How to beat Arlo in Pokemon GO (September 2022)

September has finally come to Pokemon GO. As is tradition, players everywhere are at the edge of their seats to learn if the main antagonists of the mobile game, Team GO Rocket, have any new tricks up their sleeves for this month.

One of the four leaders users will have the choice to battle against is Leader Arlo. Much like the Team Rocket that long-time fans of the Pokemon franchise have come to know and love, Team GO Rocket aims to rule the world through their control of Pokemon.

However, this iteration of the lovable rapscallions is much darker than any seen in the past. This is due to their usage of Shadow Pokemon.

Shadow Pokemon have had the door to their heart sealed through artificial means and are much more aggressive and powerful as a result. In the Pokemon universe's lore, these creatures are even capable of lashing out and harming their trainers.

Luckily, this cannot happen in Pokemon GO. With this in mind, taking down Arlo can appear to be quite the task.

Luckily, with a bit of planning, its difficulty can be mitigated. So what Pokemon is Arlo using this month?

Taking down Arlo in Pokemon GO

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Shadow Charmander

Charmander as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

As many Pokemon GO gamers are aware, the opening Pokemon used in these boss fights are often incredibly easy since they are almost always unevolved Pokemon. This month is no different.

Shadow Charmander is also the Pokemon players will be rewarded with upon defeating Arlo in this battle.

While it can be tempting to bring a Water-type Pokemon into battle knowing this, it may be worth more if users opt to bring a Ground or Rock-type instead. As the fight goes on, Water-types become significantly less useful.

However, Ground and Rock-types have the potential to be useful for the first couple of stages.

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Shadow Salamence/Charizard/Mawile

Salamence as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

For this stage of the fight, the Ground-type gamers choose to bring can either absolutely carry the battle or be completely useless. This is due to two of the Pokemon Arlo can use for this stage resisting Ground-type attacks.

However, the Rock-type players can bring will cleave right through Salamence and Charizard. For Mawile, Ground-type moves are still super-effective.

Pair this with Mawile's relatively low stat spread in Pokemon GO, and users have a stage of the fight that many may find easier than even the prior Shadow Charmander. However, this will only occur 33% of the time, so they should not get their hopes up.

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Shadow Gardevior/Scizor/Steelix

Scizor as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

This stage can be a bit difficult to plan around. While Scizor and Steelix, as well as Mawile, share a weakness to Fire-type attacks, Gardevoir is unique from the rest of Arlo's potential team. This could very well mean that lesser experienced gamers could get stomped if they do not find a way to plan around Gardevoir.

For this, they may want to bring a Pokemon with a secondary Steel typing. More specifically, Excadrill can be a very valuable team member.

Not only does it possess the Ground typing, but it is a partial Steel-type as well. This makes it great for dealing with all of Arlo's Steel-types in Pokemon GO as well as Charmander.

Having a Fire-type like Magmortar or Charizard can be very useful for this fight as well. With this in mind, a great example of a sample team that covers all the bases for this fight includes Magmortar, Excadrill, and Rhyperior.

Note: This article reflects the author's views.