{"id":399817,"date":"2026-01-31T02:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T02:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/399817\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T02:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T02:02:09","slug":"pokemon-go-giovanni-rewards-and-counters-for-january-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/399817\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon Go Giovanni rewards and counters for January 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re trying to bulk out your Pok\u00e9dex in Pok\u00e9mon Go with Legendary Shadow Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>, 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 Pok\u00e9mon<\/a> as possible.<\/p>\n

As part of the Precious Pals: Taken Over event<\/a> in Pok\u00e9mon Go<\/a>, Giovanni’s line-up last got updated in January 2026, with his Legendary switching to Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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How to find Giovanni<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Complete the Precious Pals: Taken Over<\/a> Special Research quest from Professor Willow. This quest will see you beating Arlo, Cliff and Sierra<\/a>
\nBy beating the Team Go Rocket Leaders, you’ll get given a Super Rocket Radar.
\nEquip the Super Rocket Radar and head to a PokeStop, and then there’s a chance you’ll encounter Giovanni.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Once you’ve encountered him, you can fight him as many times as needed until finally capturing his Legendary Shadow Pok\u00e9mon.<\/p>\n

Giovanni Line-up<\/p>\n

Giovanni\u2019s choice of Pok\u00e9mon rotates every few months, meaning you will often find yourself battling different Pok\u00e9mon. Giovanni’s current team is as follows:<\/p>\n

First Pok\u00e9mon
\nSecond Pok\u00e9mon
\nThird Pok\u00e9mon<\/p>\n

Persian
\nMachamp
\nIncarnate Forme Thundurus<\/p>\n

Kangaskhan<\/p>\n

Rhyperior<\/p>\n

Best Giovanni counters<\/p>\n

Once you find Giovanni, prepare yourself for a tough fight. His Pok\u00e9mon are a lot stronger than the previous Team Go Rocket fights, so make sure your team is just as powerful. Don\u2019t be deterred if it takes two, or even three attempts to take him down!<\/p>\n

Here’s the Giovanni Counters we recommend:<\/p>\n

Slot 1: Crowned Sword Zacian, Shadow Mewtwo, Primal Kyogre or your strongest Water or Ground-type
\nSlot 2: Mega Lucario (Force Palm, Aura Sphere) or strongest Fighting-type
\nSlot 3: White or Black Kyurem, can also use strongest Ice or Rock-type<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How to beat Giovanni<\/p>\n

Before we jump into the strategy for beating Giovanni, It\u2019s important to remember that, like the previous Team Go Rocket Leaders, Giovanni has two Protect Shields at his disposal – this means a debut Pok\u00e9mon 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.<\/p>\n

Best Persian Counter<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1Lottie’s Pro Tip<\/p>\n

Try to avoid using your shields. Yes, you may need to sacrifice a Pok\u00e9mon, but it will be helpful when facing Giovanni’s Shadow Legendary.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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 Pok\u00e9mon, giving you two sweet seconds to lay into Persian before it retaliates.<\/p>\n

Best Rhyperior, Machamp and Kangaskhan Counters<\/p>\n

Giovanni’s second Pok\u00e9mon can be one of three, either Rhyperior, Machamp or Kangaskhan.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 Pok\u00e9mon 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.<\/p>\n

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 Pok\u00e9mon 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.<\/p>\n

Best Incarnate Forme Thundurus Counter<\/p>\n

\"Incarnate<\/p>\n

Incarnate Forme Thundurus is weak to Ice and Rock-type Pok\u00e9mon. There may be no type overlap with Giovanni’s other Pok\u00e9mon, but thankfully Pok\u00e9mon Go has a very good collection of powerful Ice and Rock-type Pok\u00e9mon for you to choose from. When it comes to which type to pick, I would go for the one which you have the strongest Pok\u00e9mon for.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Finally, if you still haven’t used a Mega Evolution for this fight, then your best choice is Mega Diancie. Since this Mega Evolution<\/a> is pretty hard to get, you can also use Mega Manectric or Mega Tyranitar.<\/p>\n

Giovanni Rewards<\/p>\n

You will receive a variety of rewards for defeating Giovanni. This includes 5,000 Stardust<\/a> and a variety of healing items, such as Max Potions and Max Revives. There\u2019s also a chance that you\u2019ll receive a Unova Stone<\/a>. And each time you beat him, you’ll get closer to unlocking the next stage of the Ultra Hero medal<\/a>, unlocking Giovanni-themed clothing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But most importantly you\u2019ll be given the opportunity to catch his Legendary Shadow Pok\u00e9mon, which this time around is a Shadow Giratina.<\/p>\n

Past Giovanni Shadow Legendary list<\/p>\n

Here are the Shadow Legendary Pok\u00e9mon Giovanni has had in his team in the past:<\/p>\n

Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus – January 2026
\nShadow Incarnate Forme Tornadus – September 2025
\nShadow Giratina – August 2025
\nShadow Dialga – May 2025
\nShadow Palkia – January 2025
\nShadow Heatran – October 2024
\nShadow Cresselia – August 2024
\nShadow Groudon – March 2024
\nShadow Kyogre – January 2024
\nShadow Regigigas – October 2023
\nShadow Regirock – June 2023
\nShadow Regice – March 2023
\nShadow Registeel – February 2023
\nShadow Mewtwo – November 2022
\nShadow Latios – July 2022
\nShadow Latias – April 2022
\nShadow Lugia – November 2021
\nShadow Ho-Oh – June 2021
\nShadow Moltres – May 2021
\nShadow Zapdos – June 2021
\nShadow Articuno – March 2021
\nShadow Mewtwo – October 2020 (as a part of Rocket Straight to Victory<\/a>)
\nShadow Suicune – July 2020
\nShadow Entei – March to July 2020
\nShadow Raikou – February 2020
\nShadow Moltres – January 2020
\nShadow Zapdos – December 2019
\nShadow Articuno – November 2019<\/p>\n

Good luck defeating Giovanni in Pok\u00e9mon Go! And looking for more help? Check-out our weakness chart, our guide to STAB<\/a>, and our list of Mega Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you’re trying to bulk out your Pok\u00e9dex in Pok\u00e9mon Go with Legendary Shadow Pok\u00e9mon, you’re going to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[86,56,54,55,4297,4298,4299],"class_list":["post-399817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-virtual-reality","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-virtual-reality","tag-virtualreality","tag-vr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}