Pokemon GO Arlo counters & lineup in May 2024

Team Rocket Leader Arlo has been a continuously tough boss in Pokemon GO, making it essential to learn his latest lineup and which counters are best to defeat him.

Regularly updated in the Team Rocket Takeover events, each Leader brings to the game a powerful lineup of Shadow Pokemon. Aside from Arlo, there's even Sierra, Cliff, Rocket Grunts, and the boss Giovanni himself who each provide a massive challenge. 

To make things easier for you though, I've got the newest Arlo lineup in this guide alongside the ideal team and movesets to beat each of his lineup as well.

Arlo will always send Cacnea out first, but his second-phase and third-phase Pokemon can be one of three different options, meaning you won't know what you're up against until you're facing them on the battlefield.

Here are all of the potential Shadow Pokemon that Team Rocket Leader Arlo can use:

Arlo's lineup was last changed on March 27, 2024, as part of the World of Wonders: Taken Over event. If his team gets shaken up again in the future, I'll keep this page updated.

Cacnea is a Grass-type Pokemon, which means it's vulnerable to Bug, Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison-type attacks. It shouldn't be too difficult to beat, but it's still worth targeting its weaknesses to speed things up.

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Here are some of the best counters you can use to defeat Cacnea:

Arlo has three potential Pokemon he can send out in phase two of this battle, making it a little harder to plan ahead. You could be up against Charizard, Golurk, or Hypno.

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Charizard counters

Charizard is a Flying/Fire-type Pokemon, which means it's vulnerable to Electric, Rock, and Water-type attacks. 

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

Golurk counters

The Ghost/Ground-type Golurk is vulnerable to Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ice, or Water-type attacks. Be careful if using Ghost-type Pokemon, though, as they'll also be vulnerable to Golurk's Ghost-type moves.

Here are some of the best counters you can use to defeat Golurk:

Hypno counters

The final Pokemon Arlo can use in phase two is the Psychic-type Hypno, which is vulnerable to Bug, Dark, and Ghost-type attacks.

Here are some of the top counters you can use to defeat Hypno:

Arlo has three potential Pokemon he can send out in phase three of this battle, meaning you could be up against Dragonite, Salamence, or Scizor - with the latter being harder to cover with only one weakness.

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Dragonite counters

As a Flying/Dragon-type Pokemon, Dragonite is vulnerable to Dragon, Fairy, Ice, and Rock-type attacks, with a particular weakness to Ice-type attacks - so focus on those where possible.

Here are some of the best counters to defeat Dragonite:

Salamence counters

Just like Dragonite, Salamence is a Dragon/Flying-type Pokemon, so it's also weak to Dragon, Fairy, Ice, and Rock-type attacks, with extra vulnerability to Ice-type attacks.

Here are some of the best counters to defeat Salamence:

Scizor counters

Scizor is extremely vulnerable to Fire-type attacks and nothing else. While this makes it easy to plan for, it does make it difficult to find crossover weaknesses with Arlo's other potential Pokemon.

Here are some of the best counters to defeat Scizor:

One of the best teams you can use to defeat Arlo are Mamoswine, Darkrai, and Rampardos. Between them, you'll have coverage against all of Arlo's potential Pokemon - except for Scizor, but I'll get to that later.

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The most important thing to have on your team is a strong Ice-type like Mamoswine or Galarian Darmanitan. That's because you'll be able to take down Arlo's guaranteed first Pokemon, Cacnea, as well as Golurk, Dragonite, and Salamence if he ends up sending any of those out into battle.

Next up, you'll want a Dark-type Pokemon like Darkrai or Tyranitar. This is important for taking down Hypno, but it's also a great option for defeating Golurk.

You could go with a Ghost-type, but that will be at risk when facing up against Golurk and its Ghost-type attacks.

Finally, I'd recommend a Rock-type Pokemon like Rampardos or Rhyperior. This will be able to defeat Charizard, Dragonite, and Salamence. Of course, you can switch this for a Water-type or whatever suits the lineup you end up facing off against.

As I mentioned before, the only Pokemon not covered by this team is Scizor.

Its only weakness is Fire-type attacks, so if Arlo does send Scizor out into battle, you might need to restart and switch your team up. Go with a strong Fire-type Pokemon like Reshiram or Charizard.

Before you can battle Arlo, you'll need to defeat six Team GO Rocket Grunts, who will each give you a single Mysterious Component. When all six are combined, you'll get a Rocket Radar that can track Arlo down.

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Tap on the Rocket Radar symbol on the map screen and it will show you any nearby hideouts. Visit them and keep your fingers crossed for Arlo! If it's Cliff or Sierra instead, simply leave and try another one.

Check out the Raid Boss schedule, the events calendar, or the upcoming Spotlight Hours to keep on top of the latest developments. Alternatively, visit our Pokemon homepage for more news and guides like this one.