How to beat Leader Arlo in Pokemon Go (April 2025)

If you want to defeat Team Go Rocket Leader Arlo in Pokemon GO, you are in for a challenge, as he continues to be one of the most formidable challenges in the game. His current lineup in April 2025 features tough Shadow Pokemon that demand a strategic counter lineup to beat. Defeating Arlo not only earns you bragging rights but also gives you the opportunity to catch a powerful Shadow Pokemon.Here’s everything you need to know to defeat Leader Arlo in Pokemon GO in April 2025.Arlo’s team always starts with Shadow Alolan Grimer. For the next two phases, he chooses randomly from a pool of six different Shadow Pokemon. Here’s a breakdown of his current team:Phase 1:- Shadow Alolan GrimerPhase 2:- Shadow Slowbro- Shadow Gyarados- Shadow DugtrioPhase 3:- Shadow Alolan Muk- Shadow Scizor- Shadow MetagrossThis lineup is current as of April 1, 2025, and will remain until the next Team Rocket event update. The most recent takeover occurred during January’s Fashion Week 2025 event.To locate Leader Arlo in Pokemon GO, you’ll need to defeat six Team Go Rocket Grunts to collect six Mysterious Components. These can then be assembled into a Rocket Radar. Use the Radar at PokéStops or against Rocket Balloons to find one of the three leaders—Cliff, Sierra, or Arlo. Keep checking until you encounter Arlo specifically.Let’s break down Arlo’s lineup by phase and explore the most effective counters for each possible opponent.Alolan Grimer is a Poison/Dark-type, vulnerable to Ground-type attacks. Avoid using Poison, Ghost, Grass, Dark, or Psychic moves.Water/Psychic-type; weak to Bug, Dark, Electric, Grass, and Ghost.Ground-type; weak to Grass, Ice, and Water moves.Poison/Dark-type, weak to Ground moves.Bug/Steel-type with a sole weakness to Fire.Steel/Psychic-type, weak to Fire, Ghost, Ground, and Dark.Here’s a top-recommended team to beat Leader Arlo in Pokemon GO this month:- Mamoswine – A powerful Ground-type that handles both Alolan Grimer and Alolan Muk.- Mega Blaziken – A Fire-type specialist that wipes out Scizor and does well against Metagross.- Xurkitree – Covers Gyarados and Slowbro with strong Electric moves.Also read: Pokemon GO Mega Audino raid guide: Best counters, strengths, weaknesses, and moreAlternative picks:- If you don’t have Mega Blaziken, regular Blaziken or Reshiram work well.- For Dugtrio, swap in Mega Swampert or Mega Sceptile depending on your resources.- You can rematch Arlo as many times as needed, so don’t hesitate to tweak your lineup after seeing what he brings.