Pokemon GO: Best counters to use against Jesse and James (October 2021)

Looks like Pokemon GO trainers in October will have to prepare for trouble and make it double.

From 1 October 2021 to 15 October 2021, trainers may be noticing a Meowth Balloon popping up on the map. This means that Jesse and James are there and ready to battle.

These two classic Team Rocket minions from the anime are definitely worth fighting since they could yield a Shadow Scyther or Shadow Pinsir.

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Which Pokemon can beat these Team Rocket minions?

To learn how to beat Jesse and James, trainers will need to know about their Pokemon lineup. Unlike Arlo, Sierra and Cliff, who have multiple Pokemon to choose from, Jesse and James bring the same team to every match. Their Pokemon are as follows.

Jesse’s team:

• Scyther
• Ekans
• Stantler

James’ team:

• Pinsir
• Koffing
• Grimer

An observant trainer will notice right off the bat that both Jesse and James have two big weaknesses: Psychic and Ground. The Team Rocket Duo, like in the anime, focuses on Poison-type Pokemon, meaning trainers can exploit this weakness.

Bringing a Psychic or Ground-type Pokemon to these battles automatically takes care of three of their six collective Pokemon (Ekans, Koffing and Grimer). Trainers will definitely want to start there and round out their team by countering the other three.

Fortunately, there is a Bug-type on each team, which is another weakness to exploit. Any trainer with a Fire-type, Rock-type or Flying-type can steamroll both of these Pokemon.

Notably, Rock-types are the best way to go here. This is because Scyther is both Bug-type and Flying-type; each takes super effective damage from Rock. Even a Pokemon that’s unevolved or has lower CP can beat Scyther by spamming strong Rock-type moves.

A team with two of the aforementioned types of Pokemon easily takes care of all of Jesse and James’ selections save one: Stantler. Being a Normal-type, Stantler will only go down to Fighting-types. Therefore, a trainer with a Psychic/Ground-type, a Rock-type and a Fighting-type can beat Jesse and James easily.