Team GO Rocket Guides
Arlo's Lineup
Slot 1 Pokemon
Slot 2 Pokemon
Slot 3 Pokemon
While Arlo has a few very strong Pokemon, especially in his 3rd slot, the reward for defeating him isn't great. Shadow Cacnea/Shadow Cacturne aren't exactly great, so it's probably best to pick a different Rocket lead to spend your radars on.
First Pokemon
- Fast Moves: Sucker Punch, Poison Sting, Sand Attack
- Charge Moves: Grass knot, Seed Bomb, Brick Break, Payback, Trailblaze
Shadow Cacnea is not a particularly hard Pokemon to fight, as Dark and Grass both have a number of very prominent weaknesses. Fire, Flying, and Ice are all important types, and the double weakness to Bug can still work wonders despite the type's somewhat underwhelming utility. Regardless, this
Example Counters
Second Pokemon
- Fast Moves: Fire Spin, Air Slash
- Charge Moves: Dragon Claw, Fire Blast, Overheat
While it can potentially hit pretty hard, and can pose a genuine threat with Dragon Claw spam, it's also not extremely hard to take down due to its plethora of weaknesses. Just about anything that throws rocks and isn't weak to Fire can make quick work of Charizard, while Rock and Water Types or basically anything that resists Fire can also flat-line it pretty well.
Example Counters
- Fast Moves: Confusion, Zen Headbutt
- Charge Moves: Psychic, Future Sight, Focus Blast, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Shadow Ball
Shadow Hypno has the potential to be a threat, as literally no Pokemon in the game can resist its entire Charged Move arsenal. With the right moveset, Shadow Hypno can threaten a number of its would-be counters, but there is definitely some silver-lining. Since Shadow Cacnea is a non-threat of a Pokemon, it's definitely safe to drop a shield on Hypno if you don't manage to flat-line it in time. And even if not, some bulkier Pokemon can power through it without breaking a sweat regardless of moveset, so it's not actually as threatening as it seems.
Example Counters
- Fast Moves: Astonish, Mud Slap
- Charge Moves: Shadow Punch, Dynamic Punch, Earth Power, Poltergeist
Shadow Golurk isn't a huge threat, and may be the easiest of the second-slot trio, depending on your team. While Ghost and Ground are both pervasive types that can be extremely threatening to a number of great Pokemon, they're still pretty easy to get around with counters that also help out with common Pokemon used in raids and/or the Master League.
Example Counters
Third Pokemon
- Fast Moves: Dragon Tail, Steel Wing, Dragon Breath
- Charge Moves: Hurricane, Outrage, Hyper Beam, Dragon Claw, Superpower
If you happen to roll poorly on movesets, then Dragonite can definitely be the final boss of this encounter. In particular, a mix of Dragon Tail and Dragon Claw can lead to rapid charged move spam with high power and good neutral coverage to back it up. However, most of its other moves aren't extremely threatening.
Example Counters
- Fast Moves: Dragon Tail, Fire Fang, Bite
- Charged Moves: Draco Meteor, Hydro Pump, Fire Blast
Shadow Slaamence hits hard, and has better coverage than Dragonite, but it's ultimately less of a threat in most cases.
Example Counters
- Fast Moves: Bullet Punch, Fury Cutter
- Charged Moves: X-Scissor, Iron Head, Night Slash, Trailblaze
Shadow Scizor has a great typing that can help it resist a lot of common power-house Pokemon, and can be a potential issue for many teams... unless you have anything with a single Fire Type move to burn it to the ground. in all seriousness, Shadow Scizor's great typing isn't quite as important as it seems due to its relatively low stats and laundry list of important types that it at least takes neutral damage from, so it's not particularly threatening.
