How to Beat Giovanni in Pokémon GO

Giovanni, the commander of Team GO Rocket, has returned to Pokémon GO and is providing a new challenge to Trainers who are courageous enough to take on him and his Shadow Lugia. Coming at the Festival of Lights event in November, this dangerous Trainer brought with him a group of similarly hard opponents that no other Trainers had yet to encounter.

It is an excellent opportunity to face Giovanni with the appropriate counter-line-up, given that Team GO Rocket will be maintaining their presence in 2022 with a scheduled event beginning on January 24th. As a result of this guide, Trainers will be better prepared to face Team Rocket’s terrifying boss, including his current lineup of monsters, the strongest Pokemon counters, and the best team to utilize.

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How to Beat Giovanni in Pokémon GO

The greatest battle-ready Pokémon and their counters must be levelled up in order to defeat Giovanni and his Shadow Lugia, so make sure you have them ready. Additionally, you’ll need to know what line-up he’s likely to deploy and bring a squad that can take advantage of the holes in his roster.

Because Giovanni will be using his Lugia in the third phase, dealing with his Pokemon in the first and second phases should be pretty straightforward. Giovanni is expected to field the following team for the battle against the enemy:

• Phase 1: Persian
• Phase 2: Kingler / Rhyperior / Nidoking
• Phase 3: Shadow Lugia

The Best Giovanni Pokémon counters/phases

Persian, his first Pokémon, is vulnerable to Fighting-type Pokémon, hence any Fighting-type Pokémon would be appropriate for this initial meeting. However, there are five Pokémon that would be most effective when used with their Fast and Charged Moves to take into consideration.

• Lucario: Counter (Fast Move), Aura Sphere (Charged Move)
• Melmetal: Thunder Shock (Fast Move), Thunderbolt (Charged Move)
• Machamp: Counter (Fast Move), Cross Chop (Charged Move)
• Rhyperior: Mud Slap (Fast Move), Stone Edge (Charged Move)
• Conkeldurr: Counter (Fast Move), Dynamic Punch (Charged Move)

Then there’s the matter of dealing with his Kingler / Rhyperior / Nidoking line-up. The fact that Kingler and Rhyperior can be dealt with fast with the same lineup makes this battle much less difficult to confront than it otherwise would be. This also implies that if Giovanni summons Nidoking, Trainers will have a good probability of introducing a new Pokémon to the field.

• Thundurus (Therian Form): Volt Switch (Fast Move), Thunderbolt (Charged Move)
• Zarude: Vine Whip (Fast Move), Power Whip (Charged Move)
• Roserade: Razor Leaf (Fast Move), Solar Beam / Grass Knot (Charged Move)
• Raikou: Volt Switch (Fast Move), Wild Charge (Charged Move)

If Giovanni summons Nidoking, you’ll want to be prepared with Pokémon of the Ground, Water, Psychic, and Ice types for this battle. The fact that some of these Pokemon are quite easy to come by means that they should have no trouble neutralizing Nidoking’s assaults before their battle with Shadow Lugia.

• Swampert: Mud Shot (fast Move), Hydro Cannon (Charged Move)
• Kyogre: Waterfall (Fast Move), Surf (Charged Move)
• Mewtwo: Psycho Cut (Fast Move), Psystrike (Charged Move)
• Garchomp: Mud Shot (Fast Move), Earth Power (Charged Move)

Finally, we come at the Shadow Lugia encounter, which is vulnerable to Rock, Ghost, Electric, Ice, and Dark-type Pokémon due to its weak defences. Utilizing Fighting and ground type Pokémon will not be beneficial to Trainers in this battle, especially considering Lugia’s strong fighting skills.

Bulky counters will be advantageous to Trainers; but, if you know which Pokemon to employ, you will suffer from quick HP loss and low Defense numbers as a result of using them. In order to counter Shadow Lugia’s counters, having one or two Legendary Pokémon in your party should help lessen the problem.

Due to the fact that Rhyperior and Melmetal have been discussed in prior counters, it would be prudent to refrain from using them till Shadow Lugia has been considerably worn down by other Pokémon in order to maximize your chances of success. If the Pokémon is used in the first part of this fight, it will be able to be utilized in the second phase of the battle to combat Shadow Lugia.

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