How to defeat Team Rocket’s Arlo in Pokemon Go (July 2020)
Pokemon CompanyArlo is back! The Team GO Rocket leader has returned to Pokemon Go. Here’s how to defeat him.
Like fellow leaders Cliff and Sierra, you’ll need a Rocket Radar equipped to be able to find the former friend of Candela. As many of you know this can be created by obtaining six Mysterious Components. They are found each time you beat a Grunt in battle.
Defeat Arlo
Arlo will select one of two Pokemon for his selection and then one of three for his second and third. The pool of Pokemon he may select are as follows:
- 1st Pokemon: Mawile or Pineco
- 2nd Pokemon: Blastoise, Charizard or Steelix
- 3rd Pokemon: Dragonite, Salamence or Scizor
While this is random, we do know that if it is a PokeStop encounter Arlo is guaranteed to choose Mawile. On the other, if battling Arlo through a hot air balloon then it will definitely be Pineco.
BulbapediaMawile
Don’t underestimate Mawile! The dual fairy and steel-type is weak to only fire and ground attacks and is resistant to just about everything else.
Mawile is particularly awkward due to the variety of attacks it has. Astonish, Bite, Fire Fang and Ice Fang are the four different Fast Moves it can utilize.
Ground is obviously a good way to go against the Deceiver Pokemon but that’s only if Ice Fang isn’t being used. As a result, a fire-type is the safest option as it is neutral or resists all of the above.
The same can be said for the array of Charge Moves Mawile has. Any of Blaziken, Charizard, Heatmor and especially Heatran will get the job done.
Pineco
Regardless of which Pokemon Arlo selects as their first, they share the same counters. Any of the above will be effective against Pineco, too.
However, ground-types won’t be, which, in addition to Mawile’s Ice Fang, is another reason to stick assemble fire-types. You will need to cautious of Pineco’s Rock Tomb move, though.
The strategy for a Team GO Rocket leaders first Pokemon is to bait their Protect Shields. Fire Spin should do this well.
Blastoise
Fire has been effective so far but it certainly won’t be against Blastoise. The Kanto starter’s pure water typing makes its counters clear – electric and grass.
However, if you’re going into the battle blind, an electric or grass-type may not fit. Instead you can look towards powerful Pokemon such as Hydreigon.
Zapdos, Zekrom, Sceptile and Venusaur are just some of the electric and grass-types which will get you the victory.
Charizard
Charizard. It seems almost impossible to write a Pokemon guide without the iconic starter coming up in some shape or form.
Charizard certainly lives up to its name in Pokemon Go. However, it does have a glaring weakness – rock attacks.
Golem is one of the first species that come to mind. There are others too, such as Landorus, Regirock, Giratina-A and even Golem’s Alolan form.
BulbapediaSteelix
Electric may work well against Blastoise or Charizard but it won’t against Steelix. The Iron Snake Pokemon will only receive 39.1% damage from electric attacks – and interestingly 24.4% from poison – take note!
What will work against it though, is fire, fighting, ground and water attacks. This means there are a lot of commonly used Pokemon that can be used to defeat it.
Any fire-type minus the likes of Charizard or Reshiram will get the victory – that includes Entei, Heatmor and Heatran. Excadrill, Rhyperior and Swampert are others that match up very well.
Unfortunately there is no all-in-one solution for Arlo’s second choice Pokemon, so you will have to take a chance and adjust your team accordingly once you know his lineup.
Dragonite
Dragonite is a dual dragon and flying type Pokemon. This means it is weak against dragon, fairy, ice and rock attacks. Ice attacks will actually do 256% damage as opposed to the usual type advantage of 160%.
There’s a good argument to use steel here though, regardless of the type advantages. That is because all of Dragonite’s moves are ineffective against steel.
This makes one clear and obvious counter for Dragonite – Dialga. Not only is Dialga the right typing but it is also utilizes dragon-type moves.
Elsewhere, the likes of Regice with Blizzard, Metagross and Mewtwo will take care of the original pseudo-legend.
Salamence
Rinse and repeat, well kind of. Salamence is also a dual dragon and flying-type Pokemon which would seemingly make it have similar counters to Dragonite.
It does but you need to be careful of Salamence’s fire moves Fire Fang and Fire Blast. Both of these will obviously ruin that steel-type advantage.
Regice remains an excellent counter and so does Dialga and Metagross should Salamence not be using either of those moves. Alternatively, Giratina-A and Togekiss are species you will probably have ready to use. Another alternative is a Suicune with Ice Fang.
Scizor
Scizor is another Pokemon that always seems to come up in the world of Pokemon Go. It is a dual bug and steel-type.
It doesn’t need too much thought to see that fire is once again an effective counter here. That includes Blaziken, Charizard and the other usual contenders.
Fire is Scizor’s only weakness and it is a 256% damage weakness at that. Should you be covering for all of Arlo’s third choice Pokemon then Dialga also works. Scizor’s moves are ineffective against the Gen 4 legend.
Arlo probably isn’t as tough as Sierra but you still need to do your homework. The right team and it should be relatively easy work – especially if you know the team in a second battle.