Rocket Boss Giovanni Counters

Giovanni is the Team GO Rocket Boss in Pokémon GO and his signature Pokémon is a Shadow Legendary Entei. You can catch a Shadow Entei by defeating Giovanni. Giovanni’s Shadow Legendary changes every month. This page describes how to defeat Giovanni and which Pokemon are best counters for Giovanni’s Pokemon.

Giovanni’s Pokémon Lineup

Giovanni always uses a Persian as his first Pokémon. His second Pokemon can be Kingler, Steelix or Rhyperior. His final Pokemon is Shadow Entei.

Counters recommendation

The following Pokemon are a good basis against Giovanni, no matter what lineup he has:

Of course, you will have to adjust your Pokémon based on Giovanni’s #2 Pokémon.

Countering Giovanni’s Pokémon

Persian

Persian

Weak to Fighting, resist Ghost.

Persian uses Dark and Normal fast moves, and it uses Dark, Rock or Fairy charge moves. This combination makes Melmetal one of the best counters to Persian, but Machamp and Rhyperior are not too far. Melmetal needs to have Super Power Fighting to be effective.

Recommended counters for Giovanni’s Persian

Pokémon	Fast move	Charge move
Melmetal	Thunder Shock	Thunderbolt Super Power
Machamp	Counter	Cross Chop Rock Slide
Rhyperior	Mud Slap	Stone Edge Super Power
Conkeldurr	Counter	Dynamic Punch
Lucario	Counter	Aura Sphere

Lucario, Regirock, Aggron and Giratina (non-Ghost moves) also perform fairly well against Persian. Pick the best combination of CP and moves you have in your Pokémon Storage.

Kingler

Kingler

Weak to Electric and Grass, resists Fire, Ice, Steel and Water.

Kingler can have Metal Claw, Bubble or Mud Shot as Fast move, and Vice Grip, X-Scissor, Water Pulse and Crabhammer as Charge moves. Kingler should be disposed of quickly, before it can charge its hard hitting charge moves. Pokémon like Venusaur and Roserade are excellent against Kingler, but if it has X-Scissor, you could be in a lot of trouble.

Recommended counters to Giovanni’s Kingler

Pokémon	Fast move	Charge move
Torterra	Razor Leaf	Sand Tomb Frenzy Plant
Venusaur	Razor Leaf	Sludge Bomb Frenzy Plant
Roserade	Razor Leaf	Grass Knot Dazzling Gleam
Giratina (Origin)	Shadow Claw	Shadow Ball Ominous Wind
Palkia	Dragon Breath	Draco Meteor Hydro Pump

Steelix

Steelix

Weak to Fighting, Fire, Ground and Water, resist a lot of other types due to Steel dual typing.

Surprisingly, countering Giovanni’s Steelix is not an easy task. Steelix has access to Steel, Dragon and Electric fast moves, and Steel, Ground, and Dark typed charge moves. This insane combination makes it quite difficult to pick counters, but Rhyperior fares well against everything except for Earthquake. Fighting types can cover you well if they survived Persian also. And don’t forget Fire types! They are super important here to melt down that Steelix.

Recommended counters for Giovanni’s Steelix

Pokémon	Fast move	Charge move
Kyogre	Waterfall	Surf Thunder
Heatran	Fire Spin	Stone Edge Flamethrower
Rhyperior	Mud Shot	Earthquake
Charizard	Fire Spin	Blast Burn
Machamp	Counter	Cross Chop

Rhyperior

Rhyperior

Double weak to Water and Grass, notably weak to Fighting as well. For a full type chart visit our DB.

Rhyperior is easily defeated by using a Swampert, Kyogre, Torterra or a Roserade. Other Pokémon with Water and Grass attacks are a solid option as well, as long as they take reduced damage from Rhyperior’s fast moves. Rhyperior uses Ground and Rock fast moves, and 5 different Charge moves – again, visit the DB for a full list.

Recommended counters to Giovanni’s Rhyperior

Pokémon	Fast move	Charge move
Kyogre	Waterfall	Surf Thunder
Torterra	Razor Leaf	Earthquake Frenzy Plant
Venusaur	Razor Leaf	Sludge Bomb Frenzy Plant
Swampert	Water Gun	Hydro Cannon Sludge Wave
Empoleon	Waterfall	Hydro Cannon Hydro Pump
Roserade	Razor Leaf	Solar Beam Dazzling Gleam

Entei

Entei

Weak to Ground, Rock and Water.

Entei uses Fire fast moves and Fire and Steel charge moves, which makes it easy to defeat under normal circumstances. Water types like Kyogre, Omastar, Swampert and the like will have an easy way dealing with Entei. Other options include Palkia and Rhyperior.

Recommended counters to Giovanni’s Entei

Pokémon	Fast move	Charge move
Kyogre	Waterfall	Surf Thunder
Swampert	Water Gun	Hydro Cannon Sludge Wave
Omastar	Rock Throw	Rock Slide Ancient Power
Rhyperior	Smack Down	Surf Super Power
Palkia	Dragon Tail	Draco Meteor Hydro Pump
Tyranitar	Smack Down	Crunch Fire Blast