How To Beat Giovanni In Pokémon GO (March 2026)

Giovanni appearing in front of a red Poke Ball background in Pokemon GOCustom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

By Matthew Danielson Published Feb 28, 2026, 8:31 PM EST Matthew Danielson is a Senior Gaming Staff Writer for Screen Rant, using their expertise in fighting games, RPGs, and action titles to provide insight into your favorite experiences. Matthew does a bit of everything, including helping ideate new content surrounding the hottest games and classics that continue to stoke nostalgia. With multiple years of experience, Matthew is your go-to expert on a variety of topics, from detailed fighting game experience to the most nuanced builds for your favorite RPG. Matthew has worked for Screen Rant as a Gaming Senior Staff Writer since August 2022, and has been proud to release many articles that have helped people with unique problems while playing games. As a long-time fan of TTRPG games, Matthew is also a veteran DM for Dungeons and Dragons, having hosted numerous campaigns over nearly a decade. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Add Us On Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Pokémon GO has a lot planned for March 2026 for the franchise's 30th Anniversary, which plans to bring back nearly every Pokémon from the Kanto region. While focusing on Kanto nostalgia, it's easy to remember Giovanni, the Team Rocket leader who presents one of the game's toughest Trainer challenges. By completing the right Research and leading the right team to victory, Giovanni offers several great rewards worth working toward.

The February team for Giovanni finally saw the mastermind switch up members of his team following a Taken Over event from earlier this year. Many of Giovanni's Pokémon are the same, but new debuts and events in Pokémon GO have opened up new options to make his battle easier. In fact, if you have a Super Rocket Radar, you can track down Giovanni and test new strategies on the leader.

Team Rocket Boss Giovanni Lineup & Counters (March 2026)

Bring Stronger Pokémon That Take Advantage Of Type Weaknesses

Giovanni from Pokémon GO with a mysterious purple background

As of this time of writing, the "Pokémon GO Tour: Kalos 2026 - Global" event just introduced a variety of Pokémon who could help in a battle against Giovanni. This includes powerful new Mega Evolution forms from Pokémon Legends: Z-A, such as Mega Victreebel and Mega Dragonite, who both could be excellent counters in their own right. However, it is best to identify picks against Giovanni when you're aware of what team members he can use.

Just like in past months, Giovanni's team is broken up into three "waves," or phases with various Pokémon at his disposal. The first wave is always the same, but the second has Giovanni sending out one of three possible options, making it hard to predict which counter would work best from your own collection. To make matters tougher, Giovanni always uses a captured Legendary Pokémon in his third wave, which can be a challenging opponent.

Every Pokémon on Giovanni's team is a Shadow Pokémon, which act as alternate forms to the Pokémon they're based on. Shadow Pokémon have higher health, deal increased damage, and are generally harder to K.O. than most Pokémon in the game.

The table below goes over every member of Giovanni's team for March 2026, including their weaknesses and some good counters to use against them:

Wave

Pokémon

Weaknesses

Best Counters

Shadow Persian (Normal)

Fighting

Lucario
Machamp
Terrakion
Blaziken
Heracross

Shadow Machamp (Fighting)

Fairy, Flying, Psychic

Diancie
Mega Dragonite
Alakazam
Gardevoir
Salamence

Shadow Rhyperior (Ground/Rock)

Ground, Water, Ice, Steel, Grass, Fighting

Mega Victreebel
Mega Swampert
Chesnaught
Torterra
Crowned Sword Zacian

Shadow Kangaskhan (Normal)

Fighting

Lucario
Machamp
Terrakion
Blaziken
Heracross

Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus (Electric/Flying)

Ice, Rock

White Kyurem
Tyranitar
Tyrantrum
Mega Diancie
Mamoswine

Ironically, Giovanni's team has more common weaknesses than when the former Gym Leader's Nidoking was present. Giovanni has a chance to use multiple Normal-types in his battle, making Fighting-types a must for your own team. It helps that Giovanni's Rhyperior also has a Fighting-type weakness alongside his Shadow Persian and Kangaskhan, giving you a clear path to building the right counters.

A good team for fighting Giovanni in March 2026 might include:

Diancie
Lucario
Swampert

Diancie is the perfect Pokémon from recent events to challenge Giovanni, as this rare Pokémon in Pokémon GO has the Rock/Fairy-type to exploit certain weaknesses. Diancie is a solid match-up for Giovanni's Thundurus, using Rock-type moves to quickly take it down. Similarly, Diancie's Fairy-type attacks can easily clear through Giovanni's Machamp if he uses it during the second phase.

To cover Rhyperior, Swampert's Water-type attacks are great for disrupting the defense of that abnormally bulky Pokémon. If you don't want to use Diancie as your Mega Pokémon for this fight, Swampert is a great second choice too. To round things out, Lucario's Steel-type makes it able to resist most of the attacks from Giovanni's team, while using strong Fighting-type moves to take down Persian and Kangaskhan without much issue.

Rewards For Beating Rocket Leader Giovanni (March 2026)

Claim Bundles Of Great Items For Your Victory

The rewards for beating Sierra in Pokémon GO in November 2024

Pokémon GO SierraTeam Rocket Leader rewardsCustom image by Ben Williams

You automatically gain 5,000 Stardust upon defeating Giovanni, instantly giving you a good amount of in-game currency for overcoming such a strong opponent. However, the biggest boon from Giovanni is that you get a chance to catch his Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus, giving you access to the Electric/Flying-type Legendary. This Pokémon can be excellent for future encounters with Giovanni, or for tough Raids you and your friends attempt.

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Taking down each of Giovanni's Pokémon also grants you three different bundles of in-game items, some of which are tied to battles. These act as a random drop, meaning you could get three of the same item or three separate items in your rewards. The item bundles you could get include:

4x Revive
4x Max Revive
4x Hyper Potion
4x Max Potion
1x Unova Stone

Although there isn't likely to be another Taken Over event this month, other Pokémon debuts could change what the best counters to Giovanni are to achieve these rewards faster. Some ambitious players may even want to get a Shiny Thundurus from beating Giovanni multiple times, but those odds in Pokémon GO are low in March 2026.

Pokémon GO

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Released July 6, 2016 ESRB e Developer(s) Niantic Publisher(s) Niantic Engine Unity Multiplayer Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op Cross-Platform Play Yes