Guide to Rocket Battles in Pokémon GO (2025)

Conquering Team GO Rocket Leaders in Pokémon GO: A January 2025 Guide

Whether you're a seasoned trainer or just starting your Pokémon GO journey, defeating Team GO Rocket Leaders – Sierra, Arlo, and Cliff – is crucial for research tasks and acquiring powerful Shadow Pokémon. Their constantly evolving teams make preparation essential. This guide provides the January 2025 lineups and optimal counter strategies.

Locating Team GO Rocket Leaders

Unlike Grunts, Leaders aren't easily found. You must first defeat six Rocket Grunts to obtain six Mysterious Components, which combine to create a Rocket Radar. Grunts appear randomly at PokéStops, and a hot air balloon containing a Grunt spawns every six hours, following you for 20 minutes. With the Rocket Radar active, Leaders replace Grunts at darkened PokéStops and in hot air balloons.

Sierra's January 2025 Team & Counters

Sierra's January 2025 team presents a diverse challenge.

First Pokémon	Second Pokémon	Third Pokémon
Skorupi (Bug/Poison)	Sableye (Dark/Ghost)	Houndoom (Dark/Fire)
	Steelix (Ground/Steel)	Nidoqueen (Ground/Poison)
	Milotic (Water)	Gardevoir (Fairy/Psychic)

Effective counters include:

Pokémon	Moves
Terrakion	Smack Down, Rock Slide
Gengar	Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball
Excadrill	Metal Claw, Iron Head

Arlo's January 2025 Team & Counters

Arlo's team for January 2025 offers a mix of types.

First Pokémon	Second Pokémon	Third Pokémon
Alolan Grimer (Poison/Dark)	Hypno (Psychic)	Metagross (Psychic/Steel)
	Charizard (Flying/Fire)	Scizor (Bug/Steel)
	Gyarados (Flying/Water)	Snorlax (Normal)

Prepare for Flying, Psychic, and Poison types. Top counters include:

Pokémon	Moves
Tyranitar	Bite, Brutal Swing
Blaziken	Fire Spin, Blast Burn
Excadrill	Mud Slap, Drill Run

Cliff's January 2025 Team & Counters

Cliff's January 2025 team is robust.

First Pokémon	Second Pokémon	Third Pokémon
Cubone (Ground)	Venusaur (Grass/Poison)	Tyranitar (Dark/Rock)
	Marowak (Ground)	Obstagoon (Dark/Normal)
	Aerodactyl (Flying/Rock)	Crobat (Flying/Poison)

Expect at least one Ground type and potentially Flying and Poison types. Strong counters:

Pokémon	Moves
Mamoswine	Powder Snow, Avalanche
Lucario	Force Palm, Aura Sphere
Blaziken	Counter, Blast Burn

This guide will be updated as Team GO Rocket Leader lineups change. Pokémon GO is available on mobile devices. Last updated 1/14/2025.