Sierra, Cliff and Arlo are the 3 Rocket bosses in Pokémon GO. We show you the best counters and tell you how to fight them.
Update in March: Some time ago, the Rocket bosses started using new Pokémon. We have adjusted the counters here and added a separate guide for each boss. There you can read all counters in detail again.
How to fight the Rocket bosses: The 3 Rocket villains can only be found if you have collected 6 mysterious components beforehand. These will create a Rocket Radar, which you can use to track down the bosses.
When facing them, the battle proceeds just like against a normal Grunt. The chosen Pokémon are just a bit stronger, making the fight a bit trickier.
Rocket bosses too tough? Use this information
What you should know about the teams: Each of the three bosses selects their team from 7 Pokémon. So you do not always fight against the same Pokémon, but it varies. Your counters should be designed accordingly.
This is how the battle proceeds: Unlike the Grunts, the bosses also use their two shields. However, they always use them against your first charge attacks. You can get rid of them quite quickly if you can initially use two fast charge attacks.
Valuable tips against the Rocket bosses
These tips you can apply: The fight against the bosses can be very easy if you apply some tips:
- Use a Pokémon with fast charge attacks to quickly remove the boss’s shields
- Do not use the charge attack immediately! If you see that the opposing Pokémon is nearly defeated, you can carry the charged attack over to the next Pokémon and hit them right away
- Effectiveness is everything: Just taking your Pokémon with the most CP won’t get you far. You should counter the opponents coldly
Defeating Sierra – The best counters
This Pokémon Sierra has:
- First Pokémon: Tanhel
- Second Pokémon: Kokowei, Tohaido, Lapras
- Third Pokémon: Hundemon, Tengulist, Simsala
As the first Pokémon, Sierra always uses Tanhel, which you can later catch as a shiny if you’re lucky.
This is how you should proceed: Start with an effective Pokémon against Tanhel, such as Giratina or a monster with fast charge attacks like Scizor. Fighting and Bug types are also effective against most of Sierra’s monsters. So they should not be missing from your team.
If you do not start with Giratina, you should still have it in your team.
If you continue to have problems with Sierra, check out our guide for the Rocket boss.
The ideal team: Your team should ideally look like this:
| First Pokémon | Second Pokémon | Third Pokémon |
| Scizor | Origin Forme of Giratina | Lucario |
Defeating Cliff – The best counters
This Pokémon Cliff has:
- First Pokémon: Pinsir
- Second Pokémon: Knogga, Electivire or Amoroso
- Third Pokémon: Despotar, Chelterrar or Swampert
As the first Pokémon, Cliff always chooses Pinsir. You will also be able to catch it afterward, hopefully also as shiny.
This is how you should proceed: Ideally, you should attack Pinsir with Golem. After that, it depends on the Pokémon used. Grass or Ice is often helpful. If Cliff uses Electivire, then you need a Ground-type Pokémon.
You can find the complete overview of the best counters and all alternatives in the big counter guide to Cliff.
The ideal team: Your best team would therefore ideally look like this:
| First Pokémon | Second Pokémon | Third Pokémon |
| Golem | Glaceon | Chelterrar |
Defeating Arlo – The best counters
This Pokémon Arlo has:
- First Pokémon: Flunkifer
- Second Pokémon: Charizard, Blastoise, Steelix
- Third Pokémon: Dragonite, Scizor or Dragoran
As the first Pokémon, Flunkifer is always chosen here. You can also encounter it as shiny.
This is how you should proceed: You can easily defeat Flunkifer with a Fire-type Pokémon like Entei.
Afterward, Rock and Fire Pokémon are particularly useful. Ice monsters can also be utilized.
The precise overview of all counters and the best alternatives can be found in the counter guide to Arlo.
The ideal team: If you want the optimal battle team, you should take these Pokémon:
| First Pokémon | Second Pokémon | Third Pokémon |
| Entei | Golem | Magmar |
Defeating Giovanni is also not that easy. We show you the best counters here:
