Pokémon GO Guides - How to find and defeat Giovanni

You have defeated several GO Rocket recruits, and found the hideout of the three Leaders Sierra, Cliff and Arlo. With some effort, their plans were thwarted, and the Shadow Pokémon in their pay saved and purified. Congratulations!

But the GO Rocket team never moves into anarchy, like its animated counterpart. Not even the Leaders can stand alone at the head of an entire organization. So, if the challenge was not worthy of your expectations and even the charm of Sierra is no longer enough to keep you engaged, what to do? Very simple: get on the trail of someone more fascinating. Follow Giovanni's footsteps and his favorite cat (P) ersian.

Where is Giovanni?

The Rocket team leader lurks in the shadows (pun not intended), and finding him will be a long and tedious process. Among the special searches you will surely have noticed one that requires you several times to fight against the GO Rocket team and purify the saved Pokémon. This is a research that is renewed every month, and which aims to fight the plans of these shady characters.

At the end of this long and tedious journey there is a Super Radar Rocket, which will show you, unlike the normal Radar, only one position - that of Giovanni. The head of the GO Rocket team aims high, and is not satisfied with normal Shadow Pokémon: when you meet him he will have subjected none other than a legendary Pokémon. Here's what you need to do to get the Super Radar and save the legendary on duty.

This guide refers to the classic missions of the GO Rocket team. If you are looking for the steps of the missions "An Interesting New", check out this guide instead.

If you fail to complete the search for the current month do not worry: you can complete it the next, starting the new one immediately after. However, the reward Shadow Pokémon will be identical. It is therefore advisable to keep up with John's research.

How to defeat Giovanni

Which Pokémon could you expect from Giovanni first, if not good old Persian. It won't be a tough nut to crack: any Fighting Pokémon is more than enough. John's second choice will be a Ground-type Pokémon among the following three:

• Kangaskhan
• Nesting
• Garchomp

Having Ice or Water-type moves should be enough to switch to the final Legendary Pokémon, different every month but always in Shadow version). You will also want to bring a Pokémon that knows at least one Fight move, to overcome Persian and possibly Kangaskhan (you can enter the fight and only beat Persian to find out who is second in the team).

In October (2020, ed) you can catch Mewtwo Shadow, previously released during this year's remote GO Fest.

The long road to completing the special mission will each time be amply rewarded by a legendary Shadow, exclusively obtainable from this fight. In the specific case of Mewtwo, the reward will also be very strong! Don't miss the opportunity.

The renewal of the GO Rocket team special missions has suffered severe slowdowns following the lockdown. Missions reload with longer timelines.