Pokémon Go Team Go Rocket: How to find and defeat Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo
Pokémon Go has its own version of the infamous Team Rocket, called Team Go Rocket. In this guide, we’ll explain how to find and defeat the leaders Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo.
Below we list their parties and strategies as of September 2026, with the most recent changes following the Team Go Rocket Takeover event, which was activated alongside the launch of the “Flying Taxi: Taken Over” event in June.
How to find the leaders Sierra, Cliff and Arlo in Pokémon Go
The Team GO Rocket leaders can be found in Black PokéStops or hot air balloons equipped with a Rocket Radar. To obtain a Rocket Radar, you must collect six Mysterious Components. A normal Team Rocket encounter in GO yields one Mysterious Component. Using the Rocket Radar, you will then randomly encounter a leader. The three leaders are Sierra, Arlo, and Cliff.
Previously, some Team GO Rocket limited-time research tasks and Special Research required defeating all three leaders. Completing this Team GO Rocket Special Research rewarded you with a Super Rocket Radar, which you could use to locate the boss, Giovanni. Defeating Giovanni would grant you a Legendary Shadow Pokémon. Since the “Iron Resolve” event in April 2026, there has been no new Special Research to obtain the Super Rocket Radar. Instead, you must participate in the GO Pass before the event ends if you want to battle Giovanni.
Team GO Rocket leader Sierra
Sierra’s team consists of:
- Amaura (Rock/Ice)
- Flygon (ground/dragon), Ferrothorn (plant/steel) OR Blastoise (water)
- Houndoon (Dark/Fire), Steelix (Steel/Ground) OR Milotic (Water)
While it’s advisable to scout out her team first, you’ll have an advantage with Fighting and Fire-type attacks. Her team is (as usual) quite diverse, so we also recommend using Ground, Rock, Ice, or Water-type attacks to compensate for her weaknesses. Here are some of the strongest Pokémon for these types:
- Terrakion with Double Kick and Holy Sword
- Lucario with Force Palm and Aura Sphere
- Blacephalon with Incinerate and Mind Blown
- Reshiram with Fire Fang and Fusion Flame
- Groudon with mud-splattering and abyss blades
- Hyperion with Smack Down and Rock Wrecker
- Galarian Darmanitan with Ice Tooth and Avalanche
- Kyogre with waterfall and origin pulse
Team GO Rocket leader Arlo
Arlo’s team consists of:
- Tyrunt (Rock/Dragon)
- Steelix (Steel/Ground), Slowbro (Water/Psycho) OR Golurk (Ground/Spirit)
- Scizor (Beetle/Steel), Charizard (Fire/Flight) OR Alakazam (Psycho)
Arlo’s team has remained largely the same, however he has replaced one of his second Pokémon with Golurk and, as expected, added a new one to his first slot: Tyrunt. Most of the counters from his previous team can still be used.
Arlo loves Steel-type Pokémon, which means you can quickly defeat him with Fire-type attacks if his team consists of Steel-type Pokémon. Alternatively, you can also use Ghost, Water, and Dark-type attacks to take out his team fairly quickly this time.
Here are some of the strongest Pokémon of these types:
- Blacephalon with Incinerate and Mind Blown
- Reshiram with Fire Fang and Fusion Flame
- Lunala with Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball
- Chandelure with Hex and Shadowball
- Kyogre with waterfall and origin pulse
- Quaquaval with water pistol and hydrocannon
- Tyranitar with bite and brutal momentum
Team GO Rocket leader Cliff
Cliff’s team consists of:
- Axew (Dragon)
- Snorlax (normal), Golurk (ground/ghost) OR Galarian Weezing (poison/fairy)
- Tyranitar (Rock/Dark), Camerupt (Fire/Ground) OR Gallade (Psychic/Fighting)
His team is quite diverse, so you should definitely analyze this battle beforehand. There are a few attack types that will give you an advantage: Fairy, Ground, and Water-type Pokémon. Since Snorlax can be very resilient and annoying, we also recommend bringing a strong Fighting-type Pokémon to counter it. Here are some of the strongest:
- Terrakion with Double Kick and Holy Sword
- Lucario with Force Palm and Aura Sphere
- Tapu Lele with Astonish and Nature’s Madness
- Togekiss with charm and dazzling brilliance
- Groudon with mud-splattering and abyss blades
- Garchomp with mud sprayer and grounding
- Kyogre with waterfall and origin pulse
- Quaquaval with water pistol and hydrocannon
Tips for Team Go Rocket Leaders
When fighting against the leaders, you should keep the following tips in mind:
- They will use their shields for their first two charged attacks. A Pokémon that can quickly charge and use charged attacks will make it easier to break their shields, allowing you to inflict unimpeded damage.
- Be prepared for your first Pokémon to be defeated. If you use a Pokémon that can easily penetrate shields, this isn’t a problem, but your other options need to have significant type advantages to defeat the remaining Pokémon.
- Remember, you can attempt the battle multiple times using a Rocket Radar. So send your strongest Pokémon onto your team to see which ones the leader has. If you defeat him on the first try, great! If not, you can swap out your team and use some effective counter Pokémon.
- The team leaders have Pokémon with high CP values, so if you’re having trouble, you should definitely use the Pokémon with the highest CP value that you have.
- Defeating bosses is an efficient method to obtain Shadow Shards for Purified Gems, with each battle yielding three shards.
