Pokémon GO Arlo Counters Guide

A comprehensive guide on how to defeat Team GO Rocket Leader Arlo in Pokémon GO. We got you covered with the best Pokémon to use against Arlo, regardless of which line-up Arlo uses. Defeat Arlo in Pokémon GO with these easy counters! 

Remember that you can rematch Arlo if you lose the first time. Use this guide in combination with knowing Arlo’s Pokémon to ensure a victory. Be aware that many consider Arlo to be the most difficult Team GO Rocket leader.

💡 Note: In Trainer Battles, counters need not always be Pokémon that do super-effective damage. We include Pokémon that are more viable to defeat Arlo, rather than those who do maximum damage.

Arlo’s Pokémon Line-Up

Arlo uses Shadow Charmander as his first Pokémon. Arlo’s second Pokémon can be Shadow Mawile, Shadow Charizard or Shadow Salamence. His third Pokémon can be Shadow Scizor, Shadow Gardevoir or Shadow Steelix.

Countering Arlo’s Shadow Pokémon

Charmander

Charmander

Arlo’s Shadow Charmander is a Fire type that should be fairly easy to take down. It is weak to Rock Ground and Water.

It will be worth considering what other Pokémon Arlo has next, a Ground type will help with Mawile, but sadly neither of the other options are also weak to the same typings as Charmander.

Recommended counters

You need to get those shields down quickly, so of these counters, Swampert / Rhyperior / Rhydon with Mud Slap and Hydro Cannon / Surf is ideal. Mud Slap is a really spammy quick move, so while Water Gun might do more damage, Mud Slap builds energy quicker to get those shields burnt.

Arlo’s Second Pokémon

Arlo’s second Pokémon can be a tricky set, as all of his Pokémon require such different counters to one another. Rock types for Charizard, Fire type will cover Mawile, and for Salamence, Ice and Fairy types will be the way to go.

Charizard

Charizard

Arlo’s Shadow Charizard is double weak to Rock, and also weak to Electric and Water. Almost all of the Charizard counters are strong Rock-types with access to Smack Down.

Recommended counters

Salamence

Salamence

Arlo’s Shadow Salamence is very similar to Dragonite, with Fairy and Ice types countering most move sets. In case of Fire Fang, Palkia, Garchomp and Giratina Origin win easily.

Recommended counters

Mawile

Mawile

Arlo’s Shadow Mawile is a Steel and Fairy type that is weak to Fire and Ground.

Recommended counters

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Arlo’s Final Pokémon

Arlo has a difficult set of final Pokémon. Quite often you may find you need to find out what Pokémon he has, then attempt the battle again, because no Pokémon will cover all of the potential Pokémon in their line up.

Scizor

Scizor

Arlo’s Shadow Scizor is his signature Pokémon, and this Bug and Steel Pokémon is only weak to the Fire type (2x).

Most of the counters you want to use are Strong fire types, like Ho-Oh, Heatran, Entei Reshiram and Moltres. Other options include Chandelure, Entei, Emboar, Flareon and Charizard. In some cases, switching to meta-relevant Pokémon like Kyogre, Melmetal and Swampert makes sense as well.

Recommended counters

Gardevoir

Gardevoir

Arlo’s Shadow Gardevoir is a Psychic and Fairy type that hits hard. It is weak to Ghost Poison and Steel. Both Charm and Confusion as fast moves are going to hit hard no matter what Pokémon you use, so you need to be prepared!

Recommended counters

Steelix

Steelix

Arlo’s Shadow Steelix is a Steel and Ground type, with a scary wide move pool, high defence and strong damage output. Steelix is weak to Fighting, Fire, Ground and Water moves.

Picking counters will heavily depend on which Fast move it has. Available fast moves are Thunder Fang (Electric), Dragon Tail (Dragon) and Iron Tail (Steel).

Recommended counters

How to battle Arlo in Pokémon GO?

To fight with Arlo in Pokémon GO, you need to first defeat six Team GO Rocket Grunts to collect enough Mysterious Components to build a Rocket Radar.

Activate the Rocket Radar and you will be able to see the location of a Rocket Leader. The game will not tell you which Leader you are facing, but you have a 33% chance for it to be Arlo.

Fighting Arlo is more difficult than fighting Grunts, as Leaders use higher level Pokémon than Grunts. In order to defeat Arlo, we consider using good counters mandatory. 

You can rematch if you lose, and your Rocket Radar will be consumed if you win.

Rewards for defeating Arlo Rocket Leader

Trainers who manage to defeat Arlo – or any other Team GO Rocket Leader – will get a selection of rare rewards, including the chance to get a Team GO Rocket exclusive 12 km Strange Egg.

• Trainers receive 1,000 Stardust when defeating a Rocket Leaders,
• Trainers will receive two of the item bundles listed below when they defeat Team GO Rocket Leader like Arlo.
• Trainers have the opportunity to catch a Shadow Pokémon used by the Leader. It is always the first Pokemon used by the Leader.
• Shadow Pokémon from Rocket Leaders have a shiny chance of 1 in 64, if they are shiny eligible at the moment of defeating the Leader

Rewards for defeating Arlo in Pokémon GO

Defeating one of the Team GO Rocket Leader trio earns you two item bundles. If at least one of your Egg inventory slots is open, a 12km Strange Egg is guaranteed to replace one of those two bundles.

Receiving a Strange Egg does not have an effect on which item bundle drops alongside the egg.

Guaranteed

1000x Stardust

Random drop of two of these:

As an example, a typical reward drop might contain 4 Revives and 4 Hyper Potions. Similarly, a reward drop might contain 1 Strange Egg and 2 Max Revives, or 1 Unova Stone and 1 Strange Egg.

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