You can encounter multiple members of Team Rocket while playing Pokémon Go. They’ll run around your city using their shadow Pokémon, causing all kinds of trouble. You may even get the chance to face off against a Team Rocket leader like Arlo.
When fighting against Arlo, it helps to know what Pokémon he will use against you. His overall roster changes every few months, but if you know what Pokémon to bring and use against him, you should have no trouble beating him in battle. Defeating Arlo brings you closer to facing off against Giovanni in Pokémon Go.
How to find Team Rocket Leader Arlo in Pokémon Go
You won’t be able to find Arlo immediately in Pokémon Go. Instead, you can only find him after defeating at least six Team Rocket Grunts. Each time you defeat a grunt, they drop a Mysterious Component. After you have all six components, they form a Team Rocket Radar, and you can use this to track down Arlo’s hideout. He now has the chance to appear at a captured Poké Stop or in the Team Rocket Balloon. You might get Arlo or one of the two other leaders, Cliff or Sierra.
After you find Arlo, the next step is to prepare your Pokémon Go team to battle him. He’ll use three Pokémon in this fight. The first one will always be the same, but the second and third choices swap out, so you must prepare your team accordingly. Arlo’s roster does swap out every few months, so don’t expect the same Pokémon each time you fight him while playing Pokémon Go.
All Arlo Pokémon counters in Pokémon Go
How to beat Arlo’s first Pokémon
The first Pokémon Arlo will use against your team is Cacnea. Cacnea is a Grass-type Pokémon, making it weak against Bug, Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison-type moves. You can use nearly any Pokémon in your collection to defeat Arlo’s first choice, as the initial Pokémon is typically the easiest to defeat.
How to beat Arlo’s second Pokémon
For the second choice, there are three Pokémon Arlo might use against you. These are the three Pokémon you can expect to fight when battling Arlo.
| Arlo second Pokémon | All Pokémon weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Charizard | Electric, Rock, and Water-type moves |
| Golurk | Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ice, and Water-type moves |
| Hypno | Bug, Dark, and Ghost-type moves |
Given the options you could face off against, our best recommendation is to use a Water-type Pokémon against these choices. Charizard and Golurk are both weak to Water-type attacks, giving your Water-type Pokémon a distinct advantage. Although Hypno is not weak to Water-type moves, it should be relatively easy to defeat, given it doesn’t have too many powerful Psychic-type moves. You’ll want to avoid using any Fighting or Flying-type Pokémon, though. Dark-type Pokémon are also an excellent option.
Some of your best choices to use against Arlo’s second Pokémon in Pokémon Go are going to be Tyranitar, Rhyperior, Omastar, Kyogre, Swampert, Kingler, Gyarados, Feraligatr, or Carracosta.
How to beat Arlo’s third Pokémon
After defeating Arlo’s second Pokémon, it’s time to face off against his final choice—and the most dangerous Pokémon you face off against during this fight. These are the three Pokémon you might fight during this encounter in Pokémon Go.
| Arlo third Pokémon | All Pokémon weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Dragonite | Dragon, Fairy, Ice, or Rock-type moves |
| Salamence | Dragon, Fairy, Ice, or Rock-type moves |
| Scizor | Fire-type moves |
The final Pokémon Arlo uses against you can be exceptionally complicated. Although Dragonite and Salamence share the same weaknesses, Scizor is only weak against Fire-type moves. It’s resistant against a number of attacks, namely everything Dragonite and Salamence are weak against, except for Rock-type moves. If you can find a Pokémon that can use Ice or Rock-type moves, these might be your best bet to always defeat Arlo’s final Pokémon, despite their strength.
The best Pokémon to counter Arlo’s third choice are Reshiram, Entei, Chandelure, Darmanitan, Mamoswine, Glalie, Cetitan, Glaceon, or Kyurem.
Once you defeat Arlo, you’ll have a chance to catch his first Pokémon, Shadow Cacnea. If you’re lucky, you may encounter the Shiny version of this Pokémon.
