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.
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
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
The first Pokémon Sierra will use against you is Ralts, a Fairy and Psychic-type Pokémon that is weak against Ghost, Poison, and Steel-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 Poison or Steel-type Pokémon should make short work of this fight.
How to beat Sierra’s second Pokémon
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 Pokémon | All Pokémon weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Milotic | Electric and Grass-type moves |
| Sableye | Fairy-type moves |
| Steelix | Fire, Fighting, Ground, and Water-type moves |
When taking on Sierra’s second Pokémon, it can be challenging to know what Pokémon to use. These three have different weaknesses, and narrowing down your choices depends on what you plan to do to prepare for this fight. If you used a Fairy-type against Ralts, it can likely be used against Sableye. However, you want to remove this Pokémon if it is Steelix, as it’s a Steel-type and super effective against Fairy-type Pokémon. You’ll want to stick to using a Fighting-type against Steelix. Even though Fire or Ground might be better, Milotic is super effective against these Pokémon.
The best Pokémon you should consider using for any of these choices are Excadrill, Garchomp, Terrakion, Raikou, Luxray, Gardevoir, Tapu Lele, and Granbull.
How to beat Sierra’s third Pokémon
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 Pokémon | All Pokémon weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Houndoom | Fighting, Ground, Rock, and Water-type moves |
| Gardevoir | Ghost, Poison, and Steel-type moves |
| Nidoqueen | Ground, Ice, Psychic, or Water-type moves |
Based on the potential choices for this encounter, it’s tough to choose a solid Pokémon. Thankfully, it’s an easier choice than the previous encounter, but 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 moves. 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, Ralts, after defeating her in Pokémon Go. If you’re lucky, there’s a chance the Ralts you catch could be a Shiny version of the Pokémon.
