Sierra counters and weaknesses in Pokemon GO (May 2022)

Each new month for Pokemon GO has the potential for a new battling team for Team GO Rocket's Admin Leaders Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo. These three members of the villainous organization put up a challenging fight for players that are daring enough to seek them out. Players who defeat them are greatly rewarded as well.

Many players battle these trainers as often as they can to collect enough of the 12-kilometer eggs rewarded after the battle. However, to overcome these challenging battles, players will need a sound strategy. With a unique battle system like Pokemon GO's, a good strategy goes a long way.

Contrary to the turn-based combat system of previous Pokemon titles, Pokemon GO opts for a real-time action battle system that responds to the player's taps and swipes on their mobile device. Much like games in the fighting genre, Niantic's mobile game features a battle system comprised of light and heavy attacks.

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How to challenge and beat Sierra in Pokemon GO

Sierra as she appears in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

Before players can defeat Sierra, they will need to know how to find her. Like every other Team GO Rocket leader in Pokemon GO, the player needs to construct a Rocket Radar. This can be done by defeating six Team GO Rocket grunts and collecting the mysterious components they drop.

Once the player has their Rocket Radar, one of the three Team GO Rocket admins can be found at the next Hot Air Balloon or controlled Pokestop. However, there is no way to dictate which of the three opponents players will encounter and are equally likely to encounter each of them.

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Stage 1: Drowzee

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

With every first stage of Team GO Rocket admin fights comes a weaker base-form Shadow Pokemon. Drowzee is Sierra's first Pokemon that is used in battle. It is also the Shadow Pokemon that players are rewarded with upon defeating Sierra. Drowzee is a defense-oriented Psychic-type Pokemon.

While players may want to bring a Ghost or Dark-type to this fight, a Bug-type Pokemon would be a much better option. Sierra also has a couple of Dark-type Pokemon that she can use in later stages. Dark-types share a weakness to Bug-type attacks, so a Bug-type like Pinsir or Mega Beedrill would perform great in this fight.

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Stage 2: Blaziken, Lapras, or Sharpedo

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

The next stage of this fight could prove to be incredibly difficult for unprepared players. There is no perfect counter for this stage. Players can run a Rock-type Pokemon that would deal super-effective damage against Blaziken and Lapras, or a Grass-type for Lapras and Sharpedo.

Players will benefit more from a Rock and Ground-type Pokemon for this slot. Golem is a great Pokemon for this stage as well as the next as it has excellent defense and attack. Its capability of dealing super-effective damage against two Pokemon in this stage and the subsequent one makes it a worthy choice.

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Stage 3: Nidoqueen, Houndoom, or Shiftry

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

Nidoqueen is the only opponent players should worry about at this stage. Shiftry and Houndoom are notoriously weak glass cannon offensive picks in Pokemon GO. Nidoqueen, on the other hand, has incredible bulk that can be detrimental in long, drawn-out encounters. However, it is weak to Ground and Psychic attacks.

Shiftry takes super-effective damage to Bug-type attacks thanks to both of Shiftry's types sharing a weakness to it. For the other two, Golem can easily deal with them thanks to its massive defense stat, Ground and Rock typing, and attacks that deal super-effective damage to one, if not both of them.

In a great sample team, players should look for a good balance of offense and defense that can help deal with Sierra's defensive team members. Pinsir, Golem, and Electivire make for a great team as they cover all of the most common weaknesses among each of Sierra's team members. Alternatively, Manectric could be used in place of Electivire for ease of access.