Pokemon GO celebrated its fifth anniversary last year, and has launched into 2022 in the midst of the Season of Heritage. Niantic's genre-defining ARPG continues to expand, with new events, Pokemon, and features being added each month. One of the most exciting activities for trainers in Pokemon GO is taking on the Team GO Rocket Leaders, each of which boasts their own line-up of powerful Pokemon.
Arlo is one of the trickier Team GO Rocket Leaders to beat, particularly with his latest line-up. The triumphant return of Team GO Rocket Boss Giovanni in November 2021 changed up the Pokemon teams of all his lieutenants, and Arlo has continued using that same squad into 2022. Players who want to take on the former Team Valor prodigy will need to bring the perfect team to the fight.
Arlo's First Pokemon in Pokemon GO
Like many of the Team GO Rocket Leaders, Arlo always begins his battles with the same Pokemon. In Arlo's case this is Gligar, the Fly Scorpion Pokemon. Gligar is a Ground/Flying-type, and is therefore weak to Water and extremely weak to Ice.
Gligar can be easily countered with a powerful Ice or Water Pokemon, particularly if it's resistant to Ground or Flying. Particularly good picks include Mamoswine with Powder Snow and Avalanche, Glaceon with Frost Breath and Avalanche, or Alolan Sandslash with Powder Snow and Ice Punch.
Arlo's Second Pokemon in Pokemon GO
Arlo's second Pokemon in Pokemon GO can be one of three, either Cradily, Lapras, or Mawile. Cradily is a Rock/Grass-type and therefore weak to Bug, Fighting, Ice, and Steel. Lapras is Ice/Water, making it weak to Electric, Fighting, Grass, and Rock. Mawile is a Steel/Fairy-type and is therefore weak to Fire and Ground.
While no single Pokemon can cover all these weaknesses, there are a few good choices that will be strong against more than one of them. Lucario or Hariyama with Counter will easily take down Cradily or Lapras, while Mawile is best matched against tough Ground or Fire-types like Rhyperior with Mud Slap, or Entei with Fire Fang.
Arlo's Third Pokemon in Pokemon GO
Arlo will also send out one of three Pokemon for his final choice in Pokemon GO battles, either Gardevoir, Scizor, or Snorlax. Gardevoir is a Psychic/Fairy-type, and therefore weak to Ghost, Poison and Steel. Scizor is Bug/Steel, which means it's only weak to Fire and also has a ton of good resistances, including Grass and Poison. Finally Snorlax is a Normal-type, and therefore its only weakness is to Fighting.
Snorlax's weakness to Fighting means that players might be able to re-use a Pokemon that they chose to counter Cradily and Lapras. Again, Hariyama, Machamp, or Lucario are all good picks for this, particularly with Counter as their Fast Move. Scizor is a little more difficult, and pretty much requires players to put at least one Fire Pokemon on their team. Powerful picks include Entei or Darmanitan with Fire Fang, or Charizard or Blaziken with Fire Spin, especially when combined with Overheat or Blast Burn as the charge move. Finally, Gardevoir is best countered by a Steel or Ghost/Steel Pokemon, with good picks including Metagross, Chandelure, and Genesect.
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS devices.