How to beat Arlo in Pokemon Go (August 2024) – Counters & weaknesses

Going up against Team Rocket Leader Arlo is one of the most difficult challenges for Pokemon Go players, and you need a viable strategy to beat this villainous NPC’s formidable Shadow lineup.

This is only possible by choosing strong Pokemon that can exploit the biggest weaknesses of Arlo’s team and help you defeat him without stress.

So, here are all the details on Arlo’s August 2024 lineup and the recommended counters to use.

How to beat Arlo in August 2024

You can beat Arlo in Pokemon Go by using counters that deal super-effective damage and quickly bait shields against his Shadow lineup.

Arlo Pokemon Go team in August 2024

• Anorith
• Steelix / Gyarados / Crobat
• Scizor / Gardevoir / Snorlax

Arlo is a massive threat to Pokemon Go players thanks to the sheer variety and raw power of his team. That said, planning your counters well can help you beat him.

Shadow Anorith is guaranteed to be the first species Arlo uses, so you can always prepare for this opening fight.

For the second battle, he can choose Steelix, Gyarados, or Crobat, giving Arlo some serious wiggle room and a potential headache for yourself if you’re unprepared for any of them.

Finally, the third Pokemon is yet again a random choice, this time between Scizor, Gardevoir, or Snorlax. As long as you know which three foes you could come up against, you have ample planning time.

Anorith counters

• Metagross with Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash.
• Mega Swampert with Water Gun and Hydro Cannon.
• Dusk Mane Necrozma with Metal Claw and Sunsteel Strike.
• Dialga with Metal Claw and Iron Head.
• Kyogre with Waterfall and Origin Pulse.

Shadow Anorith is a Bug/Rock type, which means it’s weak against Rock, Steel, and Water-type moves. Be sure to force Arlo to use his shields during this matchup itself.

Steel types are your best bet as they can shrug off Anorith’s moves without worry and farm energy to take out decent HP from the second foe.

You can also opt for the Legendary Kyogre which inflicts exceptional damage with Waterfall alone, thanks to its jaw-dropping 270 Attack stat.

Steelix counters

• Kyogre with Waterfall and Origin Pulse.
• Mega Lucario with Force Palm and Power-Up Punch.
• Mega Garchomp with Mud Shot and Earth Power.
• Machamp with Counter and Cross Chop.
• Terrakion with Double Kick and Sacred Sword.

Steelix is a Steel/Ground-type Pokemon that is weak to Fighting, Fire, Ground, and Water-type attacks. It has numerous resistances including Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Normal, Psychic, and Steel-type moves, so stay away from those categories.

It is quite bulky, so using a heavy hitter is key to slaying Steelix quickly. If you were able to bait Arlo’s shields in the battle against Anorith, be sure to get it done in this face-off.

Gyarados counters

• Magnezone with Spark and Wild Charge.
• Xurkitree with Thunder Shock and Discharge.
• Raikou with Thunder Shock and Wild Charge.
• Zekrom with Charge Beam and Fusion Bolt.
• Mega Tyranitar with Smack Down and Stone Edge.

The Water/Flying-type Gyarados can throw even veteran players off-guard since the counters for Anorith and Steelix just don’t work against this fearsome opponent. It is weak only to Electric and Rock-type moves, with the former being a double weakness.

Another reason to prioritize Electric-type attacks is that Gyarados’ Water-type moves hit Rock Pokemon super-effectively.

Crobat counters

• Magnezone with Spark and Wild Charge.
• Mega Tyranitar with Smack Down and Stone Edge.
• Raikou with Thunder Shock and Wild Charge.
• Zekrom with Charge Beam and Fusion Bolt.
• Mewtwo with Psycho Cut and Psystrike

Crobat is a Poison/Flying-type weak against Electric, Ice, Psychic, and Rock-type attacks. It’s not as hard to beat as Steelix and Gyarados, so using the counters listed above is all you need.

Gradevoir counters

• Metagross with Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash.
• Dusk Mane Necrozma with Metal Claw and Sunsteel Strike.
• Dialga with Metal Claw and Iron Head.
• Excadrill with Metal Claw and Iron Head.
• Chandelure with Hex and Shadow Ball.

The Fairy/Psychic-type Gardevoir is a formidable combatant that can KO your counters with Charm alone unless you use Steel types that resist its damage.

Scizor counters

• Mega Charizard Y with Fire Spin and Blast Burn.
• Mega Blaziken with Fire Spin and Blast Burn.
• Reshiram with Fire Fang and Fusion Flare.
• Darmanitan with Fire Fang and Overheat.
• Heatran with Fire Spin and Magma Storm.

Fire is Scizor’s biggest and only weakness, and none of its attacks are effective against that type. Poison, Grass, Steel, Bug, Dragon, Psychic, Ice, Fairy, and Normal-type attacks won’t be very effective against Scizor because it’s a dual Steel and Bug-type species.

Snorlax counters

• Mega Lucario with Force Palm and Aura Sphere.
• Machamp with Counter and Dynamic Punch.
• Conkeldurr with Counter and Dynamic Punch.
• Terrakion with Double Kick and Sacred Sword.
• Mega Heracross with Counter and Close Combat.

The Normal-type Snorlax is very tanky but can be taken down by its only weakness, Fighting types. That said, be careful if it uses the Fast Move Zen Headbutt. In such cases, you can use any Steel-type counter to finish the battle.

Best team to defeat Arlo in Pokemon Go

Teams that should be able to beat Arlo’s August 2024 lineup in almost every situation should feature Machamp, Mega Lucario, and Magnezone. Since you can battle him multiple times, you can change your team to include a better counter if your strategy doesn’t work out as expected.

Along with Arlo, here’s how you can beat other Team Rocket Leaders Cliff and Sierra in Pokemon Go, as well as their Boss Giovanni.