Pokémon GO - How to Beat Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra (December 2020)

Pokémon GO - How to Beat Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra (December 2020)

How to beat the leaders of Team GO Rocket

Before we dive into the counters, here are some tips and tricks for beating all the leaders of Team GO Rocket. They all act the same during their fights, so there are certain actions that can give you an advantage. It starts as soon as you choose the Pokémon for your team. While you might think you want your primary Pokémon to be the first to be sent, that's actually not correct.



Two things will cause the leader of Team GO Rocket to pause, giving you 2-3 free attacks where he's unresponsive. They are: using a charged attack and trading Pokémon. So if you have a hard time defeating them with the best counters, you can use them to your advantage.

Put your second or third Pokemon first, then quickly trade with your real boss and start using them. This will also give you a charge for your charged attack, and if it requires little energy you might end up being able to chain them together, attacking 2-3 times in between.

Additionally, while their first Pokemon is always the same, their second and third are randomized each time you encounter them, with three options to choose from. So if you don't have very powerful counters or if you don't know if you can beat a certain team, you may be ready to lose or quit just to see what they'll use. Then refer to the sections below to find which Pokémon to use. Now let's move on to the part where you determine the best counters to actually put on your team.

How To Beat Arlo - The Best Counters

The Arlo team will always start with Growlithe, which will make the first choice easier for you.



Tour 1

Growl the counters

  • Regirock with Lock On and Stone Edge
  • Golem with Mud Shot and Rock Blast
  • Omastar with Mud Shot and Rock Slide
  • Swampert with Mud Shot and Hydro Cannon

2ème round

After that you'll face off against Blastoise, Charizard, or Steelix, so here are the best counters against them.

Blastoise counters

  • Sceptile with Fury Cutter and Leaf Blade
  • Venusaur with Vine Whip and Frenzied Plant
  • Leafeon with quick attack and leaf blade
  • Hydreigon with Dragon Breath and Dark Pulse

Charizard counters

  • Regirock with Lock On and Stone Edge
  • Golem with Rock Throw and Rock Blast
  • Zapdos with Thunder Shock and Ancient Power
  • Giratina with Shadow Claw and Ancient Power

Steelix counters

  • Heatran with Fire Spin and Flamethrower
  • Excadrill with Mud Slap and Drill Run
  • Entei with Fire Spin and Flamethrower
  • Swampert with Mud Shot and Hydro Cannon

3rd round

Your next opponent will be either Dragonite, Salamence or Scizor.

Dragonite counters

  • Dialga with Dragon Breath and Draco Meteor
  • Regice with Lockwithon and Blizzard
  • Mewtwo with Psycho Cut and Ice Beam
  • Metagross with Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash

Salamence counters

  • Tyranitar with Smack Down and Crunch
  • Regice with Lockwithon and Blizzard
  • Giratina with Dragon Breath and Dragon Claw
  • Togekiss with charm and dazzling shine

Scizor counters


  • Blaziken with Counter and Blaze Kick
  • Charizard with Fire Spin and Blast Burn
  • Entei with Fire Spin and Flamethrower
  • Typhlosion with Fire Spin and Blast Burn

This is how to beat Arlo with the best counters, but what if the Team GO Rocket or Stop ball is headed by Cliff?


How To Beat Cliff - The Best Counters

Cliff will always start with Omanyte, a Rock and Water-type Pokémon weak to grass attacks.

Tour 1

Omanyte counters

  • Venusaur with Vine Whip and Frenzied Plant
  • Torterra with Razor Leaf and Frenzied Plant
  • Roserade with razor leaf and grass knot
  • Ludicolo with razor foil and energy ball

2ème round

After that, you'll be fighting against Electivire, Machamp, or Onix, so check out the best counters for each below.

Electivire meters

  • Garchomp with Mud Shot and Sand Tomb
  • Giratina with Dragon Breath and Ancient Power
  • Rhyperior with Mud Slap and Stone Edge
  • Flygon with Mud Shot and Earth Power

Machamp counters

  • Mewtwo with Psycho Cut and Psystrike
  • Lugia with Extrasensory and Sky Attack
  • Togekiss with charm and aerial ace
  • Giratina with Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball

Onix counters

  • Torterra with Razor Leaf and Frenzied Plant
  • Venusaur with Vine Whip and Frenzied Plant
  • Kyogre with waterfall and hydraulic pump
  • Empoleon with waterfall and hydraulic pump

3rd round

Finally, you will face Swampert, Torterra or Tyranitar. Choose your Pokémon wisely for this.


Swampert counters

  • Leafeon with quick attack and leaf blade
  • Roserade with razor leaf and grass knot
  • Megane with vine whip and Frenzy plant
  • Venusaur with Vine Whip and Frenzied Plant

Torterra counters

  • Moltres with Fire Spin and Sky Attack
  • Articuno with Ice Shard and Ice Ray
  • Heatran with Fire Spin and Flamethrower
  • Entei with Fire Spin and Flamethrower

Tyranitar counters


  • Lucario with counter and Power Up Punch
  • Heracross with counter and close combat
  • Machamp with Counter and Cross Chop
  • Virizion with fast attack and close combat

So this is the best against Cliff in Pokémon GO for December 2020, but what about Sierra?

How To Beat Sierra - The Best Counters

Sierra used to give players a lot of difficulty but became much easier to beat in December 2020. She now starts off with Drowzee, a Psychic-type Pokémon that shouldn't cause you too much of a problem. If you don't take much damage, you can use this fight to generate charged attack energy for the rest of the battle.

Tour 1

Drowzee counters

  • Tyrant with Bite and Fire Blast Crunch
  • Giratina with shadow claw and eerie wind
  • Hydreigon with bite and Dragon Pulse
  • Darkrai with Snarl and Dark Pulse

2ème round

The next one will be either Exeggutor, Lapras or Sharpedo. Lapras is tanky so be prepared for a long fight if he does arise. The rest should be easily defeated with the right counter, but be prepared for anything here.

Exeggutor counters

  • Volcarona with Bug Bite and Bug Buzz
  • Genesect avec Fury Cutter et X Scissor
  • Staircase with Bug Bite and Megahorn
  • Scizor avec Fury Cutter et X Scissor

Lapras counters

  • Dialga with Dragon Breath and Draco Meteor
  • Lucario with counter and Power Up Punch
  • Melmetal with Thunder Shock and Rock Slide
  • Regice with Lock On and Focus Blast

Sharpedo counters

  • Lucario with Counter and Super Power
  • Machamp with counter and close combat
  • Raikou with Volt Switch and Wild Charge
  • Zapdos with Thunder Shock and Zap Cannon

3rd round

And for the very last battle, you'll either have to beat Alakazam, Houndoom, or Shiftry. These cover a wide range of Pokémon types, making it difficult to choose the right counter. But if you have it, the fight should be pretty easy.

Alakazam counters

  • Darkrai with Snarl and Dark Pulse
  • Hydreigon with Mud Shot and Power Up Punch
  • Tyranitar with Bite and Crunch
  • Metagross with Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash

Houndoom counters

  • Swampert with Mud Shot and Hydro Cannon
  • Poliwrath avec Mud Shot et Power Up Punch
  • Machamp with Counter and Cross Chop
  • Tyranny with Smack Down and Stone Edge

Shiftry counters

  • Togekiss with charm and ancestral power
  • Ho-Oh with hidden power and a brave bird
  • Yanmega with Bug Bite and Bug Buzz
  • Volcarona with Bug Bite and Bug Buzz

And those are all the best counters for how to beat Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra in Pokémon GO in December 2020. Check back next month to see if there are any changes to their roster or if we find better Pokémon for your team.




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