Pokémon GO Arlo counters September 2022 - best Pokemon and all rewards

If you're hoping to add a powerful and rare Shadow Pokémon to your team, you're going to need to know the best Pokémon GO Arlo counters for September. This cool and collected trainer uses some devious tactics and powerful critters, and without some prime counters, you're going to struggle.

Last updated for the Power Plant event earlier in the year, Arlo's team changed up again in July for the Pokémon GO Fest tie-in event that saw all of Team Rocket come back together.

Looking for more Pokémon GO guides? We have Sierra counters as well as Cliff counters if you need to fight the other two Team GO Rocket Leaders. Likewise, we have Giovanni counters if he's still around. And if you just need to flesh out your team, check out our Pokémon GO Legendary Pokémon list for the lowdown on which of those are available right now.

Team Rocket Arlo Pokémon counters and team

Arlo kicks off every fight with a Charmander. This doesn't do much to set you up for the rest of the battle in terms of which Pokémon to take, so consider using it to bait shields if you can.

Later on, you'll go up against newcomers Mawile as the leader's only real new Pokémon in this slot. The rest are just shifted around, pulling Salamence forward a slot and leaving Scizor where it's always been.

Lastly, Charizard is the only new one here. Both Gardevoir and Steelix take their rightful place as the final potential Pokémon.

First Arlo Pokémon counters

Charmander

Charmander won't put up a fight. It's weak to Ground, Rock, and Water. It's a good excuse to bring plenty of Ground-type Pokémon that'll see you through a few of the other options.

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Second Arlo Pokémon counters

Scizor

While incredibly dangerous given its lightning-fast attacks, Shadow Scizor is a very brittle bug.

Its dual Fire-type weakness means having any decent Fire-type Charged Move ready to rock as soon as it comes out will typically knock it out in one go. Moltres is a good answer to this, but Darmanitan (Normal) and Reshiram are two potent Pokémon as well.

Mawile

If you're packing a Fire-type Pokémon, you should be completely fine against Mawhile - it's 4x weakness and no serious threat to yourself will make it a cakewalk.

If not, you'll be relying on Ground-type attacks for double damage. Rhyperior and Garchomp are solid options, but they're both weak to either its Fairy or Steel-type moves.

Salamence

Shadow Salamence's counters are very similar to Shadow Dragonite, so you will have a relatively simple time if you face either of them. Fairy and Ice types counter Salamence predominantly. In the event, Salamence uses Fire Fang, swap out to Palkia, Garchomp, or Giratina (Origin) to solve the problem.

Third Arlo Pokémon counters

Charizard

To make things nice and easy with your Rock and Ground-type Pokémon, Charizard can cap off the fight. It can't do much against your Pokémon, but you can punish its typing with any good Rock moveset. Rampardos, Rhyperior, and Tyranitar are the best for this, but a good Lycanroc or Golem can pitch in as well.

Gardevoir

Shadow Gardevoir may serve as a problem, as they are one of the faster Pokémon that hit quite hard. It is weak to Ghost, Steel, and Poison. They use Charm and Confusion, two fast moves which are known to hit quite hard so be careful! This will be one of your harder fights if you have to come up against Shadow Gardevoir.

Steelix

Shadow Steelix is a Pokémon to be scared of. It has high attack damage, high defence, and a wide range of attacks to choose from. The only way to know what counter to pick is based on knowing what attack it will have. The attacks available are Thunder Fang (Electric), Dragon Tail (Dragon), and Iron Tail (Steel).

Shadow Steelix is weak to Fighting, Fire, and Ground moves.

How do I battle Arlo in Pokémon GO?

To challenge Arlo to a battle, you'll first need to defeat six Team Rocket Grunts to collect enough Mysterious Components to build the Rocket Radar. Use that and you'll be able to see the location of a Rocket Leader.

Be warned, though. Battling a Rocket Leader is a different story to taking on their lowly Grunts. Leaders use strong, high-level monsters. Pokémon GO Alro counters are necessary to get the win, but the random nature of his potential team makes choosing your best Pokémon a real struggle.

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Using super-effective moves is virtually mandatory, and bringing bulky Pokémon can often be an even better idea than filling your team with powerful attackers that can't take a hit.

What are the Arlo Rocket Leader rewards?

• 1 Strange 12km egg
• 1 Max Revive
• 1 Revive
• 1 Max Potion
• 1 Unova Stone
• 1 Sinnoh Stone

For every Team Go Rocket Leader you defeat you will earn plenty of rewards to help you on your quest to become the greatest Pokémon master. Players will receive 1,000 Stardust, and two of the above items when they defeat a Team Go Rocket Leader like Arlo.

Players will also have the opportunity to catch a Team Go Rocket Leader Shadow Pokémon. When defeating Arlo players will have the chance to capture Shadow Charmander, but how easy it is will largely depend on how well you perform in your battle with Arlo.

As a rule of thumb, players get 5 Premier Balls to capture the shadow Pokémon, with extra bonus balls added depending on, how many Pokémon survived and the rank of your Purifier and Hero medals.

For more mobile gaming goodness, check out what we know about Peridot - Niantic's latest AR game. We have a Peridot pre-register guide if you need that, and one on how to walk in Peridot as well.

An earlier version of this guide was published by James Wright.