Giovanni is the final boss of Pokemon Go‘s villainous Team Go Rocket, so you’ll need to pull out all the stops to beat him. To help trainers out, we’ve put together a guide featuring his current lineup of Pokemon, their weaknesses, and the best counters to use on your team.
After you’ve valiantly fought your way through Arlo, Cliff, Sierra, and plenty of Grunts, you’ll finally get the chance to take on Giovanni. The Team Go Rocket Boss is tough competition, so it’s important to take the time to plan ahead if you want to walk away a winner.
After battling with the Kanto region’s Legendary Mewtwo throughout 2022, Giovanni now has Shadow Kyogrie in his team.
Update: Pokemon Go is currently hosting a new event called Taken Treasures which went live on Saturday, January 27, 2024, from 12:00 AM local time and will last until Thursday, February 1, 2024, at 11:59 PM local time. It will feature plenty of Shadow Pokemon. Additionally, it features the debut of Shadow Kyogre as Giovanni’s new partner.
Contents
- Giovanni Pokemon Go lineup (January 2024)
- How to beat Giovanni in Pokemon Go
- Phase 1
- Phase 2
- Phase 3
- Best team to defeat Giovanni
- How to find Giovanni
- How to defeat Team Rocket Leaders
The villainous Giovanni has teamed up with Kyogre.
Giovanni Pokemon Go lineup (January 2024)
Giovanni’s lineup changes every now and then, but the star of his current team remains Shadow Kyogre, which you’ll be able to catch if you manage to defeat him.
Here’s Giovanni’s current lineup in Pokemon Go:
- Phase 1: Persian
- Phase 2: Nidoking / Rhyperior / Garchomp
- Phase 3: Shadow Kyogre
Giovanni’s lineup changes every time there’s a Team Go Rocket Takeover. We don’t know when the next one will occur following the Taken Treasures event, but we’ll update this page as soon as it happens.
How to beat Giovanni in Pokemon Go
Giovanni is an incredibly strong opponent in Pokemon Go, so if you want to defeat him, you’ll need to come prepared with some equally strong counters that can target his team’s weaknesses.
At the start of every battle, Giovanni always throws out his signature Pokemon, Persian. The second Pokemon he chooses is at random from a pool of three. Finally, you’ll face Shadow Kyogre.
Giovanni Pokemon Go counters phase 1
Giovanni will always start with Persian in Pokemon Go for his first Phase.
Rhyperior is a Ground/Rock-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak to Fighting, Ground, Steel, Water, Grass and Ice. On the other hand, Rhyperior is resistant to Normal, Flying, Poison, Rock, and Fire attacks, so avoid those wherever possible. It’s also immune to Electric-type moves.
Here are some of the best counters to help you defeat Rhyperior:
Garchomp is a dual Dragon/Ground-type Pokemon, which means its weaknesses are Dragon, Fairy, and Ice-type attacks. It has particular vulnerability to Ice-type attacks, so focus on those where you can.
On the other hand, Garchomp is resistant to Electric, Fire, Poison, and Rock-type attacks, so they won’t do much damage at all if you use them in battle.
Here are some of the best Garchomp counters to use:
Shadow Kyogre counters
Kyogre is a Water-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Grass and Electric attacks and resistant to Steel, Fire, Water, and Ice-type moves. In order to beat it, you’ll need to focus on exploiting its weaknesses with both Fast and Charged super-effective attacks.
These are some of the top counters to defeat Kyogre in battle:
One of the best teams you can use to defeat Giovanni in Pokemon Go right now is Terrakion, Mega Sceptile, and Galarian Darmanitan. While Giovanni’s previous team didn’t have much crossover regarding weaknesses, his new lineup is pretty easy to prepare for.
The first thing you’ll want on your team is a strong Fighting type like Terrakion, as Giovanni’s first Pokemon will always be Persian, and its only weakness is Fighting-type attacks.
Next up, we’d recommend a powerful Ice-type Pokemon like Galarian Darmanitan. With this strong Ice-type on your team, you’ll be able to target two of Giovanni’s potential Pokemon: Nidoking and Garchomp.
The only member of Giovanni’s lineup not covered by those two Pokemon is Garchomp, but the Ground/Dragon-type can be countered by the third team member: Mega Sceptile. Additionally, Mega Sceptipe will be a great counter for Shadow Kyogre, thanks to its mono Water-typing.
The good thing about battling Giovanni (or any other Team Go Rocket member) is that you can rematch as many times as you need to until you win, so if you’ve brought a team that isn’t working you can simply readjust and try again.