Beating Giovanni October 2025: Team GO Rocket Boss Lineup & Counters

Category : Tips & Tricks Views: 240 Reading Time: 4 Minutes

---

Giovanni has been one of the most difficult opponents to defeat in the ever-trending Pokémon GO. However, the latest changes to his team due to the "Psychic Spectacular: Taken Over" event have made it even more challenging to battle and best him. Rocket boss Giovanni may have strong new Shadow Pokémon in his team, but the right strategies can help defeat the evil genius, allowing you to gain rewards and enjoy perks.

Similar to previous events, Giovanni October 2025 can only be encountered in battle after emerging as the winner against other Team Rocket leaders. Craft the Super Rocket Radar item to track Giovanni and challenge him multiple times until you emerge victorious.

Beating Giovanni October 2025: Team GO Rocket Boss Lineup & Counters

For October 2025, Giovanni's team only has one new member, so you have a clearer idea of what to expect in every phase of the encounter. Battling Giovanni takes place in three waves of Rocket battles, where you have to take down multiple Shadow Pokémon to beat the best.

Shadow Pokémon are tainted versions of normal pocket monsters. They have better stats than others. Team Rocket, such as that of Giovanni, always uses Shadow Pokémon to defeat their opponents.

Often, Giovanni’s first and third waves feature the same Pokémon, but not always. For the second wave of the battle, Giovanni sends out one of the three different Shadow Pokémon. Therefore, you should be aware of the best counters and the strongest Pokémon to be prepared against Giovanni's multiple options.

The guide below will be helpful in choosing the right counters based on the weaknesses of the Shadow Pokémon.

1. First Wave

·         Shadow Persian (a Normal-type Pokémon)

Weakness: Fighting-type moves

Best Counters: Blaziken, Conkeldurr, Machamp, Heracross, and Lucario

2. Second Wave

·         Shadow Kangaskhan (a Normal-type Pokémon)

Weakness: Fighting-type moves

Best Counters: Blaziken, Conkeldurr, Machamp, Heracross, and Lucario

·         Shadow Rhyperior (Ground/Rock-type)

Weakness: Water, Ice, Ground, Steel, Fighting, and Grass moves

Best Counters: Machamp, Swampert, Sceptile, Kyogre, and Zarude

·         Shadow Nidoking (Ground/Poison-type)

Weakness: Psychic, Ground, Ice, and Water moves

Best Counters: Groudon, Garchomp, Alakazam, Mewtwo, and Mamoswine

3. Third Wave

·         Shadow Incarnate Forme Tornadus (a Flying-type Pokémon)

Weakness: Rock, Ice, and Electric moves

Best Counters: Shadow Raikou, White Kyurem, Magnezone, Zekrom, and Mega Diancie

The weaknesses of Giovanni's team are multiple this month. One can tactfully exploit these vulnerabilities by choosing the best counters to defeat the Team Go Rocket Boss. A suitable group of Pokémon effective for besting the powers of the Team Rocket leader may include:

●     Swampert

●     Machamp
●     White Kyurem

A pure Fighting-type is absolutely essential for challenging Giovanni, as a strong one can easily win against his Persian and Kangaskhan. When selecting a fighting-type, Machamp or Conkeldurr are more suited as they only have a single vulnerability to Tornadus. Unlike Heracross and Lucario, who have weaknesses against Giovanni's Ground-types.

For Tornadus, the best Pokémon to beat it is White Kyurem or any other strong Ice-type. An Ice-type can easily best Tornadus, Nidoking, and Rhyperior, but a Water-type Pokémon like Swampert is more suitable against the latter two.

Benefits of Beating Giovanni October 2025

Beating Team GO Rocket Boss comes with its rewards and perks:

A Legendary Encounter and Many Exciting Item Bundles

Just like other Team Rocket fights, the biggest reward of beating Giovanni is the chance to capture his Shadow Incarnate Forme Tornadus. This golden opportunity will come after you defeat the boss, making it possible for you to gain the Legendary Flying-type quickly.

That is not all! By defeating Giovanni, you win three helpful item bundles that have tools useful for future battles. An item bundle may include the following exciting tools:

●     1x Unova Stone

●     4x Revive

●     4x Hyper Potion

●     4x Max Revive

●     4x Max Potion

If you want to challenge Giovanni more than once to catch Tornadus Candy multiple times, stocking up on these items for future encounters will be beneficial.

Beating Giovanni October 2025 can also help you complete Special Research to gain extra rewards that will provide you with new battles with rarer Pokémon and more tools. However, winning Team Go Rocket Boss battles no longer offers eggs in October 2025.

But you also receive 5,000 Stardust for taking down the Team Rocket Leader, which can help make your Pokémon more powerful. Collecting Stardust is also beneficial to compete in some of the challenging Max or Raid Battles.

After you gain victory against Giovanni, you will only be able to beat him again if you craft another Super Rocket Radar by defeating the other Team Rocket Leaders. However, you may want to beat Giovanni several times as you now know which counters work most effectively against his team in October 2025 before it changes again.

Play Strategically and Win Rewards!

Now that you know how to plan and play against the Team Go Rocket Boss, you have a greater chance of defeating Giovanni October 2025! So start today and win exclusive rewards and exciting item bundles!

---

---