How to beat Team Rocket leader Arlo in Pokémon GO

Some of the toughest battles in Pokémon GO are when trainers are fighting the Team Rocket leaders. These battles will give the best rewards but also the biggest challenge for your Pokémon. To come out victorious, it’s important to keep track of which Pokémon the different leaders are using and learn how to counter them. 

One of the three Team Rocket leaders is Arlo, who is usually one of the easier to beat. With that said, any player can run into trouble against Arlo if choosing the wrong Pokémon. For every Team Rocket leader battle, players have to choose three Pokémon. The leaders will also have three Pokémon, including two protecting shields that can be used to reflect a charged move. This means that all leaders are fighting on even terms of the player, unlike the usual fights against Team Rocket Grunts. 

To make sure that Arlo stays defeated for the month of June, here’s how to beat him in Pokémon GO. 

Which Pokémon does Arlo have?

To keep things exciting in Pokémon GO, the Team Rocket leaders will have their Pokémon pool rotated roughly every month. This means that it won’t always be the same fights when going up against a leader like Arlo, forcing players to stay up to date with the most recent changes. 

As of June 2021, Arlo has a good mix of potential Pokémon but most of them are fairly simple to counter. Only the first Pokémon that Arlo sends out is guaranteed, followed up by a pool of three potential Pokémon for his second and third respectively. Here is Arlo’s Pokémon in June 2021. 

1st Pokémon: 

• Shadow Venonat

2nd Pokémon:

• Shadow Manectric
• Shadow Ursaring
• Shadow Crobat

3rd Pokémon:

• Shadow Scizor
• Shadow Magnezone
• Shadow Vileplume

How to beat Arlo in Pokémon GO

With Arlo’s current lineup in mind, it’s time to start picking the right Pokémon to counter. The only Pokémon that is a guarantee is Venonat, which is a fairly simple grass Pokémon to beat. Defeating this would require any sort of fire-type Pokémon in a decently high CP. This could be common Pokémon such as Flareon, Arcanine, or Charizard. Or it could be Reshiram, Entei, or Ho-Oh for the players that have been in the game for a little longer. 

This fire-type Pokémon will also come in handy against Arlo’s third Pokémon, as Scizor, Magnezone, and Vileplume will all be weak against fire. To be most effective, make sure to start the battle with the fire-type Pokémon and switch it out after taking down Venonat. When Arlo’s second Pokémon has been defeated, make sure to choose the fire-type Pokémon again to end the battle. 

Getting past Arlo’s second Pokémon will likely be the hardest, as all three potential Pokémon have different types. If going up against Manectric, it’s important to have something that is super effective against electric. This could be any strong ground-type Pokémon. To take down Ursaring, fighting-type Pokémon like Machamp or Lucario will be the strongest. For Crobat, any electric type with a fast charge move will do very well. 

Since Arlo has a lot of Pokémon that are weak against fire in this rotation, it’s always a possibility to pick two fire Pokémon. If you already have a strong fire-type Pokémon, then it might not be necessary. Instead, it will be possible to pick two counters for his second Pokémon, to be extra safe.  

How to encounter Arlo in Pokémon GO

Meeting Arlo in a battle in Pokémon GO requires a Team Rocket Radar, which can be bought in the in-game store for 200 Pokécoins. For players who don’t want to spend money on the game, it’s also possible to earn a Team Rocket Radar by defeating Team Rocket Grunts. 

Every time a Team Rocket Grunt is defeated, every player will be rewarded with a Mysterious Component. Getting six Mysterious Components will turn them all into a Team Rocket Radar, which will then spawn one of the three leaders at random when activated. One out of three times, the encounter will be against Arlo. 

In some rare cases, it’s also possible to obtain a Super Rocket Radar which will give an encounter with Team Rocket leader Giovanni himself.

Team Rocket leader Arlo rewards

Defeating a Team Rocket leader like Arlo takes a toll on the Pokémon used, so players are obviously rewarded for the battle. Defeating Arlo will give 1,000 Stardust and items chosen randomly such as max revives, potions, Unova stone, Sinnoh stone, or even 12km eggs.