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Pokémon Go Giovanni rewards and counters (November 2026)

How to beat Giovanni and capture his current Shadow Legendery.

Giovanni surrounded by shadow versions of Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres.
Image credit: Niantic
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If you're trying to bulk out your Pokédex in Pokémon Go with Legendary Shadow Pokémon, you're going to want to keep an eye out for the Team Go Rocket boss Giovanni. He's a bit fiddly to find, a tough fight, and his line-up changes every few months, but he's worth it if you're after as many rare Pokémon as possible.

As part of the Harvest Festival: Taken Over event in Pokémon Go, Giovanni's line-up last got updated in October 2026, with his Legendary switching to Shadow Zekrom.

With his line-up often changing, below we've put together the best Giovanni Counters, helping give you the edge against one the toughest bosses in the game. And also tips for finding him and the rewards for beating him.

On this page:

How to find Giovanni

Finding the Team Go boss can be a bit fiddly and firstly requires you to get hold of a Super Rocket Radar. Here's how to find Giovanni:

  1. Earn a Super Rocket Radar from the Go Pass: Harvest Festival:
    • Free Track - Rank 30.
    • Deluxe Track - Rank 1 and Rank 30.
  2. Equip the Super Rocket Radar.
  3. Hunt down Giovanni at either invaded PokéStop.

Watch out if you're going the PokéStop route, you might have to visit a few PokeStops before you find him. And you might also encounter a few decoy grunts along the way.

Once you've encountered him, you can fight him as many times as needed until finally capturing his Legendary Shadow Pokémon.

Giovanni Line-up

Giovanni’s choice of Pokémon rotates every few months, meaning you will often find yourself battling different Pokémon. Giovanni's current team is as follows:

First Pokémon Second Pokémon Third Pokémon
Persian Machamp Zekrom (Shadow)
Kangaskhan
Rhyperior

Best Giovanni counters

Once you find Giovanni, prepare yourself for a tough fight. His Pokémon are a lot stronger than the previous Team Go Rocket fights, so make sure your team is just as powerful. Don’t be deterred if it takes two, or even three, attempts to take him down!

Here are the Giovanni Counters we recommend:

Slot 1

  • Crowned Sword Zacian
  • Shadow Mewtwo
  • Primal Kyogre
  • Strongest Water or Ground-type

Slot 2

  • Mega Lucario (Force Palm, Aura Sphere)
  • Strongest Fighting-type

Slot 3

  • Rhyperior
  • Shadow Groudon
  • Strongest Ground or Fairy-type

How to beat Giovanni

Before we jump into the strategy for beating Giovanni, It’s important to remember that, like the previous Team Go Rocket Leaders, Giovanni has two Protect Shields at his disposal - this means a debut Pokémon that has two quick Charged moves, and can withstand some damage, will set you up nicely for removing his shields and for the rest of the fight.

Best Persian Counter

Persian will always come up first and is weak against Fighting, so having a Mega Lucario with Force Palm and Aura Sphere, or Terrakion with Double Kick and Sacred Sword are your best bets here. Failing that, Machamp and Lucario are cheaper, more attainable counters.

However, the secret technique to beating Persian is to put your fighter in the second slot and then immediately switch to it. This is because Giovanni experiences a two-second delay every time you switch Pokémon, giving you two sweet seconds to lay into Persian before it retaliates.

Best Machamp, Rhyperior and Kangaskhan Counters

Giovanni's second Pokémon can be one of three, either Rhyperior or Kangaskhan.

The best Machamp counters are Crowned Sword Zacian or Shadow Mewtwo. Personally, I would recommend selecting Crowned Sword Zacian if you have one as this Pokémon also works as a good counter for Rhyperior.

The best Rhyperior counters are Primal or Shadow Kyogre, Kartana, Crowned Sword Zacian or your strongest Water-type or Grass-type as it's particularly weak against these two types. If you can, a stronger Water-type would be the better choice but if you've got a high-performing Grass-type like Kartana then that works too.

The best Kangaskhan counters are Mega Lucario, Machamp or Terrakion. Though you could also try using an Annihilape if it knows Counter and Close Combat.

Best Shadow Zekrom Counter

Shadow Zekrom is weak to Dragon, Ground, Fairy and Ice-type Pokémon, with Rhyperior or Shadow Groudon being the best counter choices. (You could also use Primal Groudon if you have it.) Other alternative Ground-type counters include Shadow Excadrill, Mamoswine (which has dual Ice-typing!) and, if you want to risk it, Garchomp.

Finally, if you haven't included a Mega Pokémon yet, then you can always go with Mega Gardevoir to cater to Zekrom and Machamp's Fairy-type weaknesses (especially given our Mega Lucario or chosen Fighting-type should help tackle the rest of Giovanni's team). Mega Rayquaza and Mega Dragonite are also strong picks all around, but I recommend staying away from Dragons though since Zekrom shares this typing and, if it uses a Dragon-type move, you'll take a lot of damage. You can, however, use Dragon-type attacks with a non-Dragon-type Pokémon like Gyarados.

Giovanni Rewards

You will receive a variety of rewards for defeating Giovanni. This includes 5,000 Stardust and a variety of healing items, such as Max Potions and Max Revives. There’s also a chance that you’ll receive a Unova Stone. And each time you beat him, you'll get closer to unlocking the next stage of the Ultra Hero medal, unlocking Giovanni-themed clothing.

But most importantly you’ll be given the opportunity to catch his Legendary Shadow Pokémon, which this time around is a Shadow Zekrom.

Past Giovanni Shadow Legendary list

Here are the Shadow Legendary Pokémon Giovanni has had in his team in the past:

  • Shadow Zekrom - October 2026
  • Shadow Reshiram - May 2026
  • Shadow Incarnate Forme Landorus - April 2026
  • Shadow Incarnate Forme Thundurus - January 2026
  • Shadow Incarnate Forme Tornadus - September 2025
  • Shadow Giratina - August 2025
  • Shadow Dialga - May 2025
  • Shadow Palkia - January 2025
  • Shadow Heatran - October 2024
  • Shadow Cresselia - August 2024
  • Shadow Groudon - March 2024
  • Shadow Kyogre - January 2024
  • Shadow Regigigas - October 2023
  • Shadow Regirock - June 2023
  • Shadow Regice - March 2023
  • Shadow Registeel - February 2023
  • Shadow Mewtwo - November 2022
  • Shadow Latios - July 2022
  • Shadow Latias - April 2022
  • Shadow Lugia - November 2021
  • Shadow Ho-Oh - June 2021
  • Shadow Moltres - May 2021
  • Shadow Zapdos - June 2021
  • Shadow Articuno - March 2021
  • Shadow Mewtwo - October 2020 (as a part of Rocket Straight to Victory)
  • Shadow Suicune - July 2020
  • Shadow Entei - March to July 2020
  • Shadow Raikou - February 2020
  • Shadow Moltres - January 2020
  • Shadow Zapdos - December 2019
  • Shadow Articuno - November 2019

Good luck defeating Giovanni in Pokémon Go! And looking for more help? Check-out our weakness chart, our guide to STAB, and our list of Mega Pokémon.

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