Team GO Rocket Leader Arlo is back and up to his old tricks in Pokémon GO for June 2025. The long time Leader remains one of the toughest trainers you can face in Pokémon GO. He uses a team of high-level Pokémon, all of which are Shadow variants, making them extremely tough to beat. Before taking him on, you need to know the best team to counter his lineup.

To be able to face Arlo this month, you need to first defeat six GO Rocket Grunts, like the Ghost-type Ke Ke Ke Ke team. Once you have done so, you need to spin PokeStops and Rocket Balloons until you find one of the Leaders, who will appear at random, selected out of Arlo and fellow Leaders Sierra and Cliff.

Arlo's Team & Counters In Pokémon GO (June 2025)

One Of The Toughest Leader Line-Ups We Have Seen

Arlo's team has been updated since May 2025. He will continue to use seven different Pokémon in each battle, but for the new month, he has four new Pokémon in his lineup. Some of these he's used before, while others are making their first appearances for the Leader.

In each battle, Arlo's second and third Pokémon will be chosen at random out of three different options.

Arlo's team is heavily influenced by the first two generations of Pokémon, and he will start every battle with Water-type Horsea. His second Pokémon will be selected out of Water- and Psychic-type Slowbro, Poison- and Flying-type Crobat, or Steel- and Ground-type Steelix. His potential final Pokémon are all extremely strong, making it difficult regardless of which option Arlo selects. It will be either Bug- and Steel-type Scizor, Poison- and Dark-type Alola Muk, or Psychic-type Alakazam.

Arlo is one of the toughest current Team GO Rocket to defeat, as it is very difficult to cover all of his seven Pokémon with a three-team line-up. I have found the best way to take him on is to create a team that is super-effective against as many of his Pokémon as possible while featuring strong Pokémon that can still take out the remaining options if they are used. Due to this, I am currently using a line-up with an Electric-type, a Fire-type, and a Ground-type.

Arlo will start every battle with Horsea, who is weak to Electric- and Grass-type attacks. The best option is to select an Electric-type, such as Therian Thundurus. In addition to being super-effective against Horsea, it also has an advantage over Slowbro and Crobat. Next, using Ho-Oh as a Fire-type will make quick work of Steelix and is double super-effective against Scizor.

For a final Pokémon, Groudon is the strongest Ground-type Pokémon in the game. It has an advantage over Alolan Muk and can also help with Steelix if it is picked. This only leaves Alakazam. While not super-effective against it, all of Therian Thundurus, Ho-Oh, and Groudon deal damage to it at a normal rate. If you are struggling with it, you can swap out Groudon for a Dark-type, such as Tyranitar.

Rewards For Beating Arlo In Pokémon GO

A Host Of Rewards For Victory

While it isn't the strongest Pokémon, victory over Arlo will give you the opportunity to catch Shadow Horsea straight after the battle. The encounter will always be the Water type due to being Arlo's first Pokémon. Victory also counts towards the latest Team GO Rocket Special Research in Pokémon GO, along with being a vital step to facing Rocket Boss Giovanni.

You will receive the same rewards each time you defeat any of the GO Rocket Leaders this month. The only difference is the Shadow Pokémon you encounter after the battle.

Finally, each victory over Arlo will give you three items out of 4x Revives, 4x Hyper Potions, 2x Max Revives, 2x Max Potions, 1x Unova Stone, or a 12km red egg. Arlo is the hardest of the Team GO Rocket Leaders in June 2025, but if you select a strong team to counter it, you can have an edge in Pokémon GO.