Battle Arlo in Pokémon GO with our guide.

Team GO Rocket Leader Arlo is one of the three Team GO Rocket bosses in the game. The Rocket bosses are a real challenge in Pokémon GO. You'll need a strong team of the best counters in order to beat Arlo in Pokémon GO.

We've gathered all the information you need about her most recent line-up's, their weaknesses and the best counters you can use to take them down.

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How to find Arlo in Pokémon GO

In order to find Arlo in Pokémon GO, or any of the other Team GO Rocket Leaders, you need a special item to help you track them down. That item is the Super Rocket Radar.

You can get a Super Rocket Radar in a few ways:

  • Defeating 6 Team GO Rocket Grunts to collect enough Mysterious Components to build one.
  • Purchasing a Super Rocket Radar directly in the in game shop, or as part of a box.
  • As a reward for completing Timed and Special Research quest lines.

Once you have a Super Rocket Radar, pressing on it will bring up a map of nearby Team GO Rocket Leader hideouts. Leaders will also appear in Hot Balloons once your Radar is active too.

You cannot see which Leader is in a Stop or Balloon until you click on it. So, to find the Leader you want, you might have to check several.

Leader Arlo lineup - December 2024

Here is the current line up for Arlo in Pokémon GO as of October 2024. There are three phases.

  • Phase 1: Shadow Beldum
  • Phase 2: Shadow Gyarados or Shadow Charizard or Shadow Hypno
  • Phase 3: Shadow Metagross or Shadow Scizor or Shadow Snorlax

Pokémon GO reshuffle the Team GO Rocket Leader lineups whenever there is a Team GO Rocket Takeover event in the game. This shuffle just happened as of October 8, so this will be the Arlo line-up for some time.

How to beat Arlo in Pokémon GO (December 2024)

In order to beat Arlo in Pokémon GO, you'll need to have a Super Rocket Radar, locate Arlo at a PokéStop or a Team GO Rocket Balloon, and defeat their Pokémon.

Shadow Pokémon do a lot of damage, and Arlo's Pokémon are a lot higher CP than normal Pokémon. You'll need a finely tuned team of strong counters in order to take Arlo down.

In addition, Arlo can have a range of Pokémon, with a different set every time you fight her. Ideally, you want Pokémon that can cover multiple potential Pokémon in Arlo's lineup. Here are all the Pokémon you might face and the best counters to take them on.

Best Arlo counters in Pokémon GO (December 2024):

For the first Pokémon, this will always be the same Pokémon no matter how many times you take on Arlo. This is also the Pokémon that you will encounter after the Raid, with a 1/256 chance of being shiny.

Shadow Beldum Counters

Shadow Beldum is a Steel and Psychic-type Pokémon. That makes it weak to Fire, Ground, Ghost and Dark-type attacks.

Here are the best Shadow Beldum counters in Pokémon GO:

Dawn Wings Necrozma
Shadow Claw & Moongeist Beam
Origin Forme Giratina
Shadow Claw & Shadow Force
Groudon
Mud Shot & Precipice Blades
Therian Forme Landorus
Mud Shot & Sandsear Storm
Heatran
Fire Spin & Magma Storm

The Shadow Beldum 100% IV CP is 362 CP.

Arlo Pokémon GO Counters Phase Two (December 2024):

In the second slot, Arlo can have any of Shadow Gyarados, Shadow Hypno or Shadow Charizard in Pokémon GO as of October 2024.

Shadow Gyarados Counters

Shadow Gyarados is 2x weak to Electric-type Pokémon, and also weak to Rock-type moves. It has a 2x resistance to Ground, as well as a resistance to Fighting, Fire, Steel, Bug, Water and Grass-type moves.

Here are the best Shadow Gyarados Counters in Pokémon GO:

Xurkitree
Thunder Shock & Discharge
Zekrom
Charge Beam & Fusion Bolt
Therian Thundurus
Volt Switch & Wildbolt Storm
Raikou
Thunder Shock & Wild Charge
Magnezone
Spark & Wild Charge

Shadow Hypno Counters

Shadow Hypno is weak to Bug, Dark and Ghost-type moves. It has a resistance to Fighting and Psychic-type moves.

Here are the best Shadow Hypno counters in Pokémon GO:

Dawn Wings Necrozma
Shadow Claw & Moongeist Beam
Dusk Mane Necrozma
Shadow Claw & Sunsteel Strike
Origin Forme Giratina
Shadow Claw & Shadow Force
Blacephalon
Astonish & Shadow Ball
Tyranitar
Bite & Brutal Swing

Shadow Charizard Counters

Shadow Charizard is a Fire and Flying-type Pokémon. That gives it a weakness Water and Electric-type attacks, as well as a double weakness to Rock-type attacks.

Here are the best Shadow Charizard counters in Pokémon GO:

Rhyperior
Smack Down & Rock Wrecker
Terrakion
Smack Down & Rock Slide
Gigalith
Smack Down & Meteor Beam
Tyranitar
Smack Down & Stone Edge
Rampardos
Smack Down & Rock Slide

Arlo Pokémon GO Counters Phrase Three (December 2024):

In the third and final slot, Arlo can have any of Shadow Metagross, Shadow Scizor and Shadow Snorlax in Pokémon GO. This is the most challenging and powerful phase of Arlo's team.

Shadow Metagross Counters

Shadow Metagross is a Steel and Psychic-type Pokémon. That makes it weak to Fire, Ground, Ghost and Dark-type attacks.

Here are the best Shadow Metagross counters in Pokémon GO:

Dawn Wings Necrozma
Shadow Claw & Moongeist Beam
Origin Forme Giratina
Shadow Claw & Shadow Force
Groudon
Mud Shot & Precipice Blades
Therian Forme Landorus
Mud Shot & Sandsear Storm
Heatran
Fire Spin & Magma Storm

Shadow Scizor Counters

Shadow Scizor has just one weakness, a 2x weakness to Fire-type moves. It double resists Grass and Poison-type attacks, as well as resisting Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Ice, Normal, Steel and Psychic-types.

Reshiram
Fire Fang & Fusion Flare
Darmanitan
Fire Fang & Overheat
Heatran
Fire Spin & Magma Storm
Blacephalon
Incinerate & Mystical Fire
Blaziken
Fire Spin & Blast Burn

Shadow Snorlax Counters

Shadow Snorlax is really hard to take down. It has one weakness, which is to to Fighting-type attacks. Then it has one 2x resistance to Ghost-type attacks. Here are the best Shadow Snorlax counters:

Mega Lucario
Force Palm & Aura Sphere
Terrakion
Double Kick & Sacred Sword
Conkeldurr
Counter & Dynamic Punch
Dusk Mane Necrozma
Psycho Cut & Sunsteel Strike
Machamp
Counter & Dynamic Punch

What is the best team to beat Arlo in Pokémon GO? (December 2024)

With so many different Pokémon to prepare for, and lots of different combinations it can be hard to find an ideal catch all team. You want to start your battle with a broad team that covers as many of Arlo's potential Pokémon as possible in Pokémon GO.

This is helped by Shadow Beldum, Shadow Metagross and Shadow Scizor sharing a weakness to Fire-type attacks. This helps you build a team that has broad coverage. The beauty of taking on Arlo in Pokémon GO is that if you lose, you can keep your Super Rocket Radar or battle Arlo again.

Here is the best initial team to use when fighting Arlo in Pokémon GO:

  • Heatran
  • Dawn Wings Necrozma
  • Rhyperior

If you get Shadow Snorlax, you might need to adjust this team.

This should cover most of the Pokémon that Arlo can throw at you in Pokémon GO at the moment. Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest esports news and more Pokémon GO guides.