Pokemon GO players have more than just other players to contend with in the game as PvE battles against Team GO Rocket are a frequent occurrence when out and about in the world. While Team GO Rocket grunts are typically not too challenging, completing special Team GO Rocket research tasks will eventually lead players to face off against the organization's boss, Giovanni. This villain has used a variety of different Pokemon GO teams over the years and often requires players to test their skills against some of the game's strongest mons.

Giovanni has been an iconic villain of the Pokemon series since he was first introduced in the original Gen 1 games as the leader of Kanto's Team Rocket. He has appeared in various other games over the years including the Pokemon World Tournament in Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, and as the leader of Team Rainbow Rocket in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. As the leader of Team GO Rocket in Pokemon GO, it's fitting that Giovanni would use some of his iconic mons from past teams as well as a mix of new, powerful creatures.

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All Pokemon Used by Giovanni in Pokemon GO

• Nidoqueen
• Nidoking
• Dugtrio
• Persian
• Machamp
• Cloyster
• Kingler
• Rhydon
• Kangaskhan
• Gyarados
• Articuno
• Zapdos
• Moltres
• Mewtwo
• Steelix
• Kingdra
• Suicune
• Raikou
• Entei
• Lugia
• Ho-Oh
• Regirock
• Regice
• Registeel
• Latias
• Latios
• Honchkrow
• Garchomp
• Hippowdon
• Rhyperior

Team GO Rocket's Giovanni will always use a Persian on his team, likely as a reference to his depiction in the anime where he keeps his Persian by his side. Other team members include mons from a variety of generations, with a special focus on Gen 1 mons he has used in other games like Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and Rhydon. Although Giovanni is mostly known as a Ground-type specialist, he also has a tendency in Pokemon GO to use a Water type like Kingler, Cloyster, and Gyarados as well in order to round out his team's type coverage.

Giovanni's Strongest Pokemon in Pokemon GO

The third member of Giovanni's Pokemon GO team has rotated through various Legendaries to give the organization's leader a fearsome ace to challenge players with. These mons include the Legendary Bird Trio, the Legendary Beasts, and Gen 3's Regi Trio among others. The result of these combinations is a diverse team of critters with the toughest of the group typically being a Legendary, meaning players will have to come ready to face Giovanni with equally strong teams of their own.

In addition to having members of these Legendary trios, Giovanni also has used the Kanto and Johto Regions' most powerful Legendaries in Mewtwo, Lugia, and Ho-Oh. These creatures pose a major threat to players as they can easily finish off their mons already weakened by the rest of the battle, meaning players will want to save their protect shields until this point in the battle. To make matters worse, Giovanni has also used the Pseudo-Legendary Garchomp as the second member of his team in the past, meaning players would have had to face both a Legendary and another mon nearly as strong as a Legendary in the same battle.

With the latest aces for Giovanni's team being mons like the Regi Trio and Gen 3's Latias and Latios, it's likely future teams of his will feature Groudon and Kyogre similarly to how he has used Lugia, Ho-Oh, and Mewtwo in the past. Since the majority of his team members have been Ground and Water types, having two Legendaries of those types would be fitting for this villain. However, Giovanni's team could also gain another Psuedo-Legendary in the future as well, potentially creating an even more difficult challenge for players attempting to defeat Team GO Rocket's boss.

Pokemon GO is available now for mobile devices.

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