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Pokemon GO celebrated its fifth year anniversary in 2021 and is launching into 2022 with no signs of slowing down. Niantic's genre-defining ARPG continues to grow and develop, with a slew of events and features being released every month. One of the most popular rotations are Pokemon GO's Team GO Rocket Leaders, which swap out every month.
The head of Team Rocket himself, Giovanni, is one of the leaders who are available for players to take on in January 2022. Although his line-up retains a couple of Giovanni's iconic Pokemon, it also features some random choices. Players aiming to take down the Team GO Rocket Boss himself this month will need to bring the right team for the job.
Giovanni's First Pokemon in Pokemon GO
No Pokemon fan should be surprised that Persian is Giovanni's first Pokemon into the battle. Persian is often seen as the Team GO Rocket Leader's signature Pokemon and has featured in every one of his teams so far.
As a Normal-type, Persian is only weak to Fighting and uses Normal, Dark, Rock, and Fairy moves. This means that Fighting or tough Rock Pokemon are the best choices. Tyranitar or Terrakion with Smack Down can be very effective, as can Machamp, Hariyama, or Lucario with Counter.
Giovanni's Second Pokemon in Pokemon GO
Giovanni's second Pokemon in January 2022 will be either Kingler, Nidoking, or Rhyperior. This can make it tough to build a team against, as no single Pokemon counters all three. Kingler is a Water-type, and therefore weak to Electric and Grass. Nidoking is a Poison/Ground-type, and weak to Ground, Ice, Psychic and Water. Rhyperior is a Ground/Rock-type, making it weak to Water and Grass.
The only point of overlap between these three Pokemon is that Nidoking and Rhyperior are both weak to Grass. This means that Pokemon like Torterra with Razor Leaf or Zarude with Vine Whip could counter them both. Nidoking isn't weak to Grass, but isn't resistant to it either. A good dedicated Pokemon for taking on Nidoking would be Empoleon with Waterfall and Hydro Cannon.
Giovanni's Third Pokemon in Pokemon GO
Giovanni's third choice in Pokemon GO is Shadow Lugia, a powerful variant of the Psychic/Flying Pokemon. As it's a rare combination of types, Lugia's weaknesses are a slightly odd selection. The Diving Pokemon is weak to Rock, Ghost, Electric, Ice, and Dark, resistant to Fighting, Grass, and Psychic, and completely immune to Ground.
With these damage types in mind, the best Pokemon to take on Lugia's Shadow form in Pokemon GO include Melmetal, Zacian, and Yveltal. Melmetal's high resistances make it extremely strong against Lugia, while it can put out serious damage with Thunder Shock and Rock Slide. Zacian and Yveltal will have a harder time surviving Lugia's attacks, but will defeat it quickly with their Dark and Electric attacks like Snarl, Wild Charge, and Dark Pulse.
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS devices.