Pokémon GO Arlo Counters (May 2023)

Defeating Team GO Rocket Leader Arlo is a tough challenge, even for experienced Trainers. In this article, we’ll provide the best counters and tested strategies to outplay Arlo in Pokémon GO in May 2023. Defeating Arlo rewards 3× Shadow Shards.

Explore this guide to find Arlo’s current Pokémon team, their vulnerabilities, and the best counters to add to your team to defeat them. Arlo is one of the Team GO Rocket Leaders in Pokémon GO, alongside Sierra, Cliff, and Giovanni.

💡 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 current Pokémon line-up

Arlo uses the following Shadow Pokémon in May 2023:

• Arlo’s first Pokémon is Shadow Teddiursa.
• Arlo’s second Pokémon can be Shadow Hypno, Shadow Golurk, or Shadow Blaziken.
• Arlo’s third Pokémon can be Shadow Scizor, Shadow Banette, or Shadow Luxray

Best team to defeat Team GO Rocket Leader Arlo’s current Pokemon

To beat Arlo’s current Pokemon, you need to exploit their weaknesses, and use best counters you can use to defeat each one. One of the best Teams you can use against Arlo in Pokémon GO is Torterra, Tyranitar, and Chandelure.

A strong Dark and Rock-type attacker like Tyranitar (with Smack Down, Crunch and Stone Edge) is able to counter Teddiursa, Hypno, Golurk, and Banette with little to no problems. Tyranitar can do a lot of damage, but be careful against Scizor – Tyranitar is weak to Bug-type attacks. Can be easily replaced with Rhyperior with Smack Down to counter Luxray.

Torterra’s utility against Arlo is surprising, as it is an excellent opponent to Golurk and Luxray, while still having utility against Teddiursa, Hypno and Banette.

Chandelure can defeat Blaziken and Scizor with Fire and Ghost moves, but you need to be careful when using it, and shield appropriately. If you have problems, pick a bulkier Fire-type. In case when you are faced with both Blaziken and Scizor, switch to using Swampert and Entei/any other Blast Burn user.

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Best Pokémon to defeat Arlo’s Shadow Teddiursa

Teddiursa (Shadow)

Open with a strong opener that can burn shields efficiently while still having utility after rotation. Tyranitar, Lucario, and Conkeldurr are excellent choices, some due to their high spam rate, some due to future utility against Arlo’s Crobat, Steelix and Cradily.

Teddiursa is a Normal-type, and weak to Fighting type attacks. We think Fighting-types are the way to go here, and even if you don’t burn both shields, you should be fine for the next match-up.

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Best Pokémon to defeat Arlo’s Hypno, Golurk and Blaziken counters

Arlo’s second Pokémon can be Shadow Hypno, Golurk, or Blaziken. Follow up with a Pokémon that is super effective against Arlo’s pick, but be careful! Hypno and Golurk can be defeated with Ghost and Dark types, while Blaziken will need something different.

Your choice will heavily depend on the Pokémon Arlo uses.

Hypno counters

Hypno (Shadow)

Hypno is a Psychic-type Pokémon. It is weak to Bug, Dark, and Ghost type moves. It takes reduced damage from Fighting, and Psychic type moves.

Golurk counters

Golurk (Shadow)

Golurk is a Ground and Ghost-type Pokémon. It is weak to Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ice, and Water type moves. It takes reduced damage from Bug, Rock, Electric, Fighting, Normal, and Poison type moves.

Blaziken counters

Blaziken (Shadow)

Blaziken is a Fire and Fighting-type Pokémon. It is weak to Flying, Ground, Psychic, and Water type moves. It takes reduced damage from Dark, Fire, Grass, Ice, Steel, and Bug type moves.

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Best Pokémon to defeat Arlo’s Scizor, Banette and Luxray

Arlo’s last Pokémon can be Shadow Scizor, Banette, or Luxray. Finish by dealing large amounts of super effective damage, depending on which Arlo’s Pokémon you are faced against. Good luck, let’s finish this!

Scizor Counters

Scizor (Shadow)

Scizor is a Bug and Steel-type Pokémon. It is weak to Fire type moves. It takes reduced damage from Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Ice, Normal, Psychic, Steel, Grass, and Poison type moves.

Banette Counters

Banette (Shadow)

Banette is a Ghost-type Pokémon. It is weak to Dark, and Ghost type moves. It takes reduced damage from Bug, Poison, Fighting, and Normal type moves.

Luxray Counters

Luxray (Shadow)

Luxray is a Electric-type Pokémon. It is weak to Ground type moves. It takes reduced damage from Electric, Flying, and Steel type moves.

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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

1000× 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.

More Team GO Rocket Guides