Unless you have a monster team already, you're going to need to know the best Pokemon GO Arlo counters before you pick a fight with him. He's the coolest of the group, but his Pokemon aren't to be underestimated. Taking on Leader Arlo is no easy feat, so you'll want to prepare by powering up some of the Pokemon below.
Read on to train up the best Pokemon you can bring to the fight with Arlo. He, like the rest of the leaders, switches up his team whenever there's a Rocket Takeover event, causing the best counters to switch, too. Once you've trained up a few prime counters, you'll be set for a few months, with many old counters still standing a chance against his future teams.
For more Pokemon GO guides, we have the same for each of the Team GO Rocket leaders, so check out our Cliff counters, Sierra counters, and the best Giovanni counters, too. He's bringing Shadow Registeel to the final battle.
Leader Arlo teams (January 2023)
| First Pokémon | Second Pokémon | Third Pokémon | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mawile | Staraptor, Charizard, Salamence | Dragonite, Granbull, Scizor | Shadow Mawile |
Arlo has rejigged his team for the Rocket Takeover event, moving Mawhile into the first slot, and doing the same for a few in his second and third slots, too. Newcomers are Granbull, Dragonite, and Staraptor, taking the third and second slots respectively.
First Arlo Pokemon counters
Mawile
| Pokémon | Fast Move | Charged Move |
|---|---|---|
| Garchomp | Mud Shot | Sand Tomb |
| Rhyperior | Mud-Slap | Rock Wrecker |
| Reshiram | Fire Fang | Overheat |
| Moltres | Fire Spin | Overheat, Fire Blast |
| Blaziken | Fire Spin | Blaze Kick, Blast Burn |
If you're packing a Fire-type Pokemon, you should be completely fine against Mawhile - it's 4x weakness and no serious threat to yourself will make it a cakewalk.
- Check out: How to get Kecleon in Pokemon GO
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.
Second Arlo Pokemon counters
Staraptor
| Pokémon | Fast Move | Charged Move |
|---|---|---|
| Rampardos | Smack Down | Rock Slide |
| Rhyperior | Smack Down | Rock Wrecker |
| Tyranitar | Rock Throw | Stone Edge |
| Lycanroc | Rock Throw | Stone Edge |
| Golem | Rock Throw | Stone Edge |
Staraptor is a Normal/Flying-type Pokemon that's known for its unusually high attack stat. Because of its weakness to Rock, though, bulky boulder tossers like Tyranitar, Rhyperior, Rampardos, and Golem can quickly bring it back down to earth. Just be wary of moves like Close Combat hurting Tyranitar more than you'd like.
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.
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 Pokemon 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.
Granbull
Granbull is a bigger threat than it seems, but Poison and Steel-type Pokemon can deal with it head on. Think Dialga and Metagross for top-tier picks, then Scizor, Roserade, and Excadrill and Gengar for backups. If you have Nihilego or Genesect, bring them along with some matching moves.
Dragonite
If you end up against Dragonite, the Rock-type attackers used earlier will show up in force. Ice moves will work even better against its dual typing, but Dragon and Fairy will really help as well - with the latter generally resisting its stronger moves.
How do I battle Arlo in Pokemon 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.
- Check out: Pokemon GO Vivillon patterns
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.
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.