Giovanni in Pokémon GO is the leader who pulls all the ropes behind Team GO Rocket. You can only fight Giovanni once a month, so you have plenty of time to follow him when you feel like you are ready to take on him. Here's what you need to know about how to find and beat him.
How to find Giovanni in Pokémon GO
To work on your journey to meet him, you'll need to progress through the special research event called A Troubling Situation and then Inoming in the Shadows. Progress through these two takes you against different Team GO Rocket Grunts and three different Team GO Rocket leaders. The fourth step of Looming in the Shadows asks you to defeat the three leaders once called Arlo, Cliff and Sierra.
After beating them, you will receive a Super Rocket Radar, similar to the Rocket Radar you used to locate the leaders of Team GO Rocket. To use the device, you need to go into the bag to equip it. You will need to use it to locate Giovanni. However, a handful of Rocket Grunts have disguised themselves as fake Giovannis. You have to visit the PokéStops to find out which is the real Giovanni.
Fighting Giovanni in Pokémon GO
If you have trouble with Arlo, Cliff, or Sierra, you may find yourself on top of your head with Giovanni. He is a tough guy and you will have to defeat his he Pokémon if you want to meet the rare Shadow Pokémon that he has caught.
Giovanni's first Pokémon stays the same every month. However, its second and third options change constantly every month. If you fight it in December, it doesn't have the same Pokémon rotation as it did in January.
The first Pokémon you will face is Giovanni's Persian. It is a Normal-type Pokémon, so you will need to use a Fighting-type Pokémon to counter it during the first phase of the encounter.
Giovanni's next Pokémon choice can be one of three options:
- Cloyster is a Water and Ice type
- Kangaskhan is of the normal type
- Garchomp is a Dragon and Earth type
All three of these choices vary in typing, making your choice of Pokémon a little more complicated. Cloyster is weak to Electric, Fighting, Grass and Rock-types, Kangaskhan is weak to Fighting-types, and Garchomp is weak to Dragon, Fairy, and Ice-types. Garchomp is the most difficult of the three.
You may be able to escape using your combat type from round one to take down Kangaskhan and Cloyster, but it's a stretch if they can survive both attacks. Your second Pokémon may be further dependent on Giovanni's third Pokémon, which rotates every month.
The last option Giovanni throws at you is a spinning Legendary Pokémon, and for January it's Moltres. Moltres is a Fire and Flying-type, making them weak to Electric, Rock, and Water-type Pokémon. You may want to rely on using a Rock-type for your second on Garchomp and Kangaskhan, but this exposes them to potentially being trampled by Cloyster.
The general strategy for handling Giovanni is to take your time and rely on defensive Pokémon. Yes, you want to clear his list quickly, but relying on direct damage won't win the day. It is a battle of attrition. You need Pokémon that can withstand a significant amount of damage and deal enough resources to dent Giovanni's options.
We will be updating this piece every month to learn about Giovanni's new Pokémon rotation and what you need to use to defeat them.
