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.

All esports.gg Team GO Rocket guides:

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 - August 2024

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

  • Phase 1: Shadow Anorith
  • Phase 2: Shadow Gyarados or Shadow Crobat or Shadow Steelix
  • Phase 3: Shadow Gardevoir 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 August 8, so this will be the Arlo line-up for some time.

How to beat Arlo in Pokémon GO

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:

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 Anorith Counters

Anorith is a Rock and Bug-type Pokémon. That makes it weak to Rock, Steel and Water-type attacks. It is resistant to Normal and Poison-types.

Here are the best Shadow Anorith counters in Pokémon GO:

Mega Rayquaza
Dragon Tail & Dragon Ascent
Dusk Mane Necrozma
Metal Claw & Sunsteel Strike
Metagross
Bullet Punch & Meteor Mash
Kyogre
Waterfall & Origin Pulse
Origin Forme Dialga
Metal Claw & Roar of Time

Arlo Pokémon GO Counters Phase Two:

In the second slot, Arlo can have any of Shadow Gyarados, Shadow Crobat or Shadow Steelix in Pokémon GO at the moment.

Shadow Gyarados Counters

Shadow Charizard 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
Electivire
Thunder Shock & Wild Charge

Shadow Steelix Counters

Shadow Steelix is weak to Fighting, Fire, Ground and Water-type moves. It 3x resists Poison, 2x resists Electric and Rock, as well as resisting Bug, Steel, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Normal and Psychic-type moves.

Primal Groudon
Mud Shot & Precipice Blades
Mega Lucario
Force Palm & Aura Sphere
Terrakion
Double Kick & Sacred Sword
Kyogre
Waterfall & Origin Pulse
Blacephalon
Astonish & Shadow Ball

Shadow Crobat Counters

Shadow Crobat is a Poison and Flying-type Pokémon. That gives it a weakness to Electric, Ice, Psychic and Rock-type attacks. Here are the best Shadow Crobat counters in Pokémon GO:

Mewtwo
Psycho Cut & Psystrike
Xurkitree
Thunder Shock & Discharge
Dawn Wings Necrozma
Psycho Cut & Sunsteel Strike
Zekrom
Charge Beam & Fusion Bolt
Rampardos
Smack Down & Rock Slide

Arlo Pokémon GO Counters Phrase Three:

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

Shadow Gardevoir Counters

Shadow Gardevoir is weak to Ghost, Poison and Steel-type attacks. It also has a double resistance to Dragon and Fighting-types in addition to a resistance to Psychic-types. Here are the best Shadow Gardevoir counters:

Dusk Mane Necrozma
Metal Claw & Sunsteel Strike
Dawn Wings Necrozma
Shadow Claw & Moongeist Beam
Metagross
Bullet Punch & Meteor Mash
Blacephalon
Astonish & Shadow Ball
Origin Forme Dialga
Metal Claw & Iron Head

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? (August 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.

The current spanner in the works is Scizor. It only has one weakness, which means a lot of the Pokémon that are good counters for the other Pokémon Arlo can have, won't be good counters. 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:

  • Dusk Mane Necrozma
  • Kyogre
  • Metagross

Ideally, you could even use two Dusk Mane Necrozma, replacing Metagross.

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.