Giovanni stands with his back to the trainer in Pokemon GOCustom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
By
Matthew Danielson
Published 23 minutes ago
Matthew Danielson is a Senior Gaming Staff Writer for Screen Rant, using their expertise in fighting games, RPGs, and action titles to provide insight into your favorite experiences.
Matthew does a bit of everything, including helping ideate new content surrounding the hottest games and classics that continue to stoke nostalgia. With multiple years of experience, Matthew is your go-to expert on a variety of topics, from detailed fighting game experience to the most nuanced builds for your favorite RPG.
Matthew has worked for Screen Rant as a Gaming Senior Staff Writer since August 2022, and has been proud to release many articles that have helped people with unique problems while playing games.
As a long-time fan of TTRPG games, Matthew is also a veteran DM for Dungeons and Dragons, having hosted numerous campaigns over nearly a decade.
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Giovanni has been a continuous challenge for Pokémon GO players, using a Shadow Legendary Pokémon to spread Team Rocket's corruption throughout multiple Taken Over events. Anyone who completes the right Research can get a Super Rocket Radar to track down Giovanni, but defeating his team is another story. Only the right counters will give you the best chance at stopping the schemes of this criminal mastermind in December 2025.
To unlock a battle with Giovanni, you have to defeat other Team Rocket Grunts and Leaders through various Special Research tasks. Doing this will earn you the Super Rocket Radar, but you have to investigate Poké Stops with fake Giovannis to find the real one. With some Pokémon GO events still going on, you have some time to prepare your team before the Radar leads you to the true leader.
Team Rocket Boss Giovanni Lineup & Counters (December 2025)
Find New Pokémon For Challenging The Hidden Rocket Leader
Pokémon GO Garchomp, Swampert, Machamp counters for Giovanni
The last time Giovanni's team was changed was during the Psychic Spectacular Taken Over event in late September 2025. As of December 2025, Giovanni's lineup hasn't changed from past months, giving you a familiar idea of what team to expect. While you could use the same counters of Pokémon that have beaten Giovanni before, some events have introduced other options worth considering too.
Leveling changes in Pokémon GO have also changed some features of the game, but thankfully, most of them don't impact how battles work to take down Giovanni.
Giovanni uses Shadow variants of Pokémon, which are much stronger than their base forms when used in battle. The higher stats and damage from Shadow Pokémon can be overcome by your own Shadow team members, Mega forms, or simply the strong Pokémon that you bring into the battle. Regardless, you need to think about how Pokémon types interact with Giovanni's team, and how best to exploit their weaknesses.
Over the course of three waves, Giovanni will use three separate Pokémon to battle. While the first and third are always the same every time you fight the Rocket leader, the second is chosen randomly from three possible options. The table below goes over every potential Pokémon Giovanni could use, including their weaknesses and what counters tend to work best against them:
Wave
Pokémon (Type)
Weaknesses
Best Counters
1
Shadow Persian (Normal)
Fighting
- Conkeldurr
- Urshifu
- Machamp
- Lucario
- Keldeo
2
Shadow Rhyperior (Ground/Rock)
Ground, Water, Ice, Steel, Grass, Fighting
- Crabominable
- Breloom
- Swampert
- Hisuian Lilligant
- Swampert
2
Shadow Kangaskhan (Normal)
Fighting
- Conkeldurr
- Urshifu
- Machamp
- Lucario
- Keldeo
2
Shadow Nidoking (Poison/Ground)
Ground, Water, Ice, Psychic
- Garchomp
- Incarnate Forme Landorus
- Swampert
- Alakazam
- Mamoswine
3
Incarnate Forme Tornadus (Flying)
Electric, Ice, Rock
- Togedemaru
- Xurkitree
- Black Kyurem
- Magnezone
- Zekrom
Since the November team for Giovanni, there have been a couple of events in Pokémon GO that give you great counters. Some great examples include Togedemaru from the High Voltage event, whose Electric/Steel-types are perfect for resisting any type of attacks Giovanni's Incarnate Forme Tornadus can muster.
Other good examples of strong Pokémon to use as counters include Breloom, Crabominable, and Hisuian Lilligant, whose Fighting-type affinities are great against Giovanni's Persian and possible Kangaskhan.
Some classic counters against this Giovanni team are:
- Garchomp
- Black Kyurem
- Lucario
The Steel-type of Lucario helps it resist lots of damage from Giovanni's Pokémon, while its Fighting-type moves can take out some of the leader's options too. Meanwhile, Garchomp's Ground-type attacks, like Earthquake, can easily take out Giovanni's Nidoking and Rhyperior before they get the chance to act. For a final nail in the coffin, Black Kyurem's Ice-type moves are ideal for making quick work of Incarnate Forme Tornadus at the end of the battle.
Rewards For Beating Rocket Boss Giovanni (December 2025)
Gain Bundles Of Valuable Items And A Rare Encounter
Pokémon GO SierraTeam Rocket Leader rewardsCustom image by Ben Williams
Defeating Giovanni immediately nets you 5,000 Stardust, giving you a high amount of in-game currency to spend however you wish. At the same time, you gain three different item bundles, each of which could include:
- 4x Revive
- 4x Max Revive
- 4x Hyper Potion
- 4x Max Potion
- 1x Unova Stone
These rewards are seldom seen in Pokémon GO's multitude of events, and directly help against other Pokémon in larger battles. Raid bosses, Max Battles, and other challenges are approached better with the Revives or Potions these rewards provide. However, the item bundles are not the only rewards from Giovanni, as you get a rare encounter too with the criminal's stolen Legendary.
Once you win, you have a chance to catch Giovanni's Incarnate Forme Tornadus, a pure Flying-type Pokémon. Giovanni has taken creatures like Giratina, Dialga, and other infamous Legendary Pokémon before, but Tornadus is the one currently in the leader's rotation. This Legendary will likely change when another Taken Over event happens, which could be later this month.
Even if the Team Rocket mastermind's team changes, most of the Pokémon he uses will remain the same from the first two waves. This means that as you prepare to counter Giovanni's team in December 2025, many of the Pokémon you use will remain strong against him in Pokémon GO, even if he takes over a different Legendary.
6.3/10
Pokémon GO
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed Augmented Reality RPG Systems
Released
July 6, 2016
ESRB
e
Developer(s)
Niantic
Publisher(s)
Niantic
Engine
Unity
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play
Yes
7 Images
Close
Franchise
Pokemon
Platform(s)
iOS, Android
Genre(s)
Augmented Reality, RPG
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