Pokémon GO: how to beat Giovanni, Arlo, Sierra and Cliff; best counters (February 2021)

We tell you how to find and defeat the leader Giovanni, Cliff, Sierra and Arlo of Team Go Rocket in Pokémon GO, as well as the best counters.

The arrival of Team GO Rocket was one of the great novelties of Pokémon GO in 2019, one of the incentives that Niantic has given players to continue opening the app daily, but in 2020 they are reinforced with the invasion of the balloons and, now, with a new investigation in October that stars Dark Mewtwo and the 12km Eggs. The dark Pokémon have been a constant, as well as their purification, but what was truly fun and challenging has been the investigation that culminated in the confrontation with Giovanni. We updated our guide to find him and his henchmen for the Team GO Rocket Celebration Event.

The first thing, therefore, is to complete the six phases of the special investigation, Lurking in the Shadows. It will not be until phase number 4/6 when we face the Leader Arlo, Sierra and Cliff, all of them with 1250 experience points when defeating them with a reward of 200 stardust, a Super Radar Rocket and 3 Frambu Berries.

We remember that to find each of them it is necessary to have a Rocket Radar, which requires a total of 6 mysterious components. And to get these components it is necessary to defeat the recruits. The procedure, therefore, is simple: defeat at least six recruits to make the radars and, finally, find the whereabouts of Arlo, Cliff and Sierra. [ACTUALIZADO: febrero de 2021]

How to defeat Arlo, Sierra and Cliff: best counters

• Cliff: We will be presented with Aerodactyl. His best opponents are Metagross, Kyogre and Rampardos. Your second Pokémon will switch between Gallade, Cradily, and Slowking. Finally, your third Pokémon will comprise between Dusknoir, Mamoswine, and Tyranitar. The reward for defeating him is Aerodactyl.
• Sierra: It will start with Carvanha. His best counters are Breelom, Machamp, and Sirfetch’d. Its second member will switch between Hippowdon, Porygon-Z and Mismagius. Finally, Flygon, Houndoom and Walrein. The reward in this case is an encounter with Carvanha.
• Arlo: It will start with Beldum. His best opponents are Kyogre, Rampardos and Rhyperior. Gardevoir, Infernape and Aggron are among the candidates for his next companion, while Armaldo, Salamence and Scizor will be the last. The reward, in this case, will be Beldum.

How to find and defeat Giovanni: best counters (currently unavailable)

Before facing him we have to find him. If we find him, we will free his current Pokémon, Dark Mewtwo, who we can capture after the fight. The Super Radar Rocket is the necessary object to challenge Giovanni, an object that we receive when we finish off Sierra, Arlo and Cliff. The confrontation is limited to certain hours and in specific places, specifically from 06:00 AM to 22:00 local time at the Poképaradas. Also in the Globes.

To defeat Giovanni we must have more than one option in mind, one for each of his Pokémon. In this way, we contemplate the strategy in the following way since the team of the great leader of Team GO Rocket has Persian (1), Kangaskhan / Garchomp / Nidoking (2) and Dark Mewtwo (3).

First confrontation of the combat against Giovanni

Persian: Machamp, Hariyama and Lucario. Three fighting-type Pokémon with high attacking stats, perfect for quelling it with super effective moves. Since it is not very difficult to kill him, we recommend not spending the charged attack against Persian and saving it for others like Cloyster.

Second confrontation of the combat against Giovanni

Garchomp: tough nut to crack. One of the most powerful Pokémon in the Sinnoh region must be countered with its own medicine. In an ideal confrontation the best would be Mamoswine with Powder Snow and Avalanche, but we must take into account the rest of the opponents, because of the three of the second confrontation everything depends on chance. Other alternatives that we recommend, in addition to the two mentioned against Dugtrio, is Weavile with Ice Song and Alud.

Nidoking: if we touch Nidoking, vulnerable to Water, Earth, Ice and Psychic, any of the aforementioned is an effective solution, to highlight if we use a Mewtwo with Confusion or Psychocut plus Mental Wave in the loaded one. Again, in this case Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf should make it fall quickly.

Kangaskhan: weak to fight. The best opponents to placate him are, therefore, aces of this type: Lucario, Machamp, Conkeldurr or Breelom, among others. In all of them the same moveset serves us, with Counterattack as a fast movement and Dynamic Fist for the main charged movement. Of course, with Lucario an Aural Sphere guarantees 100% effective damage; is the only one with this percentage.

Dugtrio: Once we’re done with Persian, it would be Dugtrio’s turn, Earth-type. In this case, it is best to use Ice-type moves, so a good opponent would be Darmanitan with Ice Fang and Avalanche or Kingler with Bubble and Hammer, since the Water type is equally useful. A Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf is another way not to complicate ourselves too much. [Actualmente está fuera de la rotación]

Third confrontation of the combat against Giovanni

Previously, Giovanni had the legendary birds (Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres), dark Suicune, Entei or Raikou, but now his star is Dark Mewtwo, star of the autumn event “An interesting novelty” available, for now, only this month of October .

First, let’s get to know this beast a bit that is showing itself in October in Pokémon GO. First of all, we recommend that you take a look at this guide with all the missions that you must complete (“An interesting novelty”) to find Giovanni and fight the confrontation.

At level 40, it is a creature with 41,943 CP if we find it in raids, but after the confrontation with Giovanni we can see it with a range of 2294 to 2387 CP. His attack is 248 with a defense of 155. Being a Psychic type, the best ways to stop him are with Sinister and Ghost. Now that we have Giratina Origin Form available, it is the best time to use it against him with Umbrian Claw and Shadow Ball; same as Mega Houndoom with Scream and Foul Play.

Another one that we cannot fail to recommend is Dark Tyranitar, which with Bite and Shred can do a lot of damage. Finally, we recommend using Hydreigon, Chandelure and Weavile Sombra, always with Sinister-type motivations as previously mentioned.