Pokemon Go Sierra Counters September 2022 - Dexerto

Contents

• 1

  Sierra Pokemon Go lineup (February 2026)

• 2

  How to beat Sierra in Pokemon Go

• 3

  Sierra Pokemon Go counters – Phase 1

  • Hoppip counters

• 4

  Sierra Pokemon Go counters – Phase 2

  • Ferrothorn counters

  • Flygon counters

  • Blastoise counters

• 5

  Sierra Pokemon Go counters – Phase 3

  • Houndoom counters

  • Steelix counters

  • Milotic counters

• 6

  Best team to beat Sierra in Pokemon Go

• 7

  Every Sierra Shadow Boss ranked by difficulty

• 8

  How to find Sierra

Sierra is one of the more formidable Team Go Rocket Leaders in Pokemon Go, presenting a challenging battle for Trainers seeking to prove their skills. To make things easier, here are all the details on Sierra’s lineup, their weaknesses, and the best counters to use.

Trainers can grab Mysterious Components by defeating Team Go Rocket Grunts in Pokemon Go at invaded PokeStops. Once you have six of them, you’ll be able to construct a powerful Rocket Radar, leading you straight to Team Go Rocket’s Leaders: Cliff, Arlo, and this guide’s focus, Sierra.

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While the Grunts can be taken down with relative ease, the Team Go Rocket Leaders aren’t quite as simple, and each boasts its own arsenal of unique ‘mons to engage in combat against. Ultimately, it’s vital to take stock when trying to beat Leader Sierra’s lineup and prepare ahead of time to know which counters are best to use.

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Sierra Pokemon Go lineup (February 2026)

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

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• Phase 1: Shadow Hoppip
• Phase 2: Shadow Ferrothorn / Shadow Flygon / Shadow Blastoise
• Phase 3: Shadow Houndoom / Shadow Steelix / Shadow Milotic

As of February 2, 2026, Sierra’s lineup remains the same 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 Sierra in Pokemon Go

To defeat Sierra in Pokemon Go, you’ll need to utilize a variety of different types to counter her. 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.

Related

How to beat Leader Arlo in Pokemon Go (February 2026) – Counters & lineup

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

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

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Let’s look at the weaknesses of all the Pokemon that Sierra could choose to send out during your battle, and which counters should be used to beat her.

Sierra Pokemon Go counters – Phase 1

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Hoppip counters

Hoppip is a dual Grass/Flying-type Pokemon, making it weak to Ice, Fire, Flying, Poison, and Rock-type moves. On the other hand, it resists Fighting, Water, Grass, and Ground-type moves, so avoid using those. 

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Here are some of the best counters to defeat Shadow Hoppip:

Pokemon	Best Moveset
White Kyurem	Ice Fang & Ice Burn
Mamoswine	Powder Snow & Avalanche

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Sierra Pokemon Go counters – Phase 2

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Ferrothorn counters

Ferrothorn is a Grass/Steel–type Pokemon, which makes it weak against Fighting and Fire-type attacks. It’s resistant to Dragon, Grass, Electric, Fairy, Normal, Poison, Psychic, Rock, Steel, and Water-type moves.

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

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

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Flygon counters

Flygon is a dual Ground/Dragon-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Ice, Dragon, and Fairy-type attacks, and resistant to Fire, Poison, Rock, and Electric-type moves.

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

Pokemon	Best Moveset
White Kyurem	Ice Fang & Ice Burn
Rayquaza	Dragon Tail & Breaking Swipe

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Blastoise counters

Blastoise is a pure Water-type ‘mon, which means it’s weak to Electric and Grass-type attacks but resistant to Fire, Ice, Steel, and Water moves.

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

Pokemon	Best Moveset
Sceptile	Fury Cutter & Frenzy Plant
Kartana	Razor Leaf & Leaf Blade

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Sierra Pokemon Go counters – Phase 3

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Houndoom counters

Houndoom is a dual Dark/Fire-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Fighting, Ground, Rock, and Water-type attacks. It’s resistant to Dark, Fire, Ghost, Grass, Ice, Psychic, and Steel-type moves.

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These are some of the top counters for Shadow Houndoom:

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

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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.

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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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Milotic counters

Milotic is a pure Water-type Pokemon, which means it’s only weak to Electric and Grass-type attacks. It’s also resistant to Fire, Ice, Steel, and Water-type moves.

Here are some of the best Shadow Milotic counters for your team:

Pokemon	Best Moveset
Raikou	Thunder Shock & Wild Charge
Kartana	Razor Leaf & Leaf Blade

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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 Sierra in Pokemon Go

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One of the best teams you can use when battling Sierra in Pokemon Go consists of White Kyurem, Lucario, and Thundurus (Therian Forme).

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• The most important part of your team here is a Pokemon with Fighting-typing, like Lucario or Blaziken, as they’ll be helpful countering Ferrothorn, Houndoom, and Steelix.
  • Another way to approach this is by using Blaziken with Fire Spin and Aura Sphere.
• An Electric-type team member is a must, so go with Thundurus (Therian Forme), Raikou, or something more accessible like Manectric or Electivire to take down Blastoise and Milotic.
• Finally, you’ll require a strong Ice-type Pokemon like White Kyurem, Mamoswine, or Weavile to target Hoppip and Flygon.

If you’ve only got a few of the ‘mon on our list – or just don’t have any of our recommendations – our best advice is to take in your strongest Fighting, Electric, and Ice-type Pokemon into battle, to have a chance of winning through sheer force.

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

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Every Sierra Shadow Boss ranked by difficulty

Team Go Rocket first appeared in Pokemon Go back in 2019, and since then, their teams have had plenty of lineups to challenge Trainers. Unlike the Grunts, the Team Go Rocket Leaders – Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra – can be quite tough to beat, mainly due to their final Shadow Pokemon used in phase three.

After analyzing Sierra’s team over the years, along with her final Pokemon’s stats, bulk, moveset, and other factors, here’s how tough to beat she’s been so far:

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How to find Sierra

The only way to track down Sierra is to beat six Team Go Rocket Grunts and earn all six parts of the Mysterious Component. Once you have the six parts of the device, they’ll combine to assemble a Rocket Radar.

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

That’s everything you need to defeat Sierra. For additional help, make sure to check out our beginner’s guide of how to play Pokemon Go, the Spotlight Hour schedule, events schedule, and which Pokemon are featured in the current Raid boss schedule.

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