Giovanni once again is the big bad of Team Rocket inPokémon GOfor December 2024, with a familiar team you can beat for rare rewards. Following theGalarian Expedition: Take OverTeam Rocket event, Giovanni switched up his team to include a new, powerful Shadow Legendary Pokémon. To free this Pokémon, you need to bring the right counters for the rest of Giovanni’s team.
To even reach Giovanni, youneed to build a Super Rocket Radarby completing special research surrounding Team Rocket. The fourth step of this research will grant you the Radar, which helps lead you to a place where Giovanni can be found. This only happens after you’ve taken down other Team Rocket leaders, such as Arlo andSierra inPokémon GO.
Team Rocket Boss Giovanni Lineup & Counters (December 2024)
Find The Perfect Pokémon To Save Heatran
For December 2024, Giovannihas three waves of Pokémonyou have to face. This is similar to previous months, and the same structure to Team Rocket fights you’ve come to expect from Grunts and other leaders. Although Giovanni uses some familiar Pokémon from previous battles, new counters made available through recent events give you new ways to approach this battle.
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Giovanniuses Shadow Pokémon during every wave, meaning that each creature on his team has higher health and greater damage with their attacks. UnlikeGigantamax battles inPokémon GO, you only fight Giovanni solo, as you pick three different Pokémon of your own to challenge the Team Rocket leader’s team.
Most Team Rocket leaders use very basic Shadow Pokémon during the first wave or two, but Giovanni has fully evolved Pokémon throughout his whole team in addition to a Legendary.
When you fight Giovanni, the criminal mastermind willalways use one Pokémon in the first and third waves. While you can predict these waves every time, Giovanni picks one Pokémon out of three possible choices during the second wave. This makes it hard to predict which Pokémon to use, so check out the table below to discover every option’s weakness and greatest counters:
1
2
3
Ground, Fighting, Water
The best team of Pokémon to use against Giovanni in December 2024 areGarchomp, Swampert, and Machamp. Garchomp is an excellent pick because its Dragon and Ground-types counter everything Giovanni could use in wave 2. Furthermore, Garchomp deals 200% more damage against Shadow Heatran, as both the Legendary’s Fire and Steel-types take super effective damage from Ground-type moves like Earthquake.
Machamp is a great choice for your team to take out Giovanni’s starter, Shadow Persian, as Fighting-type attacks exploit the Pokémon’s one weakness. Swampert is another Ground-type that does well against Giovanni’s Pokémon, but its Water-type also gives it resistance to Shadow Kingdra’s attacks. Even if that Pokémon isn’t used in wave 2, there’s nothing Giovanni can throw out that Swampert doesn’t effectively counter.
Rewards For Beating Rocket Leader Giovanni (December 2024)
Capture A Legendary And Gain Valuable Items
You automaticallygain 5,000 Stardust for defeating Giovanni, but you don’t get anyEggs inPokémon GOfor your victory. Unlike other Team Rocket leaders, Giovanni does not give you a Strange Egg, even if you have a slot available in your inventory. However, you dogain three item bundles for winning, which could include these collections of valuable resources:
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The biggest reward for defeating Giovanni is that youget a chance to catch Shadow Heatranonce you win. This encounter occurs right after you win, giving you a chance to save Heatran from Team Rocket’s control immediately after your victory. You may have to challenge Giovanni multiple times to get a HeatranShiny variant inPokémon GO, but this requires you to complete Special Research multiple times.
It is unlikely that Giovanni’s team will change until the next Team Rocket Take Over event, but you can still expect some of his team to remain. As you collect better counters, you can beat Giovanni inPokémon GO, not only in December 2024 but in all the months that follow.
