So, you want to know how to beat Pokémon Go’s Giovanni this month? Well, you’re in the right place. The Team Go Rocket leader made his return in November 2021 with legendary Shadow Lugia by his side. He’s possibly the toughest Rocket member to beat, but with the right counters and the know-how on what his weaknesses are, you’ll defeat him in no time.
In this Giovanni counter guide, we outline the best Pokémon team to take into battle. We’ve also listed the rewards you receive for defeating him. Check out our Pokémon Go promo codes while you’re here if you need some freebies, then take a look at our Pokémon Go Sierra, Pokémon Go Cliff, and Pokémon Go Arlo guides for some pro gamer strats.
Here are the best counters for each of Pokémon Go’s Giovanni Pokémon:
What are the best counters for Persian?
Giovanni will always use Persian as his first Pokémon. Persian is a normal-type Pokémon meaning it’s weak to fighting moves.
Here are our recommended Persian counters:
| Sprite | Pokémon | Moves |
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Lucario | Counter and Power-up Punch or Aura Sphere |
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Machamp | Counter and Cross Chop or Dynamic Punch |
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Conkeldurr | Counter and Dynamic Punch or Focus Blast |
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Rhyperior | Mud Slap and Stone Edge or Rock Wrecker |
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Tyranitar | Smack Down and Brutal Swing or Stone Edge |
What are the best counters for Honchkrow?
Honchkrow is one of Giovanni’s second Pokémon, it’s weak to rock-, electric-, ice-, and fairy-types. To beat it, we recommend any of the following to take into battle.
The best Honchkrow counters:
| Sprite | Pokémon | Moves |
 |
Magnezone | Volt Switch and Wild Charge |
|
Rhyperior | Mud Slap and Rock Wrecker |
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Electivire | Thunder Shock and Wild Charge |
What are the best counters for Kangaskhan?
Kangaskhan is weak to fighting-type attacks, here are our recommended counters.
Here are the best Kangaskhan counters:
| Sprite | Pokémon | Moves |
|
Machamp | Counter and Dynamic Punch |
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Terrakion | Double Kick and Sacred Sword |
|
Conkeldurr | Counter and Dynamic Punch |
What are the best counters for Kingdra?
Kingdra can be one of the second Pokémon that Giovanni uses. It’s weak to dragon- and fairy-type moves.
Here are the Kingdra counters we recommend:
| Sprite | Pokémon | Moves |
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Gardevoir | Charm and Dazzling Gleam |
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Togekiss | Charm and Dazzling Gleam |
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Dragonite | Dragon Tail and Dragon Claw |
What are the best counters for Cresselia?
Finally, you need to take on Shadow Cresselia, and for this psychic Pokémon, it’s weak against bug-, dark-, and ghost-type attacks and resistant to fighting- and psychic-types.
Here are our recommended Cresselia counters:
| Sprite | Pokémon | Moves |
|
Tyranitar | Smackdown and Crunch |
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Yveltal | Snarl and Dark Pulse |
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Gengar | Lick and Shadow Ball |
What rewards do I get for beating Pokémon Go’s Giovanni?
You get a whole bunch of rewards for defeating Pokémon Go’s Giovanni. For starters, you get 5,000 Stardust and an assortment of items, including max potions and max revives. A win also helps level up your Ultra Hero medal, which counts how many times you defeat the boss of Team Go Rocket.
As mentioned, you’ll level up your Ultra Hero medal every time you defeat Giovanni. When you defeat him enough times, you unlock more clothing which we’ve listed below. So, if you’re looking to kit yourself out and you’ve assembled the ultimate team to take him down, then it might be worth investing some time.
- Defeat Giovanni five times + silver badge level – unlocks shoes
- Defeat Giovanni five times + silver badge level – unlocks pants
- Defeat Giovanni 20 times + gold badge level – unlocks shirt
- Defeat Giovanni 20 times + gold badge level – unlocks gloves
And that’s everything you need to know about defeating Pokémon Go’s Giovanni. For more content like this, we recommend you head over to our Pokémon Go event, Pokémon Go raid, Pokédex, and Pokémon Go best Pokémon guides.