Conquer Pokemon GO's Team GO Rocket Leaders: Sierra, Arlo, and Cliff!

Whether you're focused on research or bolstering your Shadow Pokemon collection, defeating Pokemon GO's Team GO Rocket Leaders presents a consistent challenge. Their powerful Shadow Pokemon and ever-shifting team compositions make predicting their lineups difficult.

This guide provides comprehensive information on the Team GO Rocket Leaders, including optimal counter strategies to help you overcome Sierra, Arlo, and Cliff, regardless of who appears in your area.

Quick Navigation:

Locating Team GO Rocket Leaders: Sierra, Arlo, & Cliff
Current Sierra Team & Counters Current Arlo Team & Counters Current Cliff Team & Counters

Locating Team GO Rocket Leaders: Sierra, Arlo, & Cliff

Unlike encountering standard Team Rocket Grunts, finding the Leaders requires a strategic approach. You must first defeat six Rocket Grunts. Each defeated Grunt drops a Mysterious Component. Six Components combine to create a Rocket Radar. Grunts appear randomly at PokéStops, and a hot air balloon containing a Grunt spawns every six hours, following the player for 20 minutes.

Once you possess a Rocket Radar, Team GO Rocket Leaders will replace Grunts at darkened PokéStops and within hot air balloons.

Current Sierra Team & Counters

Sierra's January 2025 team presents a tricky challenge:

Pokemon 1	Pokemon 2	Pokemon 3
Skorupi Bug/Poison	Sableye Dark/Ghost	Houndoom Dark/Fire
	Steelix Ground/Steel	Nidoqueen Ground/Poison
	Milotic Water	Gardevoir Fairy/Psychic

Effective Counters for Sierra:

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

Current Arlo Team & Counters

Arlo's January 2025 team:

Pokemon 1	Pokemon 2	Pokemon 3
Alolan Grimer Poison/Dark	Hypno Psychic	Metagross Psychic/Steel
	Charizard Flying/Fire	Scizor Bug/Steel
	Gyarados Flying/Water	Snorlax Normal

Effective Counters for Arlo:

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

Current Cliff Team & Counters

Cliff's January 2025 team:

Pokemon 1	Pokemon 2	Pokemon 3
Cubone Ground	Venusaur Grass/Poison	Tyranitar Dark/Rock
	Marowak Ground	Obstagoon Dark/Normal
	Aerodactyl Flying/Rock	Crobat Flying/Poison

Effective Counters for Cliff:

Pokemon	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. Stay prepared for whatever Pokemon GO throws your way!

Pokemon GO is available now on mobile devices.

Last updated 1/14/2025 by Amanda Kay Oaks