Arlo counters and weaknesses in Pokemon GO (May 2022)

A new month in Pokemon GO comes with a new team of Pokemon for Team GO Rocket's Admin Leaders, Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra. These three villainous Team GO Rocket members provide challenging battles for players daring enough to seek them out. They also reward victorious players with rare Shadow Pokemon.

Many players seek out repeated battles with these trainers to grind these rewarded Shadow Pokemon, which they can later evolve and use in battle. However, the player will need a good strategy to be successful in these battles.

Rather than opting for the turn-based combat system of previous Pokemon titles, Pokemon GO has a real-time action battle system that responds to the player's actions on the screen. If the player taps on their screen, their Pokemon attacks. However, this system is more complex than it sounds.

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Potential strategies for battling Arlo in Pokemon GO

Arlo as he appears in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

To challenge any of GO Rocket's leaders, players will need to construct a Rocket Radar. These can be made with six of the mysterious components dropped by Team GO Rocket grunts once they are defeated. These members of Team GO Rocket can be found in Hot Air Balloons or at marked Pokestops.

While Arlo's team changes almost every month, the Shadow Pokemon he rewards the player with usually remains constant for a few months. Players who defeat Arlo in battle will be rewarded with a Shadow Exeggcute and a 12-kilometer egg that players can hatch into some of Pokemon GO's most rare Pokemon.

Arlo's potential battle party in May 2022

Stage 1: Exeggcute

Exeggcute as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

All of Team GO Rocket's leaders will begin the battle with the Shadow Pokemon they reward the player with. More often than not, this Shadow Pokemon will be the base form of a more powerful Pokemon, and players can easily breeze through this stage of every battle with any Team GO Rocket Leader.

Exeggcute is a Grass and Psychic-type Pokemon. Both types share a common weakness to Bug-type attacks. With the recent rework of Mega Evolutions in Pokemon GO, players are encouraged to experiment with the mechanic during this battle. Mega Beedrill is an excellent choice for this fight.

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Stage 2: Dragonite, Salamence, or Alolan Exeggutor

Salamence as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

For the next stage of the fight, one definitive type works best. These Pokemon all belong to the Dragon-type. As an added bonus, each of the secondary types for these Pokemon also share a common weakness with the Dragon typing. This means that one type of attack can easily beat this stage.

Ice-type attacks are the best possible option for this stage of the battle. The best Ice-type Pokemon to bring is Galarian Darmanitan. The Pokemon's great stats and powerful Ice-type attacks make it the best possible option to use for this stage of the battle.

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Stage 3: Steelix, Scizor, or Gardevoir

Scizor as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

This stage of the fight will likely be the most difficult for some players. Due to the Steel typing being notorious for being the best defensive typing in the franchise, Pokemon GO players may have trouble getting through it. However, a powerful Fire-type (like Heatran or Mega Charizard Y) can be a valuable asset.

While that helps the player get through Steelix and Scizor, it could fail to be useful if Arlo has Gardevoir for this fight. In that case, Mega Beedrill is the better option. Gardevoir is a Psychic and Fairy-type Pokemon. This means it is weak against Poison and Bug-type attacks, and Mega Beedrill has attacks that belong to both types.

To construct the best-performing team for this fight, the player has a couple of options. Galarian Darmanitan is highly recommended if the player has it. Either Mega Charizard Y or Mega Beedrill should be used as well. Depending on which Mega Evolution is chosen, another Fire or Poison-type should also be used.