If you’re trying to bulk out your Pokédex in Pokémon Go with Legendary Shadow Pokémon, you’re going to want to keep an eye out for the Team Go Rocket boss Giovanni. He’s a bit fiddly to find, a tough fight, and his line-up changes every few months, but he’s worth it if you’re after as many rare Pokémon as possible.
As part of the Precious Pals: Taken Over event in Pokémon Go, Giovanni’s line-up last got updated in January 2026, with his Legendary switching to Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus.
With his line-up often changing, below we’ve put together the best Giovanni Counters, helping give you the edge against one the toughest bosses in the game. And also tips for finding him and the rewards for beating him.
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How to find Giovanni
Finding the Team Go boss can be a bit fiddly and firstly requires you to get hold of a Super Rocket Radar. Here’s how to find Giovanni:
Complete the Precious Pals: Taken Over Special Research quest from Professor Willow. This quest will see you beating Arlo, Cliff and Sierra
By beating the Team Go Rocket Leaders, you’ll get given a Super Rocket Radar.
Equip the Super Rocket Radar and head to a PokeStop, and then there’s a chance you’ll encounter Giovanni.
Watch out though, you might have to visit a few PokeStops before you find him. And you might also encounter a few decoy grunts along the way.
Once you’ve encountered him, you can fight him as many times as needed until finally capturing his Legendary Shadow Pokémon.
Giovanni Line-up
Giovanni’s choice of Pokémon rotates every few months, meaning you will often find yourself battling different Pokémon. Giovanni’s current team is as follows:
First Pokémon
Second Pokémon
Third Pokémon
Persian
Machamp
Incarnate Forme Thundurus
Kangaskhan
Rhyperior
Best Giovanni counters
Once you find Giovanni, prepare yourself for a tough fight. His Pokémon are a lot stronger than the previous Team Go Rocket fights, so make sure your team is just as powerful. Don’t be deterred if it takes two, or even three attempts to take him down!
Here’s the Giovanni Counters we recommend:
Slot 1: Crowned Sword Zacian, Shadow Mewtwo, Primal Kyogre or your strongest Water or Ground-type
Slot 2: Mega Lucario (Force Palm, Aura Sphere) or strongest Fighting-type
Slot 3: White or Black Kyurem, can also use strongest Ice or Rock-type
How to beat Giovanni
Before we jump into the strategy for beating Giovanni, It’s important to remember that, like the previous Team Go Rocket Leaders, Giovanni has two Protect Shields at his disposal – this means a debut Pokémon that has two quick Charged moves, and can withstand some damage, will set you up nicely for removing his shields and for the rest of the fight.
Best Persian Counter
💡Lottie’s Pro Tip
Try to avoid using your shields. Yes, you may need to sacrifice a Pokémon, but it will be helpful when facing Giovanni’s Shadow Legendary.
Persian will always come up first and is weak against Fighting, so having a Mega Lucario with Force Palm and Aura Sphere, or Terrakion with Double Kick and Sacred Sword are your best bets here. Failing that, Machamp and Lucario are cheaper, more attainable counters.
However, the secret technique to beating Persian is to put your fighter in the second slot and then immediately switch to it. This is because Giovanni experiences a two-second delay every time you switch Pokémon, giving you two sweet seconds to lay into Persian before it retaliates.
Best Rhyperior, Machamp and Kangaskhan Counters
Giovanni’s second Pokémon can be one of three, either Rhyperior, Machamp or Kangaskhan.
The best Rhyperior counters are Primal or Shadow Kyogre, Kartana, Crowned Sword Zacian or your strongest Water-type or Grass-type as it’s particularly weak against these two types. If you can, a stronger Water-type would be the better choice but if you’ve got a high-performing Grass-type like Kartana then that works too. Good choices include Zarude, Kyogre, and Sky Forme Shaymin. Shadow wise, you could use Shadow Swampert, Shadow Kyogre, or Shadow Venusaur.
The best Machamp counters are Crowned Sword Zacian, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Rayquaza and Shadow Mewtwo. Personally, I would recommend selecting Crowned Sword Zacian if you have one as this Pokémon also works as a good counter for Rhyperior if it knows a Steel-type move. Outside of this, it’s a good idea to focus on either using Shadow Mewtwo or Rayquaza. This leaves you single Mega Evolution slot open for Mega Lucario.
The best Kangaskhan counters are Mega Lucario, Machamp or Terrakion. Though you could also try using an Annihilape if it knows Counter and Close Combat. Since Kangaskhan is a pure Normal-type Pokémon like Persian, it is only weak to Fighting-types. Due to this, you may find you’re able to defeat it (or least put a good dent in its HP) with your chosen Persian counter. Still, it’s a good idea to have a backup Fighting-type counter if you’re facing Kangaskhan just in case it faints.
Best Incarnate Forme Thundurus Counter
Incarnate Forme Thundurus is weak to Ice and Rock-type Pokémon. There may be no type overlap with Giovanni’s other Pokémon, but thankfully Pokémon Go has a very good collection of powerful Ice and Rock-type Pokémon for you to choose from. When it comes to which type to pick, I would go for the one which you have the strongest Pokémon for.
The ideal choice for battling Incarnate Forme Thundurus is either Black or White Kyurem. Doesn’t really matter which one you have as both will do excellent damage! Don’t worry though if you don’t have these mighty dragons, there are other options awaiting you.
When it comes to Ice-type counters, consider using Baxcalibur, Galarian Darmanitan or Mamoswine (it’s Shadow version also works well). For Rock-types, you might want to use your own Rhyperior, Rampardos or Tyranitar. Just keep in mind that their Shadow versions are the best choices for this fight.
Finally, if you still haven’t used a Mega Evolution for this fight, then your best choice is Mega Diancie. Since this Mega Evolution is pretty hard to get, you can also use Mega Manectric or Mega Tyranitar.
Giovanni Rewards
You will receive a variety of rewards for defeating Giovanni. This includes 5,000 Stardust and a variety of healing items, such as Max Potions and Max Revives. There’s also a chance that you’ll receive a Unova Stone. And each time you beat him, you’ll get closer to unlocking the next stage of the Ultra Hero medal, unlocking Giovanni-themed clothing.
But most importantly you’ll be given the opportunity to catch his Legendary Shadow Pokémon, which this time around is a Shadow Giratina.
Past Giovanni Shadow Legendary list
Here are the Shadow Legendary Pokémon Giovanni has had in his team in the past:
Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus – January 2026
Shadow Incarnate Forme Tornadus – September 2025
Shadow Giratina – August 2025
Shadow Dialga – May 2025
Shadow Palkia – January 2025
Shadow Heatran – October 2024
Shadow Cresselia – August 2024
Shadow Groudon – March 2024
Shadow Kyogre – January 2024
Shadow Regigigas – October 2023
Shadow Regirock – June 2023
Shadow Regice – March 2023
Shadow Registeel – February 2023
Shadow Mewtwo – November 2022
Shadow Latios – July 2022
Shadow Latias – April 2022
Shadow Lugia – November 2021
Shadow Ho-Oh – June 2021
Shadow Moltres – May 2021
Shadow Zapdos – June 2021
Shadow Articuno – March 2021
Shadow Mewtwo – October 2020 (as a part of Rocket Straight to Victory)
Shadow Suicune – July 2020
Shadow Entei – March to July 2020
Shadow Raikou – February 2020
Shadow Moltres – January 2020
Shadow Zapdos – December 2019
Shadow Articuno – November 2019
Good luck defeating Giovanni in Pokémon Go! And looking for more help? Check-out our weakness chart, our guide to STAB, and our list of Mega Pokémon.