Pokemon GO Giovanni July 2022: How to Beat

We've put together a guide on how to beat Team GO Rocket boss, Giovanni.

Giovanni has been the leader of Team Rocket since Team Rocket's debut at the very start of the series. He and his Persian have kept the Grunts in check with an iron fist as they expanded into Pokemon GO and took over the creation of Shadow Pokemon. Whenever he appears, trainers should know to expect trouble — with a sizable reward for their efforts.

Here's how to beat Giovanni and rescue the current Shadow Pokemon, Shadow Latios.

Pokemon GO Giovanni July 2022: How to Beat

Team GO Rocket Leader Giovanni always starts off with his partner Pokemon before diving into a secondary pool of Pokemon and finishing with the catch of the cycle as a Shadow Pokemon — which trainers can rescue after they win.

First Pokemon: Persian

As always, Giovanni starts off with his partner Pokemon, Persian. This big cat is a normal-type, meaning fighting-types are your best bet to bring it down. For example:

• Lucario (Counter + Aura Sphere)
• Machamp (Counter + Dynamic Punch)
• Conkeldurr (Counter + Focus Blast)
• Breloom (Counter + Dynamic Punch)

Second Pokemon: Nidoking, Machamp, Rhyperior

Giovanni's second round can be simplified in a similar way to his executives. Two of his Pokemon share weaknesses, which can exploited in our favor.

Nidoking and Machamp share a weakness to psychic-types, so trainers can successfully pair these two together and look for psychic-type counters such as:

• Mewtwo (Confusion/Psycho Cut + Psychic)
• Espeon (Confusion + Psychic)
• Gardevoir (Confusion + Psychic)

Meanwhile Nidoking and Rhyperior share a weakness to water-types, allowing trainers a second type to potentially bank on when facing the second fight. Counters in this scenario include:

• Kingler (Bubble + Crabhammer)
• Kyogre (Waterfall + Surf/Hydro Pump)
• Sharpedo (Waterfall + Hydro Pump)

Third Pokemon: Shadow Latios

Latios is a dragon and psychic-type with vulnerabilities to bug, ghost, dark, ice, fairy and other dragon-types. Its best counters include:

• Dialga (Metal Claw + Draco Meteor)
• Giratina (Shadow Claw + Dragon Claw)
• Kyurem (Dragon Breath + Blizzard)

Best Team for Giovanni: Lucario, Mewtwo/Kingler, Giratina

No matter which way you slice it, Giovanni's battle is a tough one. Trainers will need to be prepared for the road ahead and not be afraid of a rematch. The best thing about a defeat against a Team GO Rocket boss is that they don't switch teams if trainers engage in the same encounter — allowing for better planning the next time around.

We recommend sticking to Lucario and Giratina for the first and final rounds. These should be simple as they're decent type match-ups and Giovanni's first and last round choices don't change. It's the middle section of the fight that could warrant a switch-up or extra backup from either side. Rhyperior is a tough sell against Mewtwo and Kingler won't do much to fight Machamp.

Sometimes, it's just down to the luck of the draw.