How to find and beat Arlo in Pokémon Go (February 2025)

You can encounter multiple members of Team Rocket while playing Pokémon Go. They’ll run around your city using their shadow Pokémon, causing all kinds of trouble. You may even get the chance to face off against a Team Rocket leader like Arlo.

When fighting against Arlo, it helps to know what Pokémon he will use against you. His overall roster changes every few months, but if you know what Pokémon to bring and use against him, you should have no trouble beating him in battle. Defeating Arlo brings you closer to facing off against Giovanni in Pokémon Go.

How to find Team Rocket Leader Arlo in Pokémon Go

You won’t be able to find Arlo immediately in Pokémon Go. Instead, you can only find him after defeating at least six Team Rocket Grunts. Each time you defeat a grunt, they drop a Mysterious Component. After you have all six components, they form a Team Rocket Radar, and you can use this to track down Arlo’s hideout. He now has the chance to appear at a captured Poké Stop or in the Team Rocket Balloon. You might get Arlo or one of the two other leaders, Cliff or Sierra.

After you find Arlo, the next step is to prepare your Pokémon Go team to battle him. He’ll use three Pokémon in this fight. The first one will always be the same, but the second and third choices swap out, so you must prepare your team accordingly. Arlo’s roster does swap out every few months, so don’t expect the same Pokémon each time you fight him while playing Pokémon Go.

All Arlo Pokémon counters in Pokémon Go

How to beat Arlo’s first Pokémon

The first Pokémon Arlo uses against you is Alolan Grimer, a Poison and Dark-type Pokémon. It has several resistances a dual-type, and Alolan Grimer is only weak against Ground-type moves in Pokémon Go. This might limit your options when fighting against Arlo, but you can prepare to bring at least one powerful Ground-type Pokémon to make this encounter easier. Some of our favorite choices include Groudon, Excadrill, Rhyperior, Garchomp, Mamoswine, or Swampert.

How to beat Arlo’s second Pokémon

For the second choice, there are three Pokémon Arlo might use against you. These are the three Pokémon you can expect to fight when battling Arlo.

Given the choices you might fight against, our best recommendation is to focus on using an Electric or Rock-type Pokémon. Slowbro and Gyarados are weak against these attacks, especially Gyarados against Electric moves, as it is a Flying and Water-type Pokémon. Because Dugtrio is not weak to Electric-type moves, and is super-effective against it, you may have to change up strategy. Using a Grass-type Pokémon might prove to be a better option. Although Gyarados is not weak to them, it’s still a Water-type Pokémon. Regardless of how you plan to approach it, sticking with Grass and Electric-type Pokémon for this battle might be your best option.

Some of your best choices to use against Arlo’s second Pokémon in Pokémon Go will be Kartana, Raikou, Zekrom, Zarude, Magnezone, Xurkitree, or Sceptile.

How to beat Arlo’s third Pokémon

After defeating Arlo’s second Pokémon, it’s time to face off against his final choice—and the most dangerous Pokémon you face off against during this fight. These are the three Pokémon you might fight during this encounter in Pokémon Go.

The final Pokémon Arlo uses against you can be exceptionally complicated. You might fight against a Metagross, Alolan Muk, or Scizor. Alolan Muk is only weak against Ground-type moves, and Scizor is only weak against Fire-type moves. Between the three, Metagross has the most weaknesses and shares a weakness of Fire-type attacks. Leaning on a Fire-type Pokémon would be a good choice for this final confrontation, but ensuring it has Fighting and Fire-type attacks would be a good idea to defeat Arlo in Pokémon Go.

The best Pokémon to counter Arlo’s third choice are Blaziken, Charizard, Heatran, Moltres, Chandelure, Darmanitan, Arcanine, or Groudon.

Once you defeat Arlo, you’ll have a chance to catch his first Pokémon, Shadow Alolan Grimer. If you’re lucky, you may encounter the Shiny version of this Pokémon.