How to beat Giovanni in Pokémon Go: February 2026 counters

Giovanni is back in Pokémon Go with a new team of powerful Shadow Pokemon in 2026, which can only be beaten by exploiting their weaknesses with the best counters.

Similar to his previous Pokémon Go appearances, the Team Rocket Leader can only be found by completing the latest Team GO Rocket Special Research mission — needing you to defeat Grunts or the other leaders — Arlo, Sierra, and Cliff — to assemble a Super Rocket Radar. Once you do so, you'll be able to finally track the villain down and challenge him.

Giovanni's team has stayed the same as last month in some ways, but there have been two major changes that could alter your strategy from before: swapping in Nidoking for Machamp, along with ditching Tornadus for Thundurus. Keeping new weaknesses in mind, here is the latest and best selection of counters to beat Giovanni's February 2026 team in Pokémon Go.

How to beat Giovanni in Pokémon Go: February 2026 counters

To beat Giovanni and his February 2026 line-up of Shadow Pokémon in Pokémon Go, you'll need to fill your party with the following counters:

• Bring a Fighting-type to counter Persian
• Bring an Ice-type to counter Rhyperior, a Psychic/Fairy/Flying-type for Machamp — or a Fighting-type to counter Kangaskhan and Rhyperior
• Bring an Electric-, Ice-, or Rock-type to counter Tornadus

Below are the Pokémon you can expect to see in each round. This time, only round two has an element of mystery to it.

First round:

• Persian (Normal-type)
  • Weakness: Counter with Fighting-type attacks

Second round:

• Kangaskhan (Normal-type)
  • Weakness: Counter with Fighting-type attacks
• Rhyperior (Ground- and Rock-type)
  • Weakness: Counter with Grass-, Water-, Fighting-, Ground-, Steel-, and Ice-type attacks
• Machamp (Fighting-type)
  • Weakness: Counter with Flying-, Fairy-, Psychic-type attacks

Third round:

• Shadow Thundurus (Flying- and Electric-type)
  • Weakness: Counter with Rock-, Ice-type attacks

It’s worth noting that if Giovanni defeats you once, you can demand a rematch at the same location. So, if he ends up using a second Pokémon you weren't prepared for (like facing Shadow Kangaskhan without a Fighting-type), you can even leave the battle, switch out party members, and re-enter as long as you stay in the same location.

Best Persian counters in Pokémon Go

Shadow Persian is always the first Pokémon that Giovanni throws into battle in his Pokémon Go boss fight. Being a Normal-type Pokémon, Shadow Persian's only weakness is against Fighting-type attacks. Any Fighting-type move that you dish out will cause 160 per cent extra damage.

With this in mind, counters like Lucario, Machamp, or Conkeldurr are excellent counters for Giovanni's Persian that are easy to get in the game — with moves like Force Palm, Counter, and Dynamic Punch being effective attacks in their movesets. As a backup, you can use non-Fighting-type Pokémon that still have Fighting-type moves as an alternative; however, it's always best to use a Pokémon that is the same type as the intended move, as you'll get a 1.2x STAB (same-type damage bonus).

Other move types can still be used for standard neutral damage, but one thing you will not want to use is a Ghost-type Pokémon. Persian has a resistance to these ghoulish creatures, with their attacks doing 39 per cent less damage to Persian. So, don't use any of those.

Best Kangaskhan counters in Pokémon Go

Luckily, Kangaskhan is a Normal-type, just like Persian; with that, you probably won't need to change very much, since you can double-up on your Fighting-types or be lucky enough to sweep both Pokémon in a row. Just like before, counters like Machamp, Lucario and Conkeldurr are some of the best easy options.

That said, this month, it might be worth bringing at least two on a first attempt when facing Giovanni, due to the added bulk of some of the Team Rocket boss's other team members.

Best Rhyperior counters in Pokémon Go

Giovanni's Rhyperior has very strong stats, but its Rock and Ground-type gives it a ton of weaknesses with six in total: Water, Fighting, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Ice.

To make the most of these weaknesses, using counters like the Water-type Kingler will deal the most damage, with Bubble as its Fast Attack and Crabhammer as its Charged Attack, since it's also not vulnerable to any of Rhyperior's attacks.

Kartana is also a strong choice as a Grass and Steel-type, but you'd need to be wary of Rhyperior using Superpower and a couple of Ground-type attacks in its potential move-set since Kartana is weak to Fighting-type moves. In this case, pure Grass-types like Roserade and Rillaboom are excellent back-ups to quickly beat Shadow Rhyperior if you use Razor Leaf and Gross Knot for both Pokémon's Fast Moves and Charged moves, respectively.

Again, your Machamp, Conkeldurr, and Lucario from Persian will both work wonders here. Out of those three, though, it's best to avoid using Lucario if you can help it, as its part-Steel typing will also make it weak to Rhyperior's potential Ground- and Fighting-type moves.

Best Machamp counters in Pokémon Go

Already a strong attacker in its base form, Giovanni's Shadow Machamp is even deadlier — making you need to target its Fighting type with Psychic-, Fairy, or Flying-type moves all the more essential, as all equally inflict the same 160 per cent super-effective damage.

For instance, the Legendary Mewtwo is one of the best counters against Giovanni's Machamp you can use — with Confusion and Psystrike as ideal moves to inflict that super-effective damage fast.

Still, because Psychic, Fairy, and Flying moves deal the same amount of damage, any of the same type that can use those moves will do. Another great example is Tapu Lele, a Psychic-Fairy hybrid that can have Confusion and Nature's Madness, which is a great combination moveset.

There are also Flying-types like Toucannon, which can have an especially serious damage output when mixing moves like Peck and Beak Blast. For other non-Legendaries, the Psychic-type Espeon or the Fairy-type Clefable are solid contenders, as well.

Best Thundurus counters in Pokémon Go

As the latest Legendary to be added to Giovanni's Pokémon Go arsenal for February 2026, Shadow Thundurus' Electric and Flying dual typing gives it two weaknesses to target: Rock- and Ice-type moves, all for 160 per cent super-effective damage.

That isn't as many weaknesses as Giovanni's Tornadus in the past, but there are still plenty of counters to work with — like Galarian Darmanitan: a powerful Ice-type attacker that works best for Ice Fang as its Fast Attack and Avalanche for its Charged. If you don't have one of those to hand, alternatives like Baxcalibur, Mamoswine, and Abomasnow work as well.

On the Rock-type side of things, a fantastic counter for Thundurus in Pokémon Go is Rampardos — who can use both Smack Down and Rock Slide in its moveset, whilst being 63% resistant to any Flying-type attacks Thundurus might use. There are plenty of other powerful Rock-types in the game to choose from as well, including Tyranitar, Rhyperior, Aerodactyl, and Gigalith.

If you challenge Giovanni multiple times, make sure to heal your best Pokémon between attempts and target each of his team members with the right counters, and you'll soon be able to beat him.

Pokémon Go is available to download on iOS and Android devices.

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