Niantic
Pokémon GO August 2022: best counters to beat Giovanni
The leader of Team GO Rocket is back stronger than ever in August 2022. We tell you how to defeat him with the best counters.
Giovanni, Team GO Rocket’s leader and one of the quintessential villains of the saga, is back. A very special enemy who returns in the middle of the sixth anniversary of the Niantic game for Android and iOS devices. Of course, we help you once again to defeat him by offering you the best counters and moves against his Pokémon, including a dangerous dark legendary.
How to find Giovanni in Pokémon GO?
The first thing you need is the Super Rocket Radar, available if you are level 8 trainer and have entered the game during the month of July, sometime after the 9th. You get it during phase 4 of the research Field Notes: Team GO Rocket. Then it will be time to search for Giovanni in your vicinity (remember to have the Super Rocket Radar equipped). While you look for him, it is very probable that you will come across recruits of Team GO Rocket disguised as him, so you will have to finish with them until you find the real Giovanni.
First Pokémon in the battle against Giovanni
- Persian: as a normal-type Pokémon, there is no better strategy than to take advantage of the virtues of the fighting type against it. Lucario, Hariyama, Heracross and Blaziken (Counter Attack), Machamp (Dynamic Punch) or Infernape (Rock Smash) are very good options to defeat Persona easily. All of the above moves are quick attacks, as using the charged attack at this early stage of the fight would be a waste.
Second Pokémon in the battle against Giovanni
In the second phase of the battle, Giovanni will be able to use up to 3 different Pokémon and there is no way to know which one it is, but you can anticipate and have several effective options against them. We show you all the possibilities and the best counters for each opponent.
- Nidoking: it belongs to the Earth and Poison types, so you won't have problems if you have Water, Ice and Psychic Pokémon. Articuno and Sneasel (Ice Shard), Starmie (Hydro Pump), Kingdra (Water Gun), Gardevoir and Mewtwo (Confusion).
- Machamp: as a good exponent of the Fighting type, we are not going to complicate ourselves against it; any option of the Psychic type is more than enough to finish it in the blink of an eye. Gardevoir, Cresselia and Mewtwo (Confusion). Alternatively, you can resort to the Flying type with Pidgeot (Air Slash).
- Rhyperior: as the opponent is a Rock and Earth type, your best allies are the Water and Plant Pokémon. Tangela (Vine Whip), Gyarados (Waterfall) and Ludicolo, an ideal choice since it shares both types (Bubble and Razor Leaf).
Third Pokémon in the battle against Giovanni
- Shadow Latios: the battle will be decided with a very strong enemy such as the legendary Pokémon of psychic and dragon type. The good thing is that you have at your disposal multiple types very effective against him such as ice, dark, bug or fairy. In addition, this time it is convenient to take advantage of charged attacks, so we propose several options that are a guarantee of success: Genesect (X-Scissor), Scizor (Fury Cutter), Zarude (Bite), Sneasel (Foul Play), Cacturne (Dark Pulse) and Sharpedo (Crunch) will make it bite the dust.
Pokémon GO is available completely free of charge on Android and iOS devices.