Team Go Rocket Boss Giovanni is back in January 2025 with his challenging Pokémon Go team, meaning you'll need to target a weakness of each team member of the best range of counters to in.

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Like all other members of the villainous team, its leader makes use of Shadow Pokémon which have more stats than usual.

What's more, you'll only be able to find Giovanni in the first place once you defeat enough Rocket Grunts to put together a Super Rocket Radar, making him one of the most elusive bosses in the game to track down.

Along with his Grunts and Team Rocket Leaders, like Sierra, Giovanni's line-up changes several times during each calendar as well, making it hard for the uninformed to keep track if they're casual players.

Luckily, this regularly updated guide will keep you up to speed on which Pokémon Giovanni is currently using, their weaknesses, and the best counters to defeat them.

How to beat Giovanni in Pokémon Go: January 2024 counters

All of the Shadow Pokemon Giovanni can use in Pokemon GO which you need to beat in January 2025
Pokémon Go.

To beat Giovanni and his January 2025 line-up in Pokémon Go, you'll need a team of counters like a Fighting-type to defeat his Persian and Ground, Fighting or Water-type to take down his Heatran.

The tricky part of battling Giovanni, however, is that his second between those first and last Pokémon can be any one of three options, so you'll need to prepare counters of the following types for each potential team member:

First round:

  • Persian (Normal-type)
    • Weakness: Counter with Fighting-type attacks

Second round:

  • Kingdra (Water and Dragon-type)
    • Weakness: Counter with Dragon and Fairy-type-attacks
  • Nidoking (Poison and Ground-type)
    • Weakness: Counter with Water, Psychic, Ground, and Ice-type attacks
  • Rhyperior (Ground and Rock-type)
    • Weakness: Counter with Grass, Water, Fighting, Ground, Steel, and Ice-type attacks

Third round:

  • Cresselia (Fire and Steel-type)
    • Weakness: Counter with Water, Ground, and Fighting-type attacks

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It’s worth noting that if Giovanni defeats you once, you can demand a rematch at the same location.

So, if he ends up using a second Pokémon you weren't prepared for, you can even leave the battle, switch out party members, and re-enter as long as you stay in the same location.

Best Persian counters in Pokémon Go

Shadow Persian is always the first Pokémon that Giovanni throws into battle. Being a Normal-type Pokémon, Shadow Persian is very weak against Fighting-type attacks. Any fighting-type move that you dish out will cause 160 per cent extra damage.

With this in mind, something like Machamp or Lucario would be strong counters! Lucario's Power-Up Punch or Machamp's Cross Chop would be solid attacks against Persian.

One thing you will not want to use is a Ghost-type Pokémon. Persian has a resistance to these ghoulish creatures, with their attacks doing 39 per cent less damage to Persian. So don't use any of those!

Best Kingdra counters in Pokémon Go

Giovanni's Kingdra only has two weaknesses, Dragon and Fairy types, but Pokémon Go has plenty of great counters like Palkia, Rayquaza, and Salamence.

However, while Dragon-type Legendaries and Pseudo-Legendaries can deal out the most damage, they'll be vulnerable to Kingdra's own moves of the same type, since it can use Dragon Breath as a Fast Attack and Outrage as a Charged Attack.

If you want a team that takes the least damage so you'll have a healthier party to take on Heatran, you should instead prioritise beating Kingdra with Fairy-type counters like Zacian (Crowned Sword form), Gardevoir, and Hatterene.

Best Nidoking counters in Pokémon Go

Thanks to its dual Poison and Ground typing, Giovanni's Shadow Nidoking has four weaknesses to exploit - Ground, Ice, Water and Psychic - which gives way to plenty of decent contenders to counter it with.

If you have plenty of Pokémon Go's most powerful Legendaries, Psychic types like Mewtwo and Hoopa (Unbound) are the best counters for Nidoking. Their high stats make them even more dangerous when combined with their 20 per cent STAB (same-type attack bonus).

If you're a casual player who hasn't caught that many Legendary Pokémon, standard counters like Galarian Darmanitan (Zen), Alakazam and Espeon can easily deal with Nidoking as well.

Best Rhyperior counters in Pokémon Go

Giovanni's Rhyperior has very strong stats, but its Rock and Ground-type gives it even more weaknesses than Nidoking for six in total: Water, Fighting, Grass, Ground, Steel and Ice.

To make the most of these weaknesses, using counters like the Water-type Kingler will deal the most damage, with Bubble as its Fast Attack and Crabhammers as its Charged Attack, since it's also not vulnerable to any of Rhyperior's attacks.

Kartana is also a strong choice as a Grass and Steel-type, but you'd need to be wary of Rhyperior using Superpower in its potential moveset since Kartana is weak to Fighting-type moves.

In this case, pure Grass-types like Roserade and Rillaboom are excellent back-ups to quickly beat Shadow Rhyperior if you use Razor Leaf and Gross Knot for both Pokemon's Fast Moves and Charged moves respectively.

Best Heatran counters in Pokémon Go

Pokemon Go key art of Heatran, which Giovanni uses as his third Pokemon in January 2025
Pokémon Go.

Shadow Heatran is another tough Sinnoh-born Legendary in Giovanni's arsenal, but is weak to Ground, Fighting and Water attacks, so using counters like Garchomp and Landorus (Therian) can make quick work of this Steel/Fire-type.

Although primarily thought of as a Dragon-type Pokémon, Garchomp is part-Ground, meaning it will still get a 20 per cent STAB (same-type attack bonus) for using Mud Shot as its Fast Attack and Earth Quake as its Charged Attack like Landorus, while being resistant to Heatran's Fire attacks too.

Other counters like Mamoswine and Excadrill can give out as much damage as Garchomp, if not more, but they'll be vulnerable to Heatran's various attacks due to their respective part-Ice and Steel typing.

If you've not been able to catch a Garchomp or Landorus yet, more common counters like Golurk or Donphan will still be very effective against Heatran as well.

If you challenge Giovanni multiple times, make sure to heal your best Pokémon between attempts and target each of his team members with the right counters, and you'll soon be able to beat him.

Pokémon Go is available to download on iOS and Android devices.

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Authors

Toby Saunders
Toby SaundersFreelance Writer

Toby Saunders is a freelance writer specialising in Video Game journalism. He has a wealth of experience in the field and is published on many different websites including PCGamesN, Nintendo Life and Pocket Tactics. He has a degree in Film Studies (he gets to write about Film and TV occasionally, too).

Ben Williams
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