Pokémon Go leader counters for Sierra, Arlo, and September in August 2026

Sep 1, 2026 · 5 min read

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Updated Sep 1, 2026, 12:01 AM EDT

How to take down the three Team Go Rocket leaders this month

Artwork from Pokemon Go showing the new Team Rocket admins, Giovanni, and a group of shadow Pokemon

Pokémon Go has its own version of the notorious Team Rocket, called Team Go Rocket. In this Pokémon Go guide, we’ll break down how to find leaders Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo and take them down.

Below, we list their parties and strategies as they stand in September 2026, with the most recent changes following the Team Go Rocket Takeover event that activated alongside the arrival of the "Flying Taxi: Taken Over" event in June.

Update (June 25): Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo's teams have been updated with their new Pokémon.

How to find leaders Sierra, Cliff, and Arlo in Pokémon Go

Team Go Rocket leaders can be found in black PokéStops or hot air balloons flying above you with a Rocket Radar equipped.

To get a Rocket Radar, you must get six Mysterious Components, with one regular Go Team Rocket encounter rewarding one Mysterious Component each.

With the Rocket Radar equipped, you will then encounter a leader at random. The three leaders are Sierra, Arlo, and Cliff.

Previously, some Timed Research and Team Go Rocket Special Research tasks required you to beat all three leaders. Completing this Team Go Rocket Special Research will reward you with a Super Rocket Radar, allowing you to find the boss, Giovanni. Beating Giovanni will net you a legendary shadow Pokémon. As of the "Steeled Resolve" event in April 2026, there isn't any new Special Research to compete to earn the Super Rocket Radar. Instead, you need to participate in the Go Pass before the event ends, if you want to battle Giovanni.

Team Go Rocket leader Sierra counters

Image: Niantic

Sierra’s team is:

Amaura (rock/ice)
Flygon (ground/dragon), Ferrothorn (grass/steel), OR Blastoise (water)
Houndoom (dark/fire), Steelix (steel/ground), OR Milotic (water)

Based on our tests and reports from players, Sierra's team is unchanged this time around, except for the starting Amaura.

Though coming in to scope out her team first is recommended, if you come equipped with fighting- and fire-type moves, you'll have a bit of an advantage. Her party is pretty diverse (as usual), so we also recommend using ground-, rock-, ice-, or water-type moves to help fill in the gaps where you're struggling. Here's some of the strongest Pokémon for those typings:

Terrakion with Double Kick and Sacred Sword
Lucario with Force Palm and Aura Sphere
Blacephalon with Incinerate and Mind Blown
Reshiram with Fire Fang and Fusion Flare
Groudon with Mud Shot and Precipice Blades
Rhyperior with Smack Down and Rock Wrecker
Galarian Darmanitan with Ice Fang and Avalanche
Kyogre with Waterfall and Origin Pulse

Team Go Rocket leader Arlo counters

Team Rocket leader Arlo stands in purple fog, readying to battle

Arlo’s team is:

Tyrunt (rock/dragon)
Steelix (steel/ground), Slowbro (water/psychic) OR Golurk (ground/ghost)
Scizor (bug/steel), Charizard (fire/flying), OR Alakazam (psychic)

Arlo's team is mostly the same, though he's swapped out one of his second Pokémon for Golurk and he, as expected, now has a new Pokémon in his first slot: Tyrunt. You can mostly use the same counters from his previous line-up.

Arlo loves steel-types, which means you can burn him down quickly with fire-type moves, if his party is filled with those metallic beasts. You can also use ghost-, water-, and dark-types to make pretty quick work of his team this time.

Here's some of the strongest Pokémon of those types:

Blacephalon with Incinerate and Mind Blown
Reshiram with Fire Fang and Fusion Flare
Lunala with Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball
Chandelure with Hex and Shadow Ball
Kyogre with Waterfall and Origin Pulse
Quaquaval with Water Gun and Hydro Cannon
Tyranitar with Bite and Brutal Swing

Team Go Rocket leader Cliff counters

Cliff from Team Rocket stands in purple smog, ready to throw a Poké Ball

Cliff’s team is:

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 pretty diverse, so you definitely may need to scope this fight out ahead of time. There are a few move types that will give you an edge: fairy-, ground-, and water-types. Given that Snorlax can be tanky and annoying, we also recommend bringing a powerful fighting-type Pokémon to deal with that. Here's some of the strongest from that bunch:

Terrakion with Double Kick and Sacred Sword
Lucario with Force Palm and Aura Sphere
Tapu Lele with Astonish and Nature's Madness
Togekiss with Charm and Dazzling Gleam
Groudon with Mud Shot and Precipice Blades
Garchomp with Mud Shot and Earth Power
Kyogre with Waterfall and Origin Pulse
Quaquaval with Water Gun and Hydro Cannon

Team Go Rocket leader tips

If you’re struggling against the leaders, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

They will use their shields on the first two Charge Attacks you use. Using a Pokémon that can charge and use Charge Attacks quickly will help you get rid of their shields, allowing you to freely damage them.
You should be prepared for the first Pokémon you use to get knocked out. If you use a Pokémon that gets through shields easily, that’s fine, but your other Pokémon will need to have decent type advantages to defeat any remaining Pokémon.
Remember, you can attempt the battle many times using one Rocket Radar, so you can queue up your strongest Pokémon just to see what the leader is carrying. If you defeat them on the first try, great! If not, you can swap your party around for some type-effective counters.
The team leaders have high-CP Pokémon, so you should definitely be using the highest CP Pokémon you have if you’re struggling.
Facing Leaders is an efficient way of earning Shadow Shards for Purified Gems, with each battle rewarding three Shards.