Video Games

How to beat Giovanni in Pokémon Go in July 2024

Defeat Shadow Groudon and claim it for yourself

Marco Wutz

Niantic

Looking dapper as always, Giovanni has returned to Pokémon Go in July 2024, fielding a mighty Shadow Groudon in battle as his Legendary Pokémon.

Table of Contents

  1. Giovanni’s Pokémon in July 2024 – Pokémon Go
  2. Best counters to Persian – Pokémon Go Giovanni
  3. Best counters to Nidoking – Pokémon Go Giovanni
  4. Best counters to Rhyperior – Pokémon Go Giovanni
  5. Best counters to Garchomp – Pokémon Go Giovanni
  6. Best counters to Groudon – Pokémon Go Giovanni

You’ll need to face and defeat his stooges Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra to get your hands on a Super Rocket Radar from the current Rocket Special Research before you can battle Giovanni. Once you’ve collected this piece of hardware and activated it, you can find the suave-looking villain waiting for you at a nearby PokéStop. Alternatively, he'll approach you riding a Rocket Balloon.

Once you’ve successfully dueled Giovanni, you’ll be able to complete your Rocket Special Research and will be able to catch his current Legendary companion.

This guide will tell you how to beat Giovanni in Pokémon Go in 2024 with Groudon as his Legendary Pokémon.

Giovanni’s Pokémon in July 2024 – Pokémon Go

Giovanni always starts a battle with his beloved and majestic Persian, ending it with his trump card Groudon. He has a couple of Pokémon to choose from for the second position, which is randomly determined before the battle.

  • Slot #1: Persian
  • Slot #2: Nidoking / Rhyperior / Garchomp
  • Slot #3: Groudon

Best counters to Persian – Pokémon Go Giovanni

Cat-like Pokémon Persian on Normal-type background.
Persian is Giovanni's starter Pokémon. / Niantic / The Pokémon Company

Persian is a Normal-type, which means you'll want to use Fighting-type moves to cause the greatest amount of damage. It's recommended to use a Pokémon with quick energy generation first to exhaust the opponent's shields early on. This will cover Rhyperior as well, in case Giovanni selects it for his second slot.

  • Lucario (Fighting, Steel): Counter, Power-Up Punch, Aura Sphere
  • Machamp (Fighting): Counter, Close Combat, Stone Edge
  • Tyranitar (Rock, Dark): Smack Down, Brutal Swing, Stone Edge

Best counters to Nidoking – Pokémon Go Giovanni

Bipedal Pokémon Nidoking on Ground-type background.
Nidoking is a potential second choice for Giovanni. / Niantic / The Pokémon Company

Giovanni's iconic Nidoking can be countered by Ground-, Ice-, Psychic-, and Water-type moves.

  • Kyogre (Water): Waterfall, Surf, Origin Pulse
  • Swampert (Water, Ground): Mud Shot, Hydro Cannon, Earthquake
  • Mamoswine (Ground, Ice): Powder Snow, Avalanche, High Horsepower

Best counters to Rhyperior – Pokémon Go Giovanni

Bipedal Pokémon Rhyperior on Rock-type background.
Rhyperior is a potential second choice for Giovanni. / Niantic / The Pokémon Company

Rhyperior shares some weaknesses with Nidoking and Garchomp, making Water- or Ice-type attackers a fantastic choice to cover all of Giovanni's options for the second slot.

  • Kyogre (Water): Waterfall, Surf, Origin Pulse
  • Swampert (Water, Ground): Mud Shot, Hydro Cannon, Earthquake
  • Mamoswine (Ground, Ice): Powder Snow, Avalanche, High Horsepower

Best counters to Garchomp – Pokémon Go Giovanni

Draconic Pokémon Garchomp on Ground-type background.
Garchomp is a potential second choice for Giovanni. / Niantic / The Pokémon Company

This land shark is best served on Ice, which is doing double damage against it. Dragon- and Fairy-type attacks are your other options.

  • Togekiss (Fairy, Flying): Charm, Ancient Power, Aura Sphere
  • Gyarados (Water, Flying): Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, Crunch
  • Mamoswine (Ground, Ice): Powder Snow, Avalanche, High Horsepower

Best counters to Groudon – Pokémon Go Giovanni

Reptilian Pokémon Groudon on Ground-type background.
Groudon is Giovanni's final trump card. / Niantic / The Pokémon Company

Giovanni is making things easy for you this time around, since Groudon shares many of the weak points offered by the chief’s potential fighters in the second slot, allowing you to be well prepared for this final showdown. As a pure Ground-type, Groudon is weak to Grass, Water, and Ice.

  • Kyogre (Water): Waterfall, Surf, Origin Pulse
  • Swampert (Water, Ground): Mud Shot, Hydro Cannon, Earthquake
  • Mamoswine (Ground, Ice): Powder Snow, Avalanche, High Horsepower

For more Pokémon Go, check out the overviews of the monthly Spotlight Hours and 5-Star Raids.

Published |Modified
Marco Wutz

MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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