How to beat Giovanni in Pokemon Go

Team Rocket have been in the game for a while now, and you're probably wondering how to beat Giovanni in Pokemon Go because he's easily the toughest fight available outside of raids. Giovanni is part of the Pokemon Go Looming in the Shadows special research tasks, and he's essentially the final boss for this section of Pokemon Go. In the overall Pokemon universe and lore, Giovanni is the evil mastermind behind Team Rocket, with his trusty Persian at his side. Here's a guide on how to beat Giovanni in Pokemon Go. 

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How to find Giovanni in Pokemon Go

The first thing you need to do on the quest to beat Giovanni in Pokemon Go is complete the first four stages of the Looming in the Shadows research. You know the Rocket Radar you've been using to find the Rocket Grunts in the buildup to this point? Yeah, now you've got a Super Rocket Radar! This nifty tool works in the same way as the normal Rocket Radar, except it will show you the location of Giovanni.

Kind of. In a last ditch attempt to thwart your plans, there'll be plenty of disguised Rocket Grunts located at various stops. To uncover their disguises, you thankfully don't have to defeat them all; simply spin each stop to find the real Giovanni.  

How to beat Giovanni in Pokemon Go

When you find Giovanni, as we mentioned before, you're faced with one of the hardest fights in the game. Just like the three team leaders (Cliff, Sierra, and Arlo), Giovanni can use protect shields, which means that along with having stronger Pokemon, he'll absorb up to two of your charged attacks. While Giovanni always starts with Persian, he can use one of either Cloyster, Kangaskhan, or Garchomp second, followed by one of the legendary birds. Here are the best counters for all the Pokemon Giovanni can use, including the optimal movesets:

Giovanni Counters in Pokemon Go

Persian

Persian is a Normal-type beast that can use any of the following type moves: Normal, Dark, Fairy, and Rock. Of course, Fighting-type moves are the best here, but since Persian is the weakest of the three Pokemon you face, it can be a good opportunity to charge up your strongest Pokemon's charge move ready for Moltres at the end of the battle. Charge it up then switch to one of the following to get Persian outta there.

Cloyster

Cloyster is mainly kitted out with Ice-type moves, so you can carry on using Fighting-type Pokemon here for an advantage. The best counters are pretty much the same as Persian, especially since it means you don't need to bring along different counters that aren't useful in the rest of the fight.

Kangaskhan

Kangaskhan has considerably less counters than Persian or Cloyster because it has Ground, Fighting, Dark, and Dragon-type moves, so your absolute best bet is bringing along a strong Dragonite.

Garchomp

If the Garchomp you're against is rocking Ground-type moves then Flying-type Pokemon reign supreme and this fight shouldn't be too difficult. On the other hand, if you're not against Ground-type moves, go for an Ice-type counter.

Articuno

This Ice-type legendary bird is mainly kitted out with Ice-type moves, but can also utilise Rock-type charge moves. Rock-type moves are also super effective against it though, so these are our choices for the best counters.

Moltres

Despite being Fire-type instead of Ice-type, Moltres has similar counters to Articuno because Rock-type moves are also super effective against it. 

Zapdos

Finally, Zapdos is an Electric-type legendary bird which slightly changes up the best counters. Tyranitar isn't resistant to Electric-type moves, so these are the recommended counters.

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