Giovanni, Team Rocket's top dog, is back Pokémon GO this month, crisscrossing the skies in his hot air balloon and looking for coaches to take on. The super villain Gym Leader brings a strong team of Pokemon, including a Shadow Lugia that players will get for themselves as a reward for beating Team Rocket Legend.
In this guide, we'll cover how to track down Giovanni, as well as the best counters and overall team to take on him.
How to Find Team Rocket Giovanni Boss
You will first need to get a Super Rocket Radar to fight Giovanni. Unlike the usual Rocket Radar, which allows you to take on one of Team Rocket's many henchmen, with the Super Rocket Radar, you can take on the boss.
To acquire a Super Rocket Radar, you will need to collect six individual pieces of the item by defeating Arlo, Cliff, or Sierra multiple times. This method requires some effort, as to fight each of these lesser Team Rocket bosses, you'll need to defeat six Rocket Grunts, totaling over 40 fights to take on Giovanni and Shadow Lugia.
Best counters for Giovanni – January 2022
The battle with Giovanni is difficult, but you can prepare for it. Its first and third Pokémon are always the same, so it's only the second that can offer a surprise, and even then it's between one of the three. The Team Rocket leader starts with his mascot, Persian, the least threatening attacker in his roster.
Persian counters
Shade Machamp – Dynamic Counter / Punch
Lucario – Counter / Aura Sphere
machamp – Dynamic Counter / Punch
Hariyama – Dynamic Counter / Punch
Breloom – Dynamic Counter / Punch
After eliminating Giovanni's pet cat, it will be between Kingler, Nidoking or Rhyperior for the second round of the battle. A Grass-type or Water-type is a good choice for this battle, with Water-types hitting Nidoking and Rhyperior hard and Grass-types dealing substantial damage to Kingler and Rhyperior.
If you need to change your counters based on your opponent, you can start the fight again with a mixed team and Giovanni won't change any of his Pokémon.
Kingler Counters
Mega manometric – Thunder Fang / Wild Charge
Zekrom – Thunder Clap / Wild Charge
Raikou – Thunder Clap / Wild Charge
Breloom – Counter / Grass Knot
Mega Venasaur – Vine Whip / Frenzied Plant
Nidoking Counters
Shadow Mewtwo – Confusion / Psychological Strike
Metagross – Zen / Psychic Headbutt
Hoopa not lié – Psychic confusion
Shadow Marshal – Water gun / Hydraulic cannon
Mega Gyrados – Cascade – Hydropompe
Hyperior counters
Mega blastoise – Hydro Cannon water gun
Shadow Marshal – Water gun / Hydraulic cannon
Mega Gyrados – Cascade – Hydropompe
Breloom – Counter / Grass Knot
Mega Venasaur – Vine Whip / Frenzied Plant
The real challenge comes last with Giovanni's Shadow Lugia. Unsurprisingly, you're looking for Electric, Dark, and Ghost-type Pokémon or attacks to make the most of Lugia's Flying/Psychic dual-type. Although he's the toughest opponent on Giovanni's team, you should still be able to take him on if you bring one of your Legendary Pokemon.
Shadow Lugia Counters
Yveltal – Snarl / Dark Pulse
Zekrom – Charge Beam / Wild Charge
Raikou – Thunder Clap / Wild Charge
Melmétal – Thunder Shock / Rock Slide
Darkrai – Snarl / Dark Pulse
With this, you should be able to beat Giovanni in Pokémon GO and take Shadow Lugia for yourself. For more, check out our full schedule for all Pokémon Spotlight Hour this month. Or take a look at our thoughts on this year's Johto Tour ticket and what we think of the follow-up to Kanto's return offering from last year.
Pokémon GO is now available on mobile devices.
