Beating Team Go Rocket boss Giovanni can be one of the most brutal things in Pokemon GO, but there are a few tricks that can make things much more manageable.
Niantic has been playing “gotcha” with Team Go Rocket since 2022. Players could long rely on effective type matchups, but the company has been throwing curveballs to counter this. Someone sending out their fire-flying Charizard against a bug-type Rocket Grunt, only to get melted by a surprise Dwebble throwing rock moves.
That hasn’t been the case with the Rocket boss, though. Instead of mixing things up, Giovanni has a specific lead that can set players up to beat him with ease. Here’s how to remove the hassle from defeating the Go Rocket boss, and getting a prized shadow legendary Pokemon.
How to beat Giovanni in Pokemon GO
Players can beat Giovanni by getting a high-CP steel or rock-type Pokemon that is optimized for quickly utilizing charge moves.
While all Team Go Rocket characters boast a trio of Pokemon with extremely high CP, Giovanni is uniquely challenging as his whole lineup is fully evolved and incredibly threatening. Making matters worse is the fact that his final Pokemon is typically a shadow version of a legendary Pokemon that can approach 15,000 CP.
The Achilles heel for Giovanni is that his lead Pokemon is always Persian. Persian only has access to Scratch and Feint Attack for fast moves, which are normal and dark-type respectively.
Using Pokemon that resist those types allows players the time to build up the initial charge move energy to get the ball rolling. Alongside this, having a Pokemon that can quickly build energy lets players start spamming charge moves to break down shields and pause attacking as often as possible.
Hear are some of the best Pokemon to use for beating Giovanni in Pokemon GO and their best moves for the job:
- Tyranitar (Bite, Crunch)
- Aggron (Smack Down, Heavy Slam)
- Rhyperior (Mud Slap, Surf)
- Alolan Golem (Volt Switch, Rock Blast)
- Scizor (Fury Cutter, X Scissor)
For the sake of accessibility, the above list doesn’t include any legendary Pokemon, moves that require Elite TMs, or mega evolutions. It also doesn’t include Pokemon that have a particularly difficult evolution process, such as Gholdengo’s hard-to-acquire coins or Annihilape and the need to battle constantly.
Those who have these Pokemon with special moves will likely be well-served using them. There are many others in Pokemon GO that can work against Giovanni’s Persian. These are the easiest to cobble together with candies, Stardust, and regular TMs.
What is the best team to beat Giovanni in Pokemon GO?
There is no definite best team to beat Giovanni in Pokemon GO, outside of picking an optimal lead for the battle.
While Pokemon like Tyranitar and Rhyperior are among the best for taking down his signature lead Persian, players will need to adapt their lineup based on what’s behind it. Regardless, players are always best served using Pokemon that have high CP and can frequently spam charge moves.
The key to beating Giovanni in Pokemon GO is always to stall his attacks as frequently as possible. A 15,000 CP shadow Kyogre will blow away any team if allowed to attack freely.
