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How to Beat Giovanni in Pokemon GO (May 2022): Best Counters and Weaknesses

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If Pokemon GO had a final boss, it would be Giovanni. To find Giovanni, you’ll need a Super Rocket Radar which is a reward for beating Arlo, Sierra, and Cliff. But to get to Arlo, Sierra, and Cliff, you’ll need to beat a fair amount of Team GO Rocket Grunts. Once you have finally reached Giovanni, he can be tough to take down if you aren’t prepared. Here are the best counters and weaknesses to Giovanni in Pokemon GO.

How to Beat Giovanni in Pokemon Go

Before you take on Giovanni, you may want to secure yourself a Mega Pokemon since they are the strongest versions of Pokemon in the game. With the new A Mega Moment event, securing a Mega Pokemon shouldn’t be a problem. You’ll also want all of your Pokemon to max evolution before your fight with Giovanni. To evolve your Pokemon, you’ll want to know the fastest way to farm candy.

With that said, this what you should use to beat Giovanni this month.  Using the weaknesses and counters for all rounds this should allow you to beat Giovanni easily.

Pokemon GO Giovanni Weaknesses and Counters

The roster of Pokemon Giovanni will throw at you is different to previous months. That said, here are the Pokemon you’ll face in each round:

  • Round 1: Persian
  • Round 2: Honchkrow, Gyrados, or Rhyperior
  • Round 3: Shadow Latias

Pokemon GO Giovanni May 2022 Round 1: Persian

The first Pokemon Giovanni will throw at you is Persian which is a Normal-type Pokemon. This means that it is weak to Fighting-type attacks. Here are the best Pokemon to counter Persian:

Pokemon Fast Attack Charged Attack
Lucario Counter Power-Up Punch
Melmetal Thunder Shock Thunderbolt
Machamp Counter Cross Chop
Rhyperior Mud Slap Stone Edge
Tyranitar Smack Down Crunch
Hariyama Counter Dynamic Punch

Pokemon GO Giovanni May 2022 Round 2: Honchkrow, Gyarados or Rhyperior

The second round could be Honchkrow, Gyarados or Rhyperior. Starting with Honchkrow who is a Dark, Flying-type Pokemon, the best Pokemon to prepare are Rock, Electric, Ice & Fairy-type Pokemon. Here are the best counter Pokemon to Honchkrow:

Pokemon Fast Attack Charged Attack
Darmanitan Ice Fang Avalanche
Thundurus Thunder Shock Thunderbolt
Zacian Quick Attack Play Rough
Zekrom Charge Beam Wild Charge
Rampardos Smack Down Rock Slide
Deoxys Poison Jab Zap Cannon

Another possibility is Gyarados who is a Water and Flying-type Pokemon. That means that it is weak against Electric and Rock-type Pokemon and its counters include the following:

Pokemon Fast Attack Charged Attack
Thundurus Thunder Shock Thunder bolt
Zekrom Charge Beam Wild Charge
Deoxys Charge Beam Thunderbolt
Electivire Thunder Shock Wild Charge
Raikou Volt Switch Wild Charge

The last option in Round 2 is Rhyperior. Luckily, Rhyperior is very similar to Nidoking with it being a Ground- and Poison-type. The same weaknesses apply to Rhyperior and Nidoking, but here are some more counter Pokemon you could consider bringing:

Pokemon Fast Attack Charged Attack
Kyogre Waterfall Surf
Empoleon Waterfall Hydro Cannon
Zarude Vine Whip Power Whip
Swampert Mud Shot Hydro Cannon
Torterra Razor Leaf Frenzy Plant
Roserade Razor Leaf Solar Beam

Pokemon GO Giovanni May 2022 Round 3: Shadow Latias

Latias: Weak against Bug, Dark, Dragon, Fairy, Ghost, and Ice-Type Moves

  • Gengar – Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball
  • Garchomp – Dragon Tail, Outrage
  • Steelix – Dragon Tail, Crunch
  • Scizor – Fury Cutter, X-Scissor
  • Dialga – Dragon Breath, Draco Meteor
Pokemon Fast Attack Charged Attack
Gengar Shadow Claw Shadow Ball
Garchomp Dragon Tail Outrage
Steelix Dragon Tail Crunch
Scizor Fury Cutter X-Scissor
Dialga Dragon Breath Draco Meteor

You are now ready to face Giovanni in Pokemon GO and walk away with his prized Pokemon. If you’re interested in more Team GO Rocket guides or you just want to stay up to date on everything in Pokemon GO, check out our Pokemon GO guides.

Pokemon GO is available now on mobile devices.


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Author
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Noah Nelson
From his early days of blog-style music, movie, and game reviews to working as the Esports Writer at Coastline Community College, Noah Nelson now works fulltime as a Staff Writer for Attack of the Fanboy and PC Invasion. He has been helping gamers everywhere with Destiny 2 god rolls, Warzone 2 DMZ missions, and collectibles in any indie game for over a year and a half. His Bachelor's Degree in English Rhetoric and Composition with a minor in Journalism from CSULB has shaped him to be a strong writer and editor. His fondest gaming memory is playing Sly Cooper 2 after begging his mom (for hours) to play it before his birthday and he still cries myself to sleep remembering the time he accidentally saved over his 99% completion save file in Kingdom Hearts 2.
Author
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Gordon Bicker
Gordon is a contributing writer for Attack of the Fanboy, a Games Design (BA) Honours student, and a Video Game Ambassador. He has been writing at AOTF for over a year and a half, with four years of games writing experience for outlets like Green Man Gaming. When he's not busy, he'll no doubt be experiencing games, writing poetry, playing guitar, adventuring, or happily starting a new Skyrim playthrough! As an avid Final Fantasy XIV player, he also hopes that you'll gain a warm feeling from his community stories. Gordon has reported on Fallout 4 and Destiny 2, whose favorite genres include action RPGs, MMORPG's and First Person Shooters but is always experimenting with many other types of games.