The current big event in Pokemon GO is the Team GO Rocket Celebration Event. While it is running, players will find themselves going up against members of Team GO Rocket more often than usual with the leaders also gaining new parties of Pokemon.
One of the leaders of Team GO Rocket is Arlo, a foe with an often unpredictable, but powerful team. One Pokemon of his that Pokemon GO players may find themselves going up against is Arlo's Gardevoir.
Gardevoir is a Pokemon that originally appeared in Pokemon's third generation as a pure Psychic-type but became a dual Psychic and Fairy-type from generation six and onwards. This means that Gardevoir is weak to Poison, Ghost, and Steel-type moves. It also only resists Psychic, Fighting, and Dragon-type moves.
Despite only having three weaknesses, there are still plenty of Pokemon that are helpful against Gardevoir. Playing against these weaknesses is the best way to get Gardevoir out of the way quickly while minimizing the amount of damage that players take beforehand.
With the Team GO Rocket Celebration Event active, there are multiple Poison-type Pokemon with increased spawn rates. While not all of them are capable of becoming incredibly powerful, there are Poison-type Pokemon that can help whittle Gardevoir's health down to zero. These Poison-type Pokemon are:
- Mega Beedrill - Poison Jab and Sludge Bomb
- Mega Gengar - Lick and Shadow Ball
- Victreebel - Acid and Sludge Bomb
- Vileplume - Acid and Sludge Bomb
- Roserade - Poison Jab and Sludge Bomb
Ghost-type Pokemon are pretty good in a lot of situations in Pokemon GO. They will especially be helpful when it comes to battling Arlo's Gardevoir. Some of the best ones to take along for the fight are:
- Mega Gengar - Lick and Shadow Ball
- Origin Form Giratina - Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball
- Chandelure - Hex and Shadow Ball
- Gengar - Lick and Shadow Ball
- Banette - Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball
Finally, there are many powerful Steel-type Pokemon that can make easy work of Gardevoir. This helps make Gardevoir's secondary Fairy-typing more of a hindrance than a help for what normally is a tough battle. The best of these Steel-type Pokemon are:
- Metagross - Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash
- Dialga - Metal Claw and Iron Head
- Genesect - Metal Claw and Magnet Bomb
- Excadrill - Metal Claw and Iron Head
- Bisharp - Metal Claw and Iron Head
While it is important to plan for every scenario, Gardevoir is only one out of three possible Pokemon that Arlo may choose as his second Pokemon within an encounter. If players have already battled in the encounter and lost, they may already know what to expect from him, but there's no way to tell from the encounter's start. The two other Pokemon that Arlo may pick for his second Pokemon are Infernape and Aggron, meaning that very different strategies will be needed if they appear.
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.
Source: Game Press