He will select either Machamp, Golem, or Cloyster.

Each Pokemon requires a different counter, and players won’t know which Pokemon Giovanni selects until it appears (though Machamp is the most likely at a 46% appearance rate). This makes things significantly more difficult to plan for, but each Pokemon’s weaknesses can be exploited nonetheless.

Machamp’s type weaknesses in Pokemon GO are Fairy-, Flying-, and Psychic-type attacks. Golem’s are Fighting-, Grass-, Ground-, Ice-, Steel-, and Water-type moves, with Grass and Water moves being doubly effective.

When it comes to Cloyster, players should opt for Electric-, Fighting-, Grass-, and Rock-type attacks. These type advantages are disparate, but also present plenty of opportunities for Pokemon GO trainers to scheme their Pokemon types and moves in order to gain the upper hand.

Lastly, Giovanni will bring out Ho-Oh, his heaviest hitter as a Legendary Pokemon. As a dual Fire/Flying-type Pokemon, Ho-Oh is weak to Water- and Electric-type attacks, but is incredibly vulnerable to Rock-type moves.

Attacks such as Smack Down, Rock Slide, and Stone Edge can devastate Ho-Oh’s HP quickly. However, using a Rock-type Pokemon can be risky, as Ho-Oh is capable of knowing moves such as Solar Beam or Steel Wing, which can be equally as harmful to a Rock-type Pokemon.

A more optimal pick to avoid super effective damage may be one similar to Ampharos, which can use a Rock-type charged move like Power Gem but isn’t as susceptible to Ho-Oh’s moveset.

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