Pokemon GO Rocket Grunts Counters and Lineups for Crown Clash Taken Over (May 2025)

Pokemon GO Team GO Rocket Grunts counters for their May 2025 Crown Clash Taken Over lineups will help you deal with the nuisance these adversaries can be. This month's Crown Clash Taken Over will surely refresh some of the teams discussed below, with Shadow Slakoth, Shadow Inkay, Shadow Tyrunt, and Shadow Amaura making their debut.

Nevertheless, how can trainers counter and beat them? Overall, there are 22 Team GO Rocket Grunts that can be battled, with 21 appearing throughout claimed Pokestops and Team GO Rocket balloons, and one reserved for battling in Giovanni's stead as a decoy to distract pursuers.

With 22 distinct teams to battle, Team GO Rocket Grunts are incredibly diverse. The good news is that they offer cues on what team they'll be using.

Note: The Pokemon names in italics are potential encounters once you beat the particular Grunt. The ones that are followed by an * can be encountered in their shiny form.

Check out the current Pokemon GO raid bosses that you can encounter in-game

Team lineups and weaknesses of all Pokemon GO Rocket Grunts and Crown Clash Taken Over May 2025

What are the current Team GO Rocket Grunt lineups in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

Normal-type Male Grunt

Quote: “Normal does not mean weak.”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Slakoth	Ratata	Raticate
Bidoof	Meowth	Ursaring
Bunnelby	Diggersby	Exploud

Weaknesses: Fighting-type Pokemon.

Also read: Is the Pokemon GO Regigigas Shadow Raid Day ticket worth purchasing?

Fire-type Female Grunt

Quote: “Do you know how hot Pokemon fire breath can get?”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Numel	Houndoom	Houndoom
Darumaka	Ninetales	Darmanitan
Tepig	Pignite	Emboar

Weaknesses: Water- and Ground-type Pokemon.

Water-type Female Grunt

Quote: “These waters are treacherous!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Oshawott	Dewott	Samurott
Barboach	Seadra	Whiscash
Spheal		Carracosta

Weaknesses: Grass- and Electric-type Pokemon.

Water-type Male Grunt

Quote: “These waters are treacherous!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Magikarp	Magikarp	Magikarp
		Gyarados

Weaknesses: Grass- and Electric-type Pokemon.

Also read: How to beat Azelf raids in Pokemon GO? Best counters, shiny odds, 100% CP, and more

Electric-type Female Grunt

Quote: “Get ready to be shocked!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Magnemite*	Voltorb	Ampharos
Joltik	Electabuzz	Luxray
Mareep	Alolan Geodude	Galvantula

Weaknesses: Ground-type Pokemon.

Grass-type Male Grunt

Quote: “Don't tangle with us!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Snivy	Servine	Serperior
Seedot	Ferrothorn	Cacturn
Hoppip	Lileep	Vileplume

Weaknesses: Fire-, Ice-, Flying-, Poison-, and Bug-type Pokemon.

Ice-type Female Grunt

Quote: “You're gonna be frozen in your tracks.”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Amaura	Alolan Ninetales	Aurorus
Snorunt	Froslass	Froslass
Sneasel*	Sealeo	Glalie

Weaknesses: Fire, Fighting, Steel, and Rock-type Pokemon.

Fighting-type Female Grunt

Quote: “This buff physique isn't just for show!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Machop*	Hitmonlee	Toxicroak
Mankey	Hitmonchan	Infernape
Makuhita	Gurdurr	Conkeldurr

Weaknesses: Fairy-, Psychic-, and Flying-type Pokemon

Also read: How to solo defeat Shadow Piloswine in Pokemon GO 3-star Shadow Raids

Poison-type Female Grunt

Quote: “Coiled and ready to strike!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Tentacool*	Nidorina	Weezing
Trubbish	Nidorino	Toxicraoak
Skorupi*		Amoonguss

Weaknesses: Ground- and Psychic-type Pokemon

Ground-type Male Grunt

Quote: “You'll be defeated into the ground!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Gligar*	Rhyhorn	Torterra
Sandshrew	Vibrava	Flygon
Drilbur	Donphan	Whiscash

Weaknesses: Water-, Ice-, and Grass-type Pokemon

Flying-type Female Grunt

Quote: “You'll be defeated into the ground!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Pidgey	Gligar*	Pidgeot
Taillow	Swellow	Dragonite
Zubat*	Zubat*	Archeops

Weaknesses: Ice-, Rock-, Electric-type Pokemon

Psychic-type Male Grunt

Quote: “Are you scared of psychics that use unseen power?”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Ralts*	Duosion	Gallade
Inkay	Drowzee	Reuniclus
	Wobbuffet	Malamar

Weaknesses: Ghost-, Bug-, and Dark-type Pokemon

Bug-type Male Grunt

Quote: “Go, my super bug Pokémon!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Pineco*	Shelmet	Scizor
Ledyba	Karrablast	Beedrill
Scyther*	Anorith*	Forretress

Weaknesses: Fire-, Rock-, and Flying-type Pokemon

Also read: Surprise Pokemon GO Shiny release via GO Pass May 2025 noted by player

Rock-type Male Grunt

Quote: “Let's rock and roll!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Amaura	Shieldon	Aurorus
Tyrunt	Cranidos	Tyrantrum
Roggenrola	Graveller	Golem

Weaknesses: Water-, Ground-, Steel-, and Fighting-type Pokemon

Ghost-type Male Grunt

Quote: “Ke...ke...ke...ke...ke...ke!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Duskull	Dusclops	Gengar
Gastly	Sableye*	Alolan Marowak
Golett	Haunter	Froslass

Weaknesses: Ghost- and Dark-type Pokemon

Also Check:- Pokemon Type Calculator

Dragon-type Male Grunt

Quote: “ROAR! ...How'd that sound?”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Dratini*	Dragonair	Dragonite
Bagon*	Alolan Exeggcutor	Salamence
Tyrunt		Tyrantrum

Weaknesses: Ice-, Dragon-, and Fairy-type Pokemon

Dark-type Female Grunt

Quote: “Wherever there is light, there is also shadow.”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Alolan Rattata	Alolan Raticate	Alolan Muk
Cacnea*	Alolan Muk	Skuntank
Carvanha*

Weaknesses: Fairy-, Bug-, and Fighting-type Pokemon

Fairy-type Female Grunt

Quote: “Check out my cute Pokemon!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Alolan Vulpix	Snubbull	Alolan Ninetales
Snubbull	Kirlia	Gardevoir
Mawile*	Galarian Weezing	Galarian Weezing

Weaknesses: Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon

Steel-type Female Grunt

Quote: “You're no match for my iron will!”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Alolan Sandshrew	Lairon	Scizor
Alolan Diglett	Skarmory	Alolan Sandslash
Beldum*	Metang	Aggron

Weaknesses: Fighting-, Fire-, and Ground-type Pokemon

Male Grunt with Johto starters

Quote: “Winning is for winners.”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Bulbasaur*	Ivysaur	Venusaur
Charmander*	Charmeleon	Charizard
Squirtle*	Wartortle	Blastoise

Weaknesses:

Fire-, Ice-, Flying-, Poison-, and Bug-type Pokemon if he starts with Bulbasaur
Grass- and Electric-type Pokemon if he starts with Squirtle
Water- Rock-, and Ground-type Pokemon if he starts with Charmander

Also read: How to beat Shadow Lapras raids in Pokemon GO: Best counters, shiny odds, 100% CP, and more

Female Grunt with all fully evolved Pokemon

Quote: “Winning is for winners.”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Snorlax	Snorlax	Snorlax
	Poliwrath	Gyarados
	Gardevoir	Dragonite

Weaknesses: Fighting-, Electric-, Ice-, Steel-, Dragon- and Ghost-type Pokemon

Decoy Female Grunt

Quote: “Fooled ya, twerp.”

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3
Bellsprout*	Raticate	Raticate
	Weepinbell	Snorlax

Weaknesses: Fighting-, Fire-, Ice-, Flying-, Poison-, and Bug-type counters

Best counters against Pokemon GO Rocket Grunts in May 2025

Taking down Team GO Rocket Grunts is not much of a challenge. They use relatively weak Pocket Monsters and have no real strategy. Simply going in with strong counters will do the trick.

Here are the Pokemon GO search strings you can use to find the best available counter of each type available to you:

Fire&@Fire
Water&@Water
Grass&@Grass
Ground&@Ground
Rock&@Rock
Steel&@Steel
Dragon&@Dragon
Fairy&@Fairy
Poison&@Poison
Psychic&@Psychic
Ghost&@Ghost
Dark&@Dark
Flying&@Flying
Fighting&@Fighting
Electric&@Electric
Bug&@Bug
Ice&@Ice
Normal&@Normal

These commands will return Pocket Monsters of that type that know at least one STAB move. Sort these by CP and use the three best counters available based on the weaknesses mentioned in the previous section.

Also check out: Pokemon GO Evolution Calculator

Tips for beating Team GO Rocket Grunts May 2025 in Pokemon GO

Some tactics can be used to make Team GO Rocket battles easier in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

Since Team GO Rocket battles in Pokemon GO are considered PvE battles, a few tricks can be employed to make fights easier. As an example, there's a short delay after hitting a Rocket Grunt's Pokemon with a Charged Move before it's able to attack again. If you time your Charged Moves wisely, you can rack up a ton of damage while essentially stunning a Rocket momentarily.

It's also important to note that since Grunt battles are PvE fights, Pokemon GO trainers can exit them at any time. If players' current lineups aren't getting the job done, they can depart the fight and re-enter it with a better team comp. Meanwhile, the Grunt should remain where they are.

Also check out: Pokemon GO CP Calculator

All in all, Team GO Rocket battles against Grunts in Pokemon GO aren't too difficult. With the right counters, their Shadow Pokemon should be fairly easy to stop in most cases, especially since they receive a debuff to their Defense stat since they're in Shadow form.

Check out our other Pokemon GO guides:

About the author

Spencer has been covering AAA titles at Sportskeeda for 3 years, and his articles collectively boast 30+ million reads. He is currently focusing on Pokemon and Minecraft content. A man who truly wears many hats, Spencer is a reader, writer, occasional metal vocalist, and semi-competitive fighting game player. His love for video games stemmed from engaging in franchises such as Street Fighter, Dragon Quest, and Resident Evil, and he is an ardent fan to this day.

Spencer holds a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of South Florida with a minor in Journalism, and his work in the Tampa Bay area was influential in sending him down the path of becoming an esports writer. In the last 8 years, Spencer has written guides for iFixit, film and TV features for Collider, and tons of interesting articles for Sportskeeda. He is deeply familiar with the mechanics of the gaming industry and quite deft at collating information from official outlets, developers, community posts, and content creators.

In his free time, Spencer likes to read, play tabletop RPGs with friends, record metal music with his old bandmates, and build Gunpla model kits. He is primarily a PC gamer who can be found juggling multiple titles at any given time.

Know More

🚨 Calculate the Pokemon type effectiveness to win battles with our newly launched Pokemon GO Type Calculator 🚨

Edited by Rachel Syiemlieh