It's been a while since Giovanni has made his presence known in Pokemon GO, but now he is back again to disrupt the Festival of Lights and has Shadow Lugia in tow.
Giovanni is the Team GO Rocket leader that has been around in the game for a while now, coming and going as he pleases while terrorizing the game itself with his abundance of Team GO Rocket Grunts and Leaders.
After a long hiatus since this past summer, Giovanni is now back to bring darkness to the light brought forth from the Festival of Lights event.
- MORE: Get details about the latest Pokemon TCG set Fusion Strike.
How To Fight Giovanni In November 2021
There have been multiple instances of Giovanni in Pokemon GO in the past, always tied around some sort of in-game event. This latest one is one of the most interesting though as it's had a long lead-up to it.
That is because it's part of the Misunderstood Mischief Special Research that players have been working on completing since September tied around Hoopa.
By finally reaching Step 15, you will get a set of new tasks related to Team GO Rocket that will lead to you getting to fight Giovanni.
These steps include having to defeat three Team GO Rocket Leaders to get a Super Rocket Radar that will help you find Giovanni finally.
You will need to get the pieces of Rocket Radars from Grunts to face off against the leaders as well, so make sure not to miss out on any Rocket encounters when you can.
After you beat your third Rocket Leader, you will get the Super Rocket Leader and it will automatically be equipped. With this equipped, Giovanni should show up at a Poke Stop around, though you will think it's just a regular Team GO Rocket Grunt at first.
How To Beat Giovanni And Get Shadow Lugia In Pokemon GO
Giovanni returns to Pokemon GO yet again with a new lineup of Pokemon to take down. As per usual, he features a lead Pokemon that everyone will face, a group of three for his second Pokemon that he chooses between, and then one final Pokemon.
Thankfully, we know exactly who Giovanni has this time around thanks to Pokemon Go Hub. Also remember that all of them will be Shadow Pokemon as well, so they will be glass cannons that can hit hard, but have weaker defense.
Pokemon One
- Persian
Pokemon Two
- Kingler
- Rhyperior
- Nidoking
Pokemon Three
- Lugia
Giovanni has an interesting group of Pokemon for you to defeat, but he shouldn't be too difficult with the right counters.
When it comes to Persian, you're going to want to use Fighting type moves against it, with Pokemon like Lucario, Machamp, and Conkeldurr being good candidates. Due to Persian using Dark and Normal type moves, using Pokemon like Tyranitar can also be useful, even though you won't have a super effective move to use against it.
Kingler is possibly up next and you're going to want to use Grass or Electric moves, with both being quite effective against it. Pokemon such as Torterra, Raikou, and Zapdos are great ones to use here to take it down quickly.
You might also run into Rhyperior instead, which is weak to Grass and Water moves. Pokemon like Swampert, Kyogre, and Torterra are good here, while you can also use a Pokemon like Excadrill to play more defensively and still hit hard with Ground moves.
The final middle option is Nidoking, which is weak to an abundance of move types like Ground, Water, Ice, and Psychic. Using a Pokemon like Stunfisk or Excadrill with Ground type moves is a good strategy, while you could also use Kyogre or other Water types here as well.
Now it comes to the final Pokemon, which is guaranteed to be Shadow Lugia. Lugia is weak to Electric, Ice, Rock, Dark, and Ghost moves, but we are going to focus mainly on Electric or Rock moves. This is where Raikou and Magnezone are good Electric counters, while Tyranitar or Terrakion are good Rock counters. In fact, Terrakion is in raids right now, so that makes it an event better candidate.
After defeating Giovanni, you will get an opportunity to catch Shadow Lugia. This works just like any other catch opportunity, so use the Berries you want and catch Shadow Lugia to add to your collection.