Pokemon GO is still one of the most popular mobile games available. When it finally added a major villain and Shadow Pokemon this month, fans of the series (and of Team Rocket!) were thrilled. There were finally some of the epic Pokemon battles against evil that fans had come to expect from a Poke game.
There are three mini-boss Rocket leaders and then the final boss, Giovanni, for trainers to challenge. Each of these leaders has their own unique Pokemon lineup and best counters for beating them. Arlo, one of the three Rocket Leaders, can be pretty difficult. But players can beat him with a few hints.
How to Find Arlo
To be able to defeat Arlo, players will have to be able to find him first. If they defeat several Team Rocket grunts first, those battles will drop some Mysterious Components. Once players have six of these Mysterious Components, they can be combined into a Rocket Radar, capable of finding each of the three Rocket Leaders, but not Giovanni. The Rocket Radar will change the way the world map looks, giving players insights into which PokeStops those Rocket Leaders are hiding in.
Once Arlo and the other leaders are located with the Rocket Radar, players can defeat those Leaders to gain possible Unova Stones, special Pokemon, and other great rewards.
Battling Scyther
Players will need to know what's coming to make sure they prepare the best Team Rocket Leader counters. Arlo's first Pokemon is always Scyther. The second and third Pokemon in his lineup are a little more random, but at least players can count on knowing what's coming up first. A great counter to Scyther is Melmetal. He is an absolute winner in a matchup with Scyther; between his Rock Slide and Thunder Strike attacks, Arlo's first Pokemon won't know what hit him.
If players don't have a Melmetal, two possible other substitutes are Golem and Zapdos. Zapdos also has access to Thunder Shock, and make sure to also use Ancient Power as the charge move. Golem can use its Rock Throw and Blast to put down Scyther quickly. If trainers are still have trouble with the Scyther Team Rocket Leader battle, they can wait until Supereffective Week to help boost their chances.
The Next Pokemon
Arlo’s second fighter will be either Gyarados, Magnezone or Crobat. The third choice can either be a Scizor, a Dragonite or a Charizard.
If Arlo chooses Gyarados for his second Pokemon, keep in mind that Gyarados uses mostly Water moves, but also has Dark fast and charge moves. Watch out for his Dragon charge move too. Gyarados is very weak to Electric, which should make finding a Pokemon to battle him much easier. Magnezone deals out mostly electric damage, and is double weak to Ground moves. Crobat on the other hand uses mostly Flying moves, with some Ghost, Dark, and Poison shuffled in. It is also weaker to Electric and also Rock.
For the third battle, Arlo can choose Charizard (not a shiny Charizard), Dragonite, or Scizor. Charizard is all about Fire, Dragon, and Flying attacks, but is super weak to Rock, and a little weak to both Electric and Water. Dragonite can also use Dragon moves, but can also fight with Steel, Flying, or Normal attacks. This Pokemon is weak to Rock, but double weak to Ice. Players can expect Steel, Dark, and Bug moves from Scizor; it's very weak to Fire attacks.
Based on the variety of possible Pokemon, the best overall team for this battle is Melmetal, Mewtwo, and then Blaziken. This combination of Pokemon covers all the bases, making sure no matter what Pokemon that Arlo chooses to throw at a trainer, they have the right counters for their moves.
Melmetal is a great counter to not only Scyther, but also Gyarados, Crobat and Dragonite. Mewtwo is a great counter to both Crobat and Dragonite. Blaziken can win against Magnezone and Scizor. While these aren't the only Pokemon possibilities, this is the best possible team players can build against the Team Rocket Leader in Pokemon GO.
Pokemon Go is available for most mobile devices.
Source: PokemonGOHub