Pokémon Go: How to defeat Giovanni February 2023

POKÉMON Go’s Rocket Takeover event is well underway, and the hardest boss of all to beat is Giovanni.

In order to face the Team Rocket boss, you must first defeat 18 Rocket grunt and take down leaders Arlo, Sierra, and Clive.

There are ways to speed this up by collecting Rocket Radars through research tasks, but it is still a long journey.

Once you get the chance to take down Giovanni you’ll want to be prepared, so check out our tips to help you beat him in Pokémon Go. 

Pokémon Go: What Pokémon does Giovanni have?

As with every time Giovanni appears, he will lead with his signature Pokémon, Persian, which can have Scratch, Foul Play, Play Rough, Payback, Power Gem, and Feint Attack.

After you have defeated Persian, there is a choice of three Pokémon that he could send out next.

The first option is Cloyster, which can have the moves Avalanche, Frost Breath, Ice Shard, Hydro Pump, Icy Wind, and Aurora Beam.

Next is Nidoking. This can have Earth Power, Poison Jab, Earthquake, Iron Tail, Sludge Wave, Megahorn, and Double Kick.

The last Pokémon Giovanni might have is Garchomp. Its moves include Dragon Tail, Outrage, Earthquake, Mud Shot, and Fire Blast.

Giovanni’s final Pokémon will always be Shadow Registeel, who you can capture once you beat him.

It can use the moves Metal Claw, Lock-on, Rock Smash, Focus Blast, Hyper Beam and Flash Cannon. 

Pokémon Go: What are the best counters for Giovanni?

Persian

As Persian uses mostly Normal- or Dark-type attacks, Fighting-types are a good counter to this.

However, there is a low chance it will have Play Rough, so you might want to bring a dual-type that resists Fairy, like Lucario, or Buzzwole.

You will still want to make sure that they have Fighting-type moves on them, to take down the Persian quickly.

Cloyster

Cloyster only has Water- and Ice-type attacks, which means that Fighting-type attacks remain the best to use.

Lucario remains strong here, and Electric-type attacks will also work, so something like Raikou is a good backup.

Nidoking

Nidoking has an annoyingly wide movepool, which can make it difficult to take down.

Ground-types will cover you for all eventualities here while also dealing super-effective damage.

Swampert is one of the best counters for this, though Mamoswine is also strong if Nidoking doesn’t have Double Kick.

Garchomp

While Garchomp is a strong Pokémon it is hampered by having mostly Dragon- and Ground-type attacks.

Luckily, it is also very weak to Ice-type attacks, so a strong Pokémon like Weavile or Articuno will work well here.

Registeel

Registeel has mostly Steel- and Fighting-type attacks, and Fighting-types are a very strong counter to this.

Lucario and Machamp are both good counters, but be careful using Lucario if Registeel carries Fire Blast.

Written by Marco Wutz and Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.