Pokemon Go Arlo Counters September 2022 - Dexerto

Contents

• 1

  Arlo Pokemon Go lineup (January 2026)

• 2

  How to beat Arlo in Pokemon Go

• 3

  Arlo Pokemon Go counters – Phase 1

  • Mawile counters

• 4

  Arlo Pokemon Go counters – Phase 2

  • Slowbro counters

  • Steelix counters

  • Golurk counters

• 5

  Arlo Pokemon Go counters – Phase 3

  • Scizor counters

  • Alakazam counters

  • Charizard counters

• 6

  Best team to beat Arlo in Pokemon Go

• 7

  Every Arlo Shadow Boss ranked by difficulty

• 8

  How to find Arlo

Team Go Rocket Leader Arlo is difficult to take down in Pokemon Go, so going up against his Shadow squad requires the perfect team.

Players who take on the Team Go Rocket Grunts can collect Mysterious Components to build a Rocket Radar that will lead them to one of the Leaders: Cliff, Sierra, and this guide’s focus, Arlo. Those who win these fights will get the chance to capture a Shadow Pokemon, which can either be ‘purified’ for a CP boost or left as is with higher attack stats if you’re competitive-minded or looking to master Raid battles.

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To give you a head start, here’s Arlo’s current lineup for January 2026, their weaknesses, and the best counters you can use on your team to defeat them.

Arlo Pokemon Go lineup (January 2026)

Arlo will always send out Shadow Mawile first, followed by two of six potential options across phases two and three. Here’s his current lineup in Pokemon Go:

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• Phase 1: Shadow Mawile
• Phase 2: Shadow Slowbro / Shadow Steelix / Shadow Golurk
• Phase 3: Shadow Scizor / Shadow Alakazam / Shadow Charizard

As of January 23, 2026, Arlo’s lineup has changed following the Precious Pals: Taken Over event from the Precious Paths season. We will update this guide every time a Taken Over event occurs.

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How to beat Arlo in Pokemon Go

To defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Arlo in Pokemon Go, you’ll need to utilize a variety of different types to counter his Shadow Pokemon. We’ve featured a mix of stronger Legendaries and more common alternatives, so there should be something here to meet every trainer’s needs – and all of them are solid choices.

Let’s look at the weaknesses of all the ‘mon that Arlo could choose to send out during your battle, and which counters should be used to beat him.

Related

How to beat Leader Cliff in Pokemon Go (January 2026) – Counters & lineup

Pokemon Go Rocket Grunt guide: Counters and lineups (January 2026)

Best Ultra League team in Pokemon Go season 25

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Arlo Pokemon Go counters – Phase 1

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Mawile counters

Wobbuffet is a dual Steel/Fairy-type, which means it’s weak to Fire and Ground-type attacks. It’s also resistant to Dark, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ice, Normal, Poison, Psychic, Rock, Bug, and Dragon-type moves, so don’t use those.

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Here are some of the best Shadow Mawile counters:

Pokemon	Best Moveset
Blacephalon	Incinerate & Mind Blown
Blaziken	Fire Spin & Blast Burn

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Arlo Pokemon Go counters – Phase 2

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Slowbro counters

Slowbro is a dual Water/Psychic-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Bug, Dark, Electric, Grass, and Ghost-type attacks. On the other hand, it’s resistant to Fighting, Fire, Ice, Steel, Water, and Psychic-type moves.

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Here are some of the best counters to take down Shadow Slowbro:

Pokemon	Best Moveset
Dawn Wings Necrozma	Shadow Claw & Moongeist Beam
Gengar	Lick & Shadow Ball

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Steelix counters

Steelix is a dual Steel/Ground-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Fighting, Fire, Ground, and Water-type attacks. This sturdy creature also boasts a long list of resistances, including Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Normal, Psychic, Steel, Electric, Rock, and Poison-type moves.

Here are some of the best counters to take down Shadow Steelix:

Pokemon	Best Moveset
Primal Groudon	Mud Shot & Precipice Blades
Primal Kyogre	Waterfall & Origin Pulse

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Golurk counters

Golurk is a dual Ground/Ghost-type Pokemon, which makes it weak against Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ice, and Water-type attacks. On the other hand, it’s resistant to Bug, Rock, Electric, Fighting, Normal, and Poison-type moves.

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Here are some of the best counters to use against Shadow Golurk:

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Pokemon	Best Moveset
Primal Kyogre	Waterfall & Origin Pulse
Dawn Wings Necrozma	Shadow Claw & Moongeist Beam

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Arlo Pokemon Go counters – Phase 3

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Scizor counters

Scizor is a dual Bug/Steel-type Pokemon, which means its only weakness is Fire-type attacks. It has loads of resistance, including Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Ice, Normal, Psychic, Steel, Grass, and Poison-type moves.

Here are some of the best Shadow Scizor counters you can use:

Pokemon	Best Moveset
Blaziken	Fire Spin & Blast Burn
Charizard	Fire Spin & Blast Burn

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Alakazam counters

Alakazam is a pure Psychic-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Bug, Dark, and Ghost-type attacks. This powerful creature is also resistant to Fighting and Psychic-type moves.

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Here are some of the best counters to take down Shadow Alakazam:

Pokemon	Best Moveset
Dawn Wings Necrozma	Shadow Claw & Moongeist Beam
Tyranitar	Bite & Brutal Swing

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Charizard counters

Charizard is a dual Fire/Flying-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak to Rock, Electric, and Water-type attacks and resistant to Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Ground, Steel, Bug, and Grass-type moves.

Here are some of the top Shadow Charizard counters you can use:

Pokemon	Best Moveset
Primal Kyogre	Waterfall & Origin Pulse
Swampert	Water Gun & Hydro Cannon

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Pokemon Go boss guides

For more guides like this, check out our other boss guides (and bookmark them) because we update them each time their lineup changes in the game:

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• How to beat Giovanni
• How to beat Leader Sierra
• How to beat Leader Arlo
• How to beat Leader Cliff
• How to beat all Rocket Grunts

Best team to beat Arlo in Pokemon Go

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One of the best teams you can take into battle against Arlo in Pokemon Go right now is the trio of Primal Kyogre, Dawn Wings Necrozma, and Charizard.

Between them, they can take down multiple of the Leader’s lineup, depending on what you get.

• You’ll need a strong Fire-type on your team, like Charizard, Blaziken, or Blacephalon, to target Mawile, Steelix, and Scizor.
• For Slowbro and Alakazam, a good Ghost or Dark-type is required. Our recommendation is Dawn Wings Necrozma, but if you don’t have one, you can go with Gengar, Tyranitar, or even Absol. This Pokemo will also help with Golurk.
• A Water-type like Primal Kyogre or Swampert can easily take care of Golurk and Charizard, and even lend a hand with Steelix, too.

If you’ve only got a few of the creatures on our list – or just don’t have any of our recommendations – our best advice is to take in your strongest Fire, Dark or Ghost, and Water-types into battle to have a chance of winning through sheer force.

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Remember that if you lose against Arlo, you’ll be able to challenge him to a rematch as many times as you need until you win. This is ideal when he throws out something you’re not prepared for, as you can rework your team before heading back into battle.

Every Arlo Shadow Boss ranked by difficulty

Ever since Arlo and Team Go Rocket joined Pokemon Go, each boss has had a wide range of party members and Shadow Boss ‘mon. Over the years, there have been plenty of Pocket Monsters to fight, including tough opponents like Scizor, Charizard, Magnezone, and more.

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So, considering stats, bulk, moveset, and other factors, we’ve made a handy graph explaining just how tough every single one of Arlo’s Shadow Boss Pokemon has been so far – and Registeel remains the most difficult by far:

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How to find Arlo

The only way to track down Arlo is to beat at least six different Team Go Rocket Grunts and earn six different Mysterious Component parts, which combine to assemble a Rocket Radar.

• With a Rocket Radar active, when you encounter Team Go Rocket members either at Poke Stops or by clicking on a Team Go Rocket Balloon, you’ll encounter either Sierra, Cliff, or Arlo.
• Keep clicking on these encounters until you find Arlo.
• Once you’ve found his avatar, you can then battle and defeat Arlo to earn yourself a Shadow Wobbuffet.

That’s everything you need to defeat Leader Arlo in January 2026. For more on all things Pokemon Go, check out our regularly updated Spotlight Hour, events schedule, and current Raid bosses guides. And if you’re brand new to the game, our how to play Pokemon Go guide will get you up to speed.

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