The new year is here andPokemon GO’sJanuary calendar of eventsis now shifting into a whole new month of activities. As events continue to play out, it’s now time for trainers to start taking down Team GO Rocket leaders and begin working their way towards an encounter with Giovanni once again.
Team GO Rocket Grunts and Leaders should be appearing in the mobile AR game for players to battle in order to earn Shadow Encounters and work through some exciting rewards. After defeating Cliff and the rest of the Team GO Rocket leaders, trainers should be able to shift their focus towards Giovanni and earning an encounter with thatpowerful Shadow Mewtwohe has corrupted. This is going to be a tough fight, soPokemon GOplayers will definitely want to take some time to build a powerful counter roster before jumping into the battle and facing off against the big boss himself.
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Once players put in all the work to earn a Giovanni encounter, they’ll want to take the time to prepare for the fight before it begins so they don’t waste any resources. There’s always a bit of a random element to the exact lineup, but players can learn enough ahead of time to prepare for the most versatile roster to deal with the current lineup. Be sure to consider whether it might be worth burning someElite TMshead of time to get the ideal move sets in place before the fight.
Giovanni January 2023 Lineup
Persian Counters
As always, Giovanni is going to kick off the battle with Persian. This Pokemon is a Normal-type, and players inPokemon GOcan usually defeat it very easily with a respectable Fighting-type counter.
Nidoqueen Counters
Nidoqueen has a chance to appear in the second slot. This Team Rocket favorite is a dual Poison- and Ground-type, which means players can rely on Ground-, Water-, Psychic-, and Ice-types as the best counter possibilities.
Steelix Counters
The second possibility for Giovanni’s second fighter is Steelix. This Steel/Ground-type is weak to Fire-, Water-, Fighting-, and Ground-type moves.
Rhyperior Counters
The final possibility for Giovanni’s second fighter is Rhyperior. This Rock/Ground-type is weak to Steel-, Ice-, Water-, Fighting-, Grass-, and Ground-type moves.
Shadow Mewtwo Counters
The final spot is once again reserved for a Shadow Legendary that players can earn an encounter with if they manage to survive the battle. This time around players need to prepare to face off against Shadow Mewtwo and bring their best Dark-, Bug-, and Ghost-type moves to the table.
That should be just about everything trainers need to know heading into the big fight this month. Be sure to keep in mind that sometimes players may need to treat the first attempt as information gathering and immediately re-enter after an early defeat with some additional information.
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