How to beat Giovanni in Pokémon GO (November 2024)

Giovanni returns once again in November 2024 to cause trainers a lot of trouble in Pokemon GO with another Legendary Pokémon at your disposal. Team GO Rocket’s boss remains the toughest AI opponent to face Pokemon GO with high CP Pokémon as well as some of the hardest in the game to challenge all players regardless of experience. All of your Pokémon are also of the Shadow variationfurther increasing its strength and difficulty.

To be able to face Giovanni, you must first defeat several members of Team GO Rocket. You’ll need to defeat six Rocket grunts, followed by the three GO Rocket Leaders Cliff, Sierra, and Arlo to earn the super rocket radar. This will open up the possibility for Giovanni to appear in your Pokemon GO map. It can be found spinning PokéStops and in Rocket Balloons. There will be bait, but eventually you will find him and begin one of the hardest battles in the game.

Team Rocket Boss Giovanni Lineup and Counters (November 2024)

A lineup change for November

Fortunately, with the right lineup to counter Giovanni’s team, you can easily defeat him this month and get a wide range of rewards. The full lineup for Giovanni’s team can be seen below.

Giovanni’s team has undergone an overhaul since October, with three new additions to his squad. He will still select three Pokémon out of five, with his first and last selection always remaining the same. As he has done since his introduction to Pokemon GO, Giovanni leads with his compatriot from the TV show: Normal type Persian. For November, this is now followed by Poison- and Earth-type Nidoking, Earth- and Rock-type Rhyperior, or Water and Dragon-type Kingdra. This month, he once again used Heatran of the Legendary Fire and Steel types as his final Pokémon in battle.

Fortunately, three of your five Pokémon have the same type of weakness, making this battle much easier than other months. Since Giovanni always starts with Persian, you must start with a Fighting type that is super effective against that. Both Machamp and Lucario can quickly resolve Generation One Pokémon. They can quickly burn through the boss’s shields while also being super effective against its final combatant.

Three of Giovanni’s potential Pokémon are weak to Water-type attacks. Nidoking, Heatran and Rhyperpior, which is doubly weak to Water-type moves. Swampert and Kyogre remain the most powerful options, but any other Water-type with high CP will get the job done. For a third choice, you can double up with Water Pokémon or choose a type that is super effective against Giovanni’s wild card, Kingdra, which is Weak only to Fairy or Dragon types. Togekiss is one of the strongest fairy types and can overpower Kingdra if selected.

Rewards for defeating Rocket Leader Giovanni (November 2024)

A Legendary Offer from the Boss

The biggest reward for defeating Giovanni is the opportunity to capture the last Pokémon he used in battle. For this month, it’s the Legendary Shadow Heatran. It has a unique typing, with a lot of pure power that makes it worth capturing. You will have the opportunity to do this shortly after the battle and using Golden Berries will increase the likelihood of success.

There are other items that will be rewarded to you each time you defeat Giovanni this month. You will receive three items out of five randomly from Revive, Max Revive, Hyper Potion, Potions or a Unova Stone. Ultimately, you’ll receive 5,000 Stardust, which can be used to power up any of the Pokémon you’ve caught, which is vital if you want to win this month’s new Gigantamax Battles. Giovanni remains the toughest opponent in the Pokemon GObut his team this month can be fought as long as you use Pokémon that have an advantage against his.

Systems

Platform(s)

iOS, Android

Released

July 6, 2016

Developer(s)

Niantic, the Pokémon company

Editor(s)

Niantic

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

CERS

and

Platforms

ios, andriod

X|S Optimized

n/a

Steam Deck Compatibility

n/a

Cross save

Yes

Cross-platform play

ios, andriod