Pokemon GO: How to Beat Giovanni (August 2020)

Game Rant

By John Higgs

Published Aug 3, 2020

Giovanni is back with a new roster in Pokemon GO, and players wanting to take on the Team GO Rocket boss will need to adapt to defeat him.

Pokemon GO, Niantic's Augmented Reality spin-off from the classic catch 'em up series, has maintained steady growth over the last two years. Though it experienced a drop-off in user numbers following its viral popularity in 2016, the game recovered well and continues to pull in record numbers. Part of Pokemon GO's success is down to Niantic's dedication to keeping the game fresh, with timed-events, rotating Raids, and special bosses.

One of these bosses is Giovanni, a villain who has been around since the very first Pokemon title. In Pokemon GO he is the head of Team GO Rocket, and can be found using the Super Rocket Radar. Players have been able to face him in the game since late-2019, but in August 2020 he updated his Pokemon to a tricky new Shadow roster.

Taking on the Boss

Giovanni's first Pokemon is Persian, a Normal-type that can also use Dark, Fairy, and Rock moves. Fighting-type moves are the best to take it down, but aren't essential. Persian is the simplest of Giovanni's team and acts more as a prelude to the harder battles. A good tactic is to use the fight against Persian to prepare the charge move of whichever Pokemon the player has brought to challenge Mewtwo.

Here are four good Pokemon vs. Persian:

Lucario: Counter/Power-Up Punch
Machamp: Counter/Cross Crop
Blaziken: Counter/Blaze Kick
Poliwrath: Mud Shot/Power-Up Punch

After the player defeats Persian, Giovanni will send out his second Pokemon, Sandslash. A pure Ground-type Pokemon, Sandslash fits Giovanni's classic Ground-based theme, and is weak to Ice, Grass, and Water-types. Of these types, Ice and Water are the safest counters, and well-chosen Pokemon can quickly bring Sandslash down.

Here are four good Pokemon vs. Sandslash:

Kyogre: Waterfall/Hydro Pump
Darmanitan: Ice Fang/Avalanche
Empoleon: Waterfall/Hydro Cannon
Swampert: Water Gun/Hydro Cannon

pokemon go fest 2020 shadow mewtwo guide niantic

The Genetic Pokemon

Once the player has defeated Giovanni's second Pokemon, he will send out his Legendary, Shadow Mewtwo. One of the first-ever Legendary Pokemon introduced in the series, Mewtwo is a Psychic-type Pokemon with an array of powerful moves at its disposal.

As expected of a Legendary Shadow Pokemon owned by a boss character, Mewtwo is the hardest of Giovanni's Pokemon to beat. It's vulnerable to Dark, Bug, and Ghost-types, of which Ghost and Dark are generally the best to bring. The ideal way to take Mewtwo down quickly is to make good use of Charge moves, which is made even easier if they've already been charged in the previous fights.

Here are four good Pokemon vs. Mewtwo: