It's April, meaning Team Rocket boss Giovanni has changed up his Pokémon Go team, so you'll need to make some tweaks to take him down effectively.

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Unlike most Rockets, Giovanni's Shadow Pokémon deal even more damage, so you're in for a beating if you go into the battle without preparing properly.

To fight him, you'll first have to beat his Grunts and Team Rocket Leaders, whose line-ups will change over time as well.

So, if you're looking to see what Giovanni has in store in his line-up for April 2025 and how to defeat him, read on!

How to beat Giovanni in Pokémon Go: April 2025 counters

To beat Giovanni and his April 2025 line-up in Pokémon Go, you'll need to fill your party with the following counters:

  • Bring a Fighting type to counter Persian
  • Bring a Fairy type to counter Kingdra and Palkia
  • Bring a Water type to counter Rhyperior and Nidoking

Below are the Pokémon you can expect to see in each round. This time, only round two has an element of mystery to it.

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

Third round:

  • Palkia (Dragon and Water-type)
    • Weakness: Counter with Dragon and Fairy-type attacks

Reckon you're a Pokémon master? Pit your wits against our Pokémon quiz below!

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 Palkia, too, you should instead prioritise beating Kingdra with Fairy-type counters like Zacian (Crowned Sword form), Gardevoir, and Hatterene.

Best Rhyperior counters in Pokémon Go

Giovanni's Rhyperior has very strong stats, but its Rock and Ground-type gives it a ton of weaknesses with 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 Crabhammer 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 Pokémon's Fast Moves and Charged moves respectively.

Best Nidoking counters in Pokémon Go

Giovanni's Nidoking may not have quite as many weaknesses as Rhyperior, but it shares a couple thanks to its Ground typing, meaning you can kill two birds with one stone

Kingler will again be an excellent shout here, as the same Bubble and Crabhammer that will demolish Rhyperior will do plenty of damage to Nidoking too, although not quite as much as Nidoking is only 2x weak to Water.

Really, any Water Pokémon will do - Vaporeon is another great shout simply because they're quite easy to obtain if you don't have a solid Water Pokémon already, while some Psychic-types like Espeon or Gardevoir could be a great shout too.

Best Palkia counters in Pokémon Go

Shadow Palkia is another Dragon and Water-type Pokémon (along with Kingdra) and is weak against Dragon and Fairy-type attacks. We'd recommend you use your strongest Fairy-type Pokémon against Palkia, though, as Dragon is strong against Dragon.

With this in mind, we feel the best counters against Palkia in Pokémon Go are the likes of Togekiss, Hatterene and Xerneas.

Gardevoir is another great pick, as is Sylveon. Enamorus will work wonders, too, if you have one!

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

Ben Williams
Alex Raisbeck
Alex RaisbeckGaming writer
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