How to find and beat Sierra in Pokémon Go (August 2024)

Rally your teams for one of Team Go Rocket's leaders.

Sierra in Pokemon Go
Image via Niantic

When facing off against Team Rocket in Pokémon Go, one of the team leaders, Sierra, is a challenging encounter. She will put your Pokémon to the test, and you’ll want to bring your best choices with you to defeat her.

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Like the other team leaders you can face, Sierra has a unique series of Pokémon under her command she uses during your fight. You’ll want to bring your best Pokémon to defeat her, but it helps to know what she will use. You can prepare for this using the best team you can make in Pokémon Go, so long as you properly prepare and arrange your setup, especially if you’re preparing to take on the Team Rocket boss, Giovanni.

How to find Team Rocket Leader Sierra in Pokémon Go

Team Leader Sierra in Pokémon Go
You’ll need to find Sierra before you can challenge her. Image via Niantic

You won’t be able to track down Sierra immediately. You have to focus on taking down the other Team Rocket Grunts you can find at any captured Poké Stop, or when they appear in the Team Rocket Balloon. After you defeat at least six Team Rocket Grunts, they should each drop a Mysterious Component. Once you have all six, they combine into a Rocket Radar, and you can use it to find Sierra’s hideout. There’s a chance she will spawn, or the other two Team Rocket leaders in Pokémon may appear, Arlo or Cliff.

After you find Sierra, it’s time to challenge her to a fight. She always uses a primary starting Pokémon, but the two she has will be different, and you should expect to swap out your preferred Pokémon Go team to defeat her.

All Sierra Pokémon counters in Pokémon Go

How to beat Sierra’s first Pokémon

Trapinch in Pokémon Go
Trapinch will always be Sierra’s first Pokémon. Image via The Pokémon Company, remix by Dot Esports

The first Pokémon Sierra will use against you is Trapinch, a Ground-type Pokémon that is weak against Grass, Ice, or Water-type moves. As you might expect for this battle, it should be the easiest of the three other Pokémon Sierra uses against you. You’ll want to eliminate Trapinch quickly to move on to the next stage, and your preferred Water-type Pokémon should make short work of this fight.

How to beat Sierra’s second Pokémon

Honchkrow in Pokémon Go
Honchkrow can be a difficult opponent to overcome. Image via the Pokémon Company, remix by Dot Esports

In the second battle, Sierra uses one of three choices against you. These are the three possible Pokémon Sierra can use against you in Pokémon Go.

Sierra’s second PokémonAll Pokémon weaknesses
HonchkrowElectric, Fairy, Ice, and Rock-type moves
MiloticElectric and Grass-type moves
SableyeFairy-type moves

When it comes to taking on Sierra’s second Pokémon, you might face off against Honchkrow, Milotic, or Sableye. Given these choices, your best bet is to use a Pokémon that use Electric-type moves, as they’re super effective against Honchkrow and Milotic. Although Sableye does not take extra damage against these attacks, it is not resistant to Electric-type moves, making that your best bet for this encounter.

The best Pokémon you should consider using for any of these choices are going to be Raikou, Zapdos, Electrivire, Gardevoir, Manectric, Mangezone, or Zekstrika.

How to beat Sierra’s third Pokémon

Houndoom in Pokémon Go
Houndoom can be an aggressive opponent. Image via the Pokémon Company, Remix by Dot Esports

Sierra’s final Pokémon is not guaranteed, but it will be the toughest encounter for this battle. These are the three Pokémon that Sierra can use against you in Pokémon Go.

Sierra’s third PokémonAll Pokémon weaknesses
AlakazamBug, Dark, and Ghost-type moves
HoundoomFighting, Ground, Rock, and Water-type moves
VictreebelFire, Flying, Ice, and Psychic-type moves

Based on the potential choices for this encounter, it’s tough to choose a solid Pokémon. All of these Pokémon are weak to different attacks. Your best choice is to use a sturdier Pokémon that can withstand these Pokémon’s brutal attacks. You may have to re-challenge Sierra after you learn what Pokémon she has, but there are some reliable options you can consider using to face off against any of these three.

The best Pokémon counters against Sierra’s third Pokémon are Tyranitar, Chandelure, Hydreigon, Gholdengo, Darkrai, Lucario, Terrakion, Rampardos, Rhyperior, or Garchomp.

You can catch Sierra’s first Pokémon, Trapinch, after defeating her in Pokémon Go. If you’re lucky, there’s a chance the Trapinch you catch could be a Shiny version of the shadow Pokémon.

Author
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Rachel Samples
Managing Editor. In 2018, Rachel graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s in Rhetoric and Writing and first entered the esports industry in the same year. Her favorite games include indies, deckbuilders, and the entire Mass Effect franchise. Need any calibrations?
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Cale Michael
Lead Staff Writer for Dota 2, the FGC, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and more who has been writing for Dot Esports since 2018. Graduated with a degree in Journalism from Oklahoma Christian University and also previously covered the NBA. You can usually find him writing, reading, or watching an FGC tournament.
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Ethan Garcia
Ethan Garcia is a freelance writer for Dot Esports, having been part of the company for three years. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Magazine Journalism from Syracuse University and specializes particularly in coverage of League of Legends, various Nintendo IPs, and beyond.
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Zack Palm
Zack Palm has been writing about video games for the past five years. He spends his free time trying to learn about a new board, reading high-fantasy series, or working on his latest DnD character.