In Pokemon GO, Giovanni serves much the same purpose he does in the main games and anime. He is one of the main bosses of Team Rocket GO, and the player can face off against him once they've collected all six pieces of the Rocket Radar. Once the Rocket Radar has been assembled, Giovanni can appear at corrupted Pokestops or in a Team Rocket GO balloon, accessible by tapping it on the Home Screen.
With the prevalence of Team Rocket GO in Pokemon GO, it is almost inevitable that players will end up having to face off against Giovanni and his crew. Giovanni presents the unique challenge of having extremely powerful Pokemon that require similarly powerful Pokemon to defeat, as well as taking type-effectiveness into consideration. Here's how to beat Giovanni in April 2023.
Pokemon GO: Giovanni Line-Up (April 2023)
Like all Team Rocket GO Leaders, Giovanni's line-up changes occasionally, so it is important to keep up to date with the current lineup. As of the latest Team Rocket GO Takeover Event, the star of Giovanni's lineup is none other than Shadow Regice, with the following Pokemon:
- Phase One: Persian (Normal-type)
- Phase Two: Nidoking (Poison/Ground-type), Kingler (Water-type), or Kingdra (Water/Dragon-type)
- Phase Three: Regice (Ice-type)
Pokemon GO: Giovanni Counters (April 2023)
Giovanni's team is going to be incredibly high-powered, and unlike his Grunts, he will be using his shields. Players will have to go into battles with Giovanni extremely prepared. Here are the best counters for each of his Pokemon:
Phase One Counters
Persian is a Normal-type Pokemon, meaning it is weak to Fighting-type moves and resistant to Ghost-type moves. In the first phase, players should aim to take down one or both of Giovanni's shields with a Pokemon that has access to fast-charging Charged Moves. Giovanni will always use shields if he has them, so taking them down in the first stage can be the difference between winning and losing.
Players should consider the following counters:
Pokemon | Type | Moves | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Hariyama | Fighting | Counter (Fast Move) & Dynamic Punch (Charged Move) |
 | Conkeldurr | Fighting | Counter (Fast Move) & Focus Blast (Charged Move) |
 | Lucario | Fighting/Steel | Counter (Fast Move) & Aura Sphere (Charged Move) |
 | Terrakion | Rock/Fighting | Double Kick (Fast Move) & Sacred Sword (Charge Move) |
 | Breloom | Grass/Fighting | Counter (Fast Move) & Dynamic Punch (Charged Move) |
 | Machamp | Fighting | Counter (Fast Move) & Dynamic Punch (Charged Move) |
Phase Two Counters
In Phase Two, Giovanni will bring out one of three Pokemon: Nidoking, Kingler, or Kingdra. All three of these Pokemon have different types, strengths, and weaknesses, so it may be the case that the player has to lose one battle to Giovanni just to find out which one he is using:
Nidoking:
Pokemon | Type | Moves | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Glaceon | Ice | Ice Shard (Fast Move) & Avalanche (Charged Move) |
 | Espeon | Psychic | Confusion (Fast Move) & Psychic (Charged Move) |
 | Galarian Darmanitan | Ice | Ice Fang (Fast Move) & Avalanche (Charged Move) |
 | Kyogre | Water | Waterfall (Fast Move) & Surf (Charged Move) |
 | Psychic | Psycho Cut (Fast Move) & Psychic (Charged Move) | |
 | Garchomp | Dragon/Ground | Mud Shot (Fast Move) & Earth Power (Charged Move) |
Kingler:
Pokemon | Type | Moves | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Roserade | Grass/Poison | Bullet Seed (Fast Move) & Leaf Storm (Charge Move) |
 | Magnezone | Electric/Steel | Spark (Fast Move) & Wild Charge (Charged Move) |
 | Raikou | Electric | Thunder Shock (Fast Move) & Wild Charge (Charged Move) |
 | Zekrom | Dragon/Electric | Charge Beam (Fast Move) & Wild Beam (Charged Move) |
 | Electivire | Electric | Thunder Shock (Fast Move) & Wild Charge (Charged Move) |
 | Xurkitree | Electric | Thunder Shock (Fast Move) & Power Whip (Charged Move) |
Kingdra:
Pokemon | Type | Moves | |
|---|---|---|---|
| | Garchomp | Dragon/Ground | Dragon Tail (Fast Move) & Outrage (Charged Move) |
 | Rayquaza | Dragon/Flying | Dragon Tail (Fast Move) & Outrage (Charged Move) |
 | Gardevoir | Psychic/Fairy | Charm (Fast Move) & Dazzling Gleam (Charged Move) |
 | Dragonite | Dragon/Flying | Dragon Tail (Fast Move) & Outrage (Charged Move) |
 | Dialga | Steel/Dragon | Dragon Breath (Fast Move) & Draco Meteor (Charged Move) |
 | Dragon | Dragon Tail (Fast Move) & Outrage (Charged Move) |
Phase Three Counters
Shadow Regice is the biggest challenge here, but it can be beaten with a high-powered Pokemon that uses super-effective moves against it. It doesn't have to be quite as high-powered as the Regice, but it does need to be up there. As an Ice-type, Regice is weak to Fighting-, Fire-, Rock-, and Steel-type moves:
Pokemon | Type | Moves | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Chandelure | Ghost/Fire | Fire Spin (Fast Move) & Overheat (Charged Move) |
 | Reshiram | Dragon/Fire | Fire Fang (Fast Move) & Fusion Flare (Charged Move) |
 | Metagross | Steel/Psychic | Bullet Punch (Fast Move) & Meteor Mash (Charged Move) |
| | Terrakion | Rock/Fighting | Double Kick (Fast Move) & Sacred Sword (Charge Move) |
| | Conkeldurr | Fighting | Counter (Fast Move) & Focus Blast (Charged Move) |
| | Lucario | Fighting/Steel | Counter (Fast Move) & Aura Sphere (Charged Move) |
Pokemon GO is available now on mobile devices.