As anyone who has dealt with Team Rocket could have predicted, Giovanni is the one giving out commands for Team GO Rocket in Pokémon Go.
And with all of the Rocket Balloons floating above the overworld, you should prepare yourself for a clash against the big boss and his rotation of powerful Shadow Pokémon.
As always, you can still encounter Giovanni by completing the special GO Rocket themed monthly Timed-Research that Professor Willow assigns, but now you can find him in balloons too. That research, titled A Shadowy Threat Grows, is part of a larger set of tasks that you will need to complete before battling the boss.
Where to find Giovanni in Pokémon Go
If you can’t find Giovanni in Pokémon Go, it’s because you’ll need to complete a few encounters and tasks to be able to locate him on the map.
- Collect six Mysterious Components from Team Rocket Grunts and unlock the Team Rocket Radar.
- Once you equip the radar, you’ll be able to find three other Rocket Leaders.
- After beating the new leaders you found, complete the Team Rocket related Special Research tasks.
- When you’re done with all the encounters and challenges, you’ll get the Super Rocket Radar.
- Equip the Super Rocket Radar radar and start visiting PokéStops to find Giovanni.
You can’t find Giovanni without the Super Rocket Radar, meaning completing the steps above will be a must if you’re looking to take him down.
How to beat Giovanni in Pokémon Go
Players will need to prepare a strong squad of Pokémon for the encounter to beat Giovanni as fast as possible in Pokémon Go. You’ll need to gather an elite team based on Giovanni’s Pokémon lineup. Giovanni generally uses the same lineup for a long time, but he can make a few substitutes whenever a big event or a patch rolls out.
Giovanni’s Pokémon’s lineup in Pokémon Go
The first phase of the Giovanni battle
Giovanni starts off the battle with his trusty Persian, a Normal-type Pokémon. Persian is weak against Fighting-type moves, and you’ll want to feature Fighting-type Pokémon in your lineup to counter Persian.
Machamp, Breloom, and Lucario will be strong enough to bring down Persian in most cases. If you have another strong Fighting-type Pokémon in your Pokédex, you can also use them.
The second phase of the Giovanni battle
Once you’re done with the first part of the encounter, you’ll move on to the second stage, where you’ll face either Honchkrow, Gyarados, or Rhyperior.
Honchkrow is a Dark/Flying-type Pokémon. Giovanni’s Honchkrow is weak against Fairy, Ice, Rock, and Electric moves. Rampardos, Raikou, Magnezone, and Zekrom are all decent candidates to counter Honchkrow.
Gyarados is a Water/Flying-type Pokémon. Gyarados is weak against Rock and Electric-type moves. Electivire, Magnezone, and Zapdos will be the perfect candidates to counter Gyarados.
Rhyperior is a Ground/Rock-type Pokémon. Rhyperior gets countered by Grass and Water-type Pokémon. Swampert, Kyogre, and Torterra perform decently versus Rhyperior.
The third phase of the Giovanni battle
On the final leg of the encounter, trainers will battle against Giovanni’s Shadow Latias, a Dragon/Psychic-type Pokémon. To counter Shadow Latias, you can pick Pokémon with Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Ghost, Dragon, or Ice-type attacks. Gengar, Garchomp, and Dialga are some of the potential picks that will do well against Shadow Latias.