Pokemon GO's March calendar of events is underway and the new season of heroes has a lot of excitement for players to dive into right away. As events continue to play out, it's now time for trainers to start taking down Team GO Rocket leaders and begin working their way towards an encounter with Giovanni once again.
March will be bringing Team GO Rocket Grunts and Leaders to the mobile AR game for players to battle in order to earn Shadow Encounters and work through some exciting rewards. After defeating the first three leaders of Team GO Rocket, trainers should be able to shift their focus towards Giovanni and earning an encounter with that powerful Shadow Registeel he has corrupted. This is going to be a tough fight, so Pokemon GO players will definitely want to take some time to build a powerful counter roster before jumping into the battle and facing off against the big boss himself.
Once players put in all the work to earn a Giovanni encounter, they'll want to take the time to prepare for the fight before it begins so they don't waste any resources. There's always a bit of a random element to the exact lineup, but players can learn enough ahead of time to prepare for the most versatile roster to deal with the current lineup. Be sure to consider whether it might be worth burning some Elite TMs head of time to get the ideal move sets in place before the fight.
Giovanni March 2023 Lineup
- Spot 1: Persian
- Spot 2: Nidoking or Cloyster or Garchomp
- Spot 3: Registeel
Persian Counters
As always, Giovanni is going to kick off the battle with Persian. This Pokemon is a Normal-type, and players in Pokemon GO can usually defeat it very easily with a respectable Fighting-type counter.
- Lucario - Counter/Aura Sphere or Power-Up Punch
- Conkeldurr - Counter/Dynamic Punch
- Machamp - Counter/Cross Chop or Dynamic Punch
- Rhyperior - Mudslap/Stone Edge
- Tyranitar - Smack Down/Crunch
- Hariyama - Counter/Dynamic Punch
Nidoking Counters
Nidoking has a chance to appear in the second slot. This Team Rocket favorite is a dual Poison- and Ground-type, which means players can rely on Ground-, Water-, Psychic-, and Ice-types as the best counter possibilities.
- Kyogre - Waterfall/Hydro Pump
- Hoopa (Unbound) - Confusion/Psystrike
- Mamoswine - Mud Slap/Avalanche
- Rhyperior - Mudslap/Earthquake
- Swampert - Watergun/Hydro Cannon
- Mewtwo - Confusion or Psycho Cut/Psystrike
- Alakazam - Confusion/Psychic
Cloyster Counters
The second possibility for Giovanni's second fighter is Cloyster. This Water/Ice-type is weak to Fighting-, and Rock-type moves.
- Conkeldurr -Counter, Dynamic Punch, Stone Edge
- Machamp -Counter, Cross Chop, Rock Slide
- Tyranitar - Smack Down, Crunch, Stone Edge
Garchomp Counters
The final possibility for Giovanni's second fighter is Garchomp. This Dragon/Ground-type is weak to Ice- and Dragon-type moves.
Salamence - Dragon Tail, Outrage, Fire Blast
Dragonite -Dragon Tail, Dragon Claw, Superpower
Avalugg -Ice Fang, Avalanche
Articuno -Ice Shard, Icy Wind
Shadow Registeel Counters
The final spot is once again reserved for a Shadow Legendary that players can earn an encounter with if they manage to survive the battle. This time around players need to prepare to face off against Shadow Registeel and bring their best Fighting-, Ground-, and Fire-type moves to the table.
Excadrill - Mud Shot, Drill Run, Rock Slide
Terrakion - Double Kick, Sacred Sword, Rock Slide
Machamp - Counter, Cross Chop, Rock Slide
That should be just about everything trainers need to know heading into the big fight this month. Be sure to keep in mind that sometimes players may need to treat the first attempt as information gathering and immediately re-enter after an early defeat with some additional information.
Pokemon GO is available now on mobile devices.