Learn how to defeat Arlo and which Pokémon Arlo has during the month of July 2026 in Pokémon GO. Includes Leader Arlo’s current Pokémon line-up, best counters and teams to use, and rewards for defeating Rocket Leader Arlo.
- 🔔 Currently updating with the start of Pokémon GO Flying Taxi: Taken Over
- 🔗 Other GO Rocket guides: Giovanni lineup and counters, Sierra lineup and counters, Cliff lineup and counters, Team GO Rocket Grunt lineups
Arlo’s Pokémon Lineup
Arlo is one of the Team GO Rocket Leaders in Pokémon GO, alongside Sierra, Cliff, and Giovanni. Rocket Leader Arlo is currently using the following Shadow Pokémon:
Slot #2
Arlo’s second Pokémon can be Shadow Slowbro, Shadow Golurk, or Shadow Steelix.
Slot #3
Arlo’s third Pokémon can be Shadow Scizor, Shadow Alakazam, or Shadow Charizard.
Best Pokémon for beating Arlo
Here are some of the best Pokémon you can use against Arlo in Pokémon GO:
- Any of the Steel or Dragon types can quickly take care of Tyrunt.
- A Fire type with Dark or Ghost subtyping, such as Houndoom, Blacephalon, or Chandelure, takes out Steelix, Alakazam, Golurk, and Scizor.
- Swampert has Water and Ground, making it ideal for Tyrunt, Steelix, Golurk, and Charizard.
- Mamoswine can be a good choice vs Tyrunt, Golurk, and Steelix.
- Tyranitar with Rock and Dark punishes Alakazam and Charizard.
- Charizard is great against Steelix and Scizor.
💡 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. Defeating Arlo rewards 3× Shadow Shards.
Shadow Tyrunt counters
Shadow Tyrunt
Arlo’s Shadow Tyrunt is a Rock and Dragon type, making it weak to Dragon, Fairy, Fighting, Ground, Ice, and Steel type moves. This makes picking counters challenging, but manageable, and we will mostly focus on Steel types, as they take reduced damage from most Tyrunt’s moves.
You should always start with a strong Pokémon that can burn Arlo’s shields fast, while still having utility after rotation. Spam charge moves and burn shields whenever possible. Here are our recommendations:
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
Crowned Sword Zacian
|
Metal Claw, Behemoth Blade |
Dusk Mane Necrozma
|
Metal Claw, Sunsteel Strike |
Crowned Shield Zamazenta
|
Metal Claw, Behemoth Bash |
Black Kyurem
|
Dragon Tail, Freeze Shock |
Haxorus
|
Dragon Tail, Breaking Swipe |
Metagross
|
Bullet Punch, Meteor Mash |
Garchomp
|
Dragon Tail, Breaking Swipe |
Shadow Slowbro counters
Shadow Slowbro
Slowbro is weak to Bug, Dark, Electric, Ghost, and Grass-type moves. Prioritize Pokémon with Dark and Ghost moves since they can easily take on the rest of Arlo’s lineup.
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
Hydreigon
|
Bite, Brutal Swing |
Darkrai
|
Snarl, Shadow Ball |
Absol
|
Snarl, Brutal Swing |
Houndoom
|
Snarl, Foul Play, Flamethrower |
Gyarados
|
Bite, Crunch, Hydro Pump |
Origin Giratina
|
Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball |
Shadow Golurk counters
Shadow Golurk
Shadow Golurk is a Ground/Ghost-type Pokémon. It is weak to Ice, Dark, Ghost, Grass and Water moves.
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
Primarina
|
Waterfall, Hydro Cannon |
Mamoswine
|
Powder Snow, Avalanche |
|
Hydreigon
|
Bite, Brutal Swing |
Kyogre
|
Waterfall, Origin Pulse |
Tyranitar
|
Bite, Brutal Swing |
Rillaboom
|
Razor Leaf, Frenzy Plant |
Shadow Steelix counters
Shadow Steelix
Shadow Steelix is weak to Water, Fighting, Fire, and Ground type moves. A Fire/-type is good for resisting Ground (but be wary of Thunder Fang) and also taking on Scizor later. A Water type is amazing since it also takes care of Gigalith and finally, Charizard.
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
Charizard
|
Fire Spin, Blast Burn |
Ho-Oh
|
Incinerate, Sacred Fire |
Swampert
|
Water Gun, Hydro Cannon |
|
Kyogre
|
Waterfall, Origin Pulse |
Quaquaval
|
Water Gun, Hydro Cannon |
Greninja
|
Water Shuriken, Hydro Cannon, Night Slash |
Shadow Scizor Counters
Shadow Scizor
Scizor is double-weak to Fire type moves, which leaves little to no room for picking counters. Use strong Fire-type Pokémon!
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
|
Charizard
|
Fire Spin, Blast Burn |
Blaziken
|
Fire Spin, Blast Burn |
Heatran
|
Fire Spin, Magma Storm |
Reshiram
|
Fire Fang, Fusion Flare |
Standard Darmanitan
|
Fire Fang, Overheat |
Typhlosion
|
Incinerate, Blast Burn |
Shadow Alakazam Counters
Shadow Alakazam
Shadow Alakazam is weak to Dark, Bug, and Ghost type moves. You can see why using Dark and Ghost Pokémon plays to your advantage. While you should give [reference to Dark types for their resistance to Psychic, watch out for a Focus Blast from Alakazam, which Ghost types resist!
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
|
Hydreigon
|
Bite, Brutal Swing |
|
Darkrai
|
Snarl, Shadow Ball |
|
Gyarados
|
Bite, Crunch |
|
Origin Giratina
|
Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball |
|
Houndoom
|
Snarl, Foul Play |
Dragapult
|
Astonish, Shadow Ball |
Shadow Charizard Counters
Shadow Charizard
Arlo’s Shadow Charizard is weak to Rockx2, Electric, and Water -type moves, which means we have a varied list of Pokémon that can be used against it.
| Pokémon | Moves |
|---|---|
Rhyperior
|
Smack Down, Rock Wrecker |
Rampardos
|
Smack Down, Rock Slide |
|
Tyranitar
|
Smack Down, Stone Edge |
|
Swampert
|
Water Gun, Hydro Cannon |
|
Greninja
|
Water Shuriken, Hydro Cannon |
Gigalith
|
Smack Down, Meteor Beam |
How to find and battle Rocket Leader 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 only be consumed if you win.
Rewards for Beating Arlo
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 Pokémon 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 breakdown
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. A Strange Egg can be deposited into your normal Egg storage, or into your extra egg space if that is full.
Receiving a Strange Egg does not have an effect on which item bundle drops alongside the egg.
Guaranteed
1000×
Stardust
Random drop of two of these:
-
4×
Revive
-
2×
Max Revive
-
4×
Hyper Potion
-
2×
Max Potion
-
1×
Unova Stone
-
1×
Egg 12 km
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.
