Pokémon Go Rocket Giovanni Counters, Team In March 2023

Republished By Plato

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Giovanni’s team had a refresh in Pokémon Go as part of the “Shadowy Skirmishes” Special Research.

As of March 2023, his team remains unchanged following the research’s debut, and will likely be the same for a few months yet.

However, know that whenever you face Giovanni, he’s a tough opponent to battle, and this page will list out his current team and counters if you’re having trouble.

How to find Giovanni in Pokémon Go

Team Go Rocket boss Giovanni is typically only available to battle while completing Team Go Rocket Special Research. We get a new set of this type of research every few months, typically with a new Shadow legendary Pokémon as a reward at the very end. After beating all three Team Go Rocket leaders, you’ll get a Super Rocket Radar, allowing you to hunt down Giovanni.

Just like the leaders, Giovanni will appear in Team Go Rocket balloons or at taken over PokéStops if you have the Super Rocket Radar. Once you find him and use the radar, you can battle him as many times as it takes to beat him (as long as you’re within distance of the PokéStop), which is great, because he is typically a pretty tough battle.

Pokémon Go Giovanni team

At present, Giovanni will have the following team:

Persian (normal)
Nidoking (poison/ground)
Cloyster (water/ice)
Garchomp (dragon/ground)
Registeel (steel)

Pokémon Go Giovanni counters

Because there are less potential party options for Giovanni than there are for the Rocket Leaders, he’s actually easier to plan against, though his Pokémon are much stronger. You will need to bring the strongest Pokémon you have and your A game in order to take him down.

If he uses Nidoking, consider ground-types such as:

Garchomp with Mud Shot and Earth Power
Mamoswine with Mud Slap and Bulldoze
Groudon with Mud Shot and Earthquake
Rhyperior with Mud Slap and Earthquake

If he uses Cloyster, consider fighting-types such as:

Terrakion with Double Kick and Sacred Sword
Machamp with Counter and Dynamic Punch
Lucario with Counter and Aura Sphere
Conkeldurr with Counter and Dynamic Punch

If he uses Garchomp, consider ice-types, but note that Registeel is resistant to ice-type moves, so you will need to take another counter for it specifically (such as fighting- or ground-types). Powerful ice-type Pokémon include:

Galarian Darmanitan with Ice Fang and Avalanche
Mamoswine with Powder Snow and Avalanche
Glaceon with Frost Breath and Avalanche
Weavile with Ice Shard and Avalanche

How to beat Giovanni in Pokémon Go

I personally use a beefed up Machamp first to both get rid of his Persian quickly while also quickly building up Charge Moves to get through Giovanni’s two shields. After that, I’ll try to find a counter for both his second Pokémon and the Registeel, if that’s possible.

After defeating Giovanni, you will get to catch Shadow Registeel from him. It’s a guaranteed catch, so don’t forget to use a Pinap Berry to score some extra candy.