How to Beat Arlo in Pokémon GO

Pokémon GO’s Arlo represents a frustrating type of battle. He covers a whole slew of typings and burns through shields fast. Battle him with no solid game plan in mind, and Shadow Mawile alone will chew through your team before you can even conjure up a charged attack to mount any sort of resistance. But once you have an idea of what you’ll need to deal with him, this becomes a match that you win on a consistent basis.

Here’s everything you need to know to put up a fight and win against Arlo in Pokémon GO as of March 2026. This guide covers his possible lineups and counters for each of his in-slot Pokémon.

Rocket Leader Arlo’s Current Lineup

As with other Team Go Rocket leaders, his first Pokémon is fixed, with only the second and third slots chosen randomly from an option pool. You can’t be certain about which type will be in a battle against him, but knowing what the pool consists of allows you to prepare for any combination.

Arlo’s Pokémon Lineup at a Glance

Arlo’s Pokémon change every time Rocket Takeover events occur. His team lineups from 2024 and 2025 contain Pokémon that are no longer included in his current option pool, including the likes of Shadow Alolan Muk and Shadow Wobuffet.

Here’s a table showing his current pool of options.

Best Counters for Shadow Mawile, Arlo’s First Pokémon

Shadow Mawile is a Steel/Fairy, and despite being a dual-type of the best defense types in the game, you can hit it hard with fire-type and ground-type moves. Since this Pokémon is fixed in the first slot, your first slot should be fixed to counter it.

Reshiram with Fire Fang and Fusion Flare is considered the best counter, since it also resists both Steel and Fairy, while Blaziken is a great alternative with Fire Spin and Blast Burn to enable fast energy regen and burn through Arlo’s shields quickly.

Other options for counter include Darmanitan (Fire Fang and Overheat), Chandelure (Fire Spin and Overheat), and Mega Charizard Y for sheer damage. Garchomp with Mud Shot and Earthquake also works, but Fire-types are your best option to double down on Shadow Mawile’s Steel weakness.

Best Counters for Arlo’s Second Pokémon: Shadow Slowbro, Golurk, and Steelix

With one of three possibilities, the strategy is to pick a counter that works for two out of three, while at least being neutral against the third one.

Shadow Slowbro Counters

As a Water/Psychic, you need Dark, Ghost, Bug, Electric, or Grass. Gengar with Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball is the ideal counter, but Tyranitar with Bite and Crunch is also a great option, along with providing a counter to Shadow Alakazam on slot 3. 

Shadow Golurk Counters

Use Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ice, or Water to take down a Ground/Ghost Pokémon like this. Tyranitar with Bite and Brutal Swing will make quick work of this, while Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf is another excellent counter, especially to deal with Shadow Steelix as well. Swampert with Water Gun and Hydro Cannon is a counter that is both effective and more accessible.

Shadow Steelix Counters

Take Shadow Steelix down with Fighting, Fire, Ground, or Water. Your Reshiram or Blaziken from countering Mawile can take care of this matchup as well, if they’re able to wrap up their first battle quickly. If your Fire-type goes down, use Swampert or Garchomp instead.

Best Counters for Arlo’s Third Pokémon: Shadow Scizor, Charizard, and Alakazam

His third slot Pokémon is also his strongest, regardless of which one pops up. This is where most people are tripped up if they haven’t fully prepared for the matchups, due to the fast attacks with elevated CP.

Shadow Scizor Counters

If you still have your Fire-type, this battle will be a breeze due to its 4x weakness to the type, and it is the easiest possible matchup in Arlo’s third slot. Reshiram, Blaziken, Charizard, or even Darmanitan can dispose of Scizor before it can fight back, and a single Fusion Flare from Reshiram could be enough to wrap it up. The problem here is if you don’t have any Fire-type left, as Scizor generally does well against any other type.

Shadow Charizard Counters

With Shadow Charizard being a Fire/Flying type, look to Rock-type Pokémon for 4x damage. Tyranitar with Smack Down and Stone Edge is the best slot counter for this match-up, while Rhyperior with Smack Down and Rock Wrecker can be equally deadly to Charizard. 

You can also opt for Rampardos, though it won’t hold up as long despite having higher damage capabilities. Water-type attackers like Kyogre could also work, but not to the extent of Rock’s effectiveness.

Shadow Alakazam Counters

Being a pure Psychic type, Alakazam should be countered with Dark, Ghost, or Bug moves, and Tyranitar with Bite and Crunch should be able to deal with this nicely. Gengar with Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball is a faster but riskier counter, as it could be taken down just as easily. Darkrai with Snarl and Dark Pulse is another great option, though somewhat premium.

Focus on hitting Alakazam as hard and as quickly as you can. The key in this battle is not to let it throw a charge attack since it packs a lot of power.

Best Team to Beat Arlo in Pokémon GO

To cover all of Arlo’s seven possible Pokémon in 2026, build this team to cover all your bases and secure the win.

• Reshiram (Fire Fang and Fusion Flare) on 1st slot

• Tyranitar (Smack Down and Stone Edge) for 2nd slot

• Swampert (Water Gun and Hydro Cannon) on the 3rd, as well as insurance

If you get lucky, Reshiram can take out all three of Arlo’s Pokémon, but only if you get Steelix and Scizor for the 2nd and 3rd slots. It’s also equipped to shred Arlo’s shields quickly. Tyranitar can cover Charizard, Alakazam, Slowbro, and Golurk, making it the best counter for this specific battle. Swampert doesn’t really need to do anything unless Reshiram or Tyranitar are knocked out, and can cover the Steelix and Charizard match-up.

You can swap in Blaziken (Fire Spin and Blast Burn) for Reshiram, though you’ll need to be wary of Blaziken’s lower survivability. Gengar (Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball) is the best sub for Tyranitar, but at the cost of the match coverage for Charizard. Garchomp (Mud Shot and Earthquake) can take Swampert’s place if you’d rather run Ground-type.

If you’re missing key Pokémon for this battle, igitems’ Pokémon accounts come with raid-ready Pokémon for any battle.

How to Find Rocket Leader Arlo in Pokémon GO

You’ll need a Rocket Radar to find Arlo, or any other Team GO Rocket leader. Defeat six Team Go Rocket Grunts to collect six Mysterious Components and assemble the Rocket Radar. Once you have that on hand, equip it, and you’ll be able to find leaders at PokéStops or Rocket Balloons that hover over you.

Encounters with leaders are random, but you can find them by referring to your in-game map. If you get Sierra or Cliff instead of Arlo, you can back out of the fight without losing your Rocket Radar.

How to Beat Arlo’s Shields

Team GO rocket leaders all carry two Protect Shields. With Arlo, he will use his shields for the first two charged attacks you throw his way, making it important for the 1st slot Pokémon in your team to be able to shoot quick and cheap charged shots instead of heavy-hitting nukes.

Blaziken’s Blaze Kick costs just 40 energy, and Reshiram can charge 50 energy quickly, making them ideal openers for this match. Swampert’s Hydro Cannon is also low-cost at 40 energy. Rip his shields, then move on to dishing out the real damage.

Whenever you switch out Pokémon, Arlo pauses for around 2 seconds. Exploit this by using a fast-charging Pokémon on 1st slot, burning through his shields, then swapping to your main counter. This gives you a few free attacks while the AI is going through a reset.

Finally, boost your CP to the highest level possible. With Rocket leaders having Pokémon with boosted stats, anything under 2500 CP is too risky and can cost you the match. It’s ideal to have 3,000 - 4,000 CP to ensure victory.

Rewards for Defeating Rocket Leader Arlo

There are significant rewards in store for any player who beats Arlo. You’ll get 1,000 Stardust, and two random items from among the following: Max Potion, Max Revive, Revive, Sinnoh Stones, or Unova Stones. You also get a guaranteed 12km Strange Egg if you have an open slot for it, where it’s possible to obtain Salandit or Pawniard.

The more notable reward is the chance to capture Arlo’s first Pokémon, Shadow Mawile, which deals more damage at the cost of defense. Defeating all three Team GO Rocket leaders is also required to complete Special research that rewards a Super Rocket Radar. You’ll need this to battle Team GO Rocket boss Giovanni, who has a legendary Shadow Pokémon. As of March 2026, that’s Shadow Thundurus.

Go Take Down Arlo

All of this info will remain in effect until the Rocket Takeover event. Once his lineup of Pokémon is updated, it will be necessary to prepare a whole new team to take him on. But when that time comes around, you can count on us to give you a heads up on what you’ll need to secure victory for that match-up.

If you need Stardust, rare Pokémon, or PokéCoins for Rocket Radars, igitems has Pokémon GO items and currency to help you gear up sooner.