Pokémon GO – How to Beat Giovanni (August 2021)

With August 2021 kicking off it’s time once again to find and beat the Team GO Rocket Boss Giovanni in Pokémon GO. His team hasn’t changed just yet, but last month saw big alterations to a set that hadn’t been modified in quite a while. We could see new Pokémon swapped in and out, so check back for any updates as the month unfolds. But otherwise we’re here to show you how to find and beat Giovanni, the Team GO Rocket Boss in Pokémon GO for August 2021.

How to Find the Team GO Rocket Boss Giovanni

There are two main steps you need to complete before you can even try to beat Giovannin in Pokémon GO. The first is to acquire a Super Rocket Radar. This item is the powered up version of the regular Rocket Radar, which lets you do battle against the Team GO Rocket Leaders. However, while you can get one of the lesser Radars by battling Team GO Rocket Grunts, the Super Rocket Radar is only available one way.

How to Get a Super Rocket Radar

Special and Timed Research will be given out by Niantic at various points which offer a Super Rocket Radar as a reward. However, there’s no info on a new set of Research for August 2021 that might give players a new one. So if you’ve used all that you had then you may have to wait for that to arrive. Otherwise it will come down to whether you’ve earned and completed the previous Special Research that was available. Here’s the full list, but most of these have expired by now, so if you don’t have them currently on your Research menu then you’ll have to be patient.

• Looming in the Shadows
• A Challenging Development
• The Take-Over Continues
• A Professor’s Work is Never Done
• The Shadow Threat Grows
• GO Fest Battle Challenge
• GO Fest 2020: Rocket Straight to Victory
• An Inter-egg-sting Development
• The Higher They Fly…
• Luminous Legends X
• A Seven-Colored Shadow

So if you have any of these available complete it now and activate the Super Rocket Radar. This will let you find the Team GO Rocket Boss either at a PokéStop or Team GO Rocket Balloon. At a Stop you may run into a decoy Grunt, which you can locate by tapping the Super Rocket Radar in the top right of the overworld map. If you run into a decoy either beat it or flee then check the other Stops shown on the radar and eventually you’ll find Giovanni and can begin the fight.

How to Beat Giovanni in August 2021

And now we come to the true question of how to beat Giovanni in Pokémon GO for August 2021. To do it you will need solid counters, which we list below. More than that though, you need to strategize using his own tactics against him. First off, make sure your Persian counter isn’t in your first slot. Swapping Pokémon will cause Giovanni to pause his own attacks for 2-3 seconds, letting you do damage and gain Charged Attack energy. And you’ll then want to use that energy to burn off Giovanni’s two shields. He’ll use them against your first two Charged Attacks so don’t worry about damage or type matchups with them. Just fire them off so that your later counters actually hit.

Giovanni Counters

The one thing that has never truly changed, Giovanni starts his fights in August 2021 with Persian.

Persian Counters

• Tyranitar with Smack Down and Crunch
• Lucario with Counter and Aura Sphere
• Terrakion with Smack Down and Rock Slide
• Machamp with Counter and Dynamic Punch
• Conkeldurr with Counter and Dynamic Punch

And now for the round that does change, with either Machamp, Golem, or Cloyster joining the roster last month.

Machamp Counters

• Lugia with Extrasensory and Sky Attack
• Giratina with Shadow Claw and Dragon Claw (Altered) or Shadow Ball (Origin)
• Mewtwo with Psycho Cut and Psystrike
• Zapdos with Thunder Shock and Drill Peck
• Cresselia with Psycho Cut and Moonblast

Golem Counters

• Torterra with Razor Leaf and Frenzy Plant
• Swampert with Mud Shot and Hydro Cannon
• Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf
• Leafeon with Razon Leaf and Last Resort
• Gyarados with Waterfall and Aqua Tail

Cloyster Counters

• Melmetal with Thunder Shock and Rock Slide
• Omastar with Mud Shot and Rock Slide
• Arcanine with Snarl and Wild Charge
• Regirock with Lock-On and Stone Edge
• Lucario with Counter and Power-Up Punch

Finally you will come up against Shadow Ho-Oh. This will be your reward if you are able to beat Giovanni. A new reward will be featured in September, so if you already have Shadow Ho-Oh you may want to wait until then to use your Super Rocket Radar.

Shadow Ho-Oh Counters

• Mew with Volt Snarl and Rock Slide
• Swampert with Mud Shot and Hydro Cannon
• Politoed with Mud Shot and Waterfall
• Raikou with Volt Switch and Wild Charge
• Zekrom with Dragon Breath and Wild Charge

And that’s how to find and beat Giovanni in Pokémon GO for August 2021.