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Team GO Rocket Leaders are enemy battles that can be challenging for Trainers to overcome in Pokémon GO; however, it can be rewarding. Defeating Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra will lead to the showdown with their boss, Giovanni, but before that, you'll need to go head-to-head with each leader.
Sierra is one of the three leaders you must face; however, she's no pushover, as her line-up could overwhelm you if you're not prepared or underpowered. This guide details Sierra's current line-up and the best counters, including Pokémon, their typing, and attacks to use against her in Pokémon GO.
2nd November 2023 Update: This guide reflects the new Pokémon lineup and possible counters when encountering Team GO Rocket leader Sierra in battling encounters during Pokémon GO's Season of Adventures Abound. The original reporting continues below.
Pokémon GO Team GO Rocket Leader Sierra: Current Line-Up & Counters
Team GO Rocket Leader Sierra's line-up, like Arlo and Cliff, hasn't changed following the previous Rising Shdaows event, which introduced Shadow Raids in-game. While she and all Team GO Rocket Leaders and their boss, Giovanni, have Shadow Pokémon included in his line-up, Trainers will need to adjust their line-up to fit the best possible counters.
Below is the current Shadow Pokémon line-up for Team GO Rocket Leader Sierra for November 2023, with all data supplied by notable Pokémon source, PokémonGOHub:
- Sierra Battle Phase 1: Sableye
- Sierra Battle Phase 2: Gardevoir / Muk / Skarmory
- Sierra Battle Phase 3: Gyarados / Houndoom / Kingdra
Best Sableye Counters:
Starting this battle, Sierra will bring out her Shadow Sableye, a Dark/Ghost-type Pokémon that’s weak to Fairy-type attacks. As such, this gives Trainers a larger pool of Pokémon to overwhelm Sableye's niched counters.
- Gardevoir (Psychic/Fairy): Charm (Fast Atatck); Dazzling Gleam (Charged Attack)
- Granbull (Fairy): Charm (Fast Atatck); Close Combat, Play Rough (Charged Attack)
- Primal Groudon (Ground/Fire): Mud Shot (Fast Attack); Precipice Blades (Charged Attack)
- Togekiss (Fairy/Flying): Air Slash, Charm (Fast Attack); Aerial Ace, Dazzling Gleam (Charged Attack)
- Xurkitree (Electric): Spark (Fast Attack); Discharge, Thunder (Charged Attack)
Best Gardevoir, Muk & Skarmory Counters:
The second round of this battle will see either Gardevoir, Muk, or Skarmory being brought out to face against your line-up. Gardevoir is a Psychic/Fairy-type Pokémon that’s vulnerable to Ghost, Poison, and Steel Pokémon attacks, while Muk is vulnerable to Ground and Psychic-type attacks.
Lastly, Skarmory is a Steel/Flying Pokémon and is weak to Electric and Fire-type Pokémon. As these three Pokémon have vastly different weaknesses, this should inform you as to which Pokémon you can utilize for this battle.
- Attack Forme Deoxys (Psychic): Zen Headbutt (Fast Attack); Thunderbolt. Psycho Boost (Charged Attack)
- Gengar (Ghost/Poison): Shadow Claw (Fast Attack); Shadow Ball (Charged Attack)
- Metagoss (Steel/Psychic): Bullet Punch (Fast Attack); Flash Cannon, Meteor Mash (Charged Attack)
- Nihilego (Rock/Poison): Poison Jab (Fast Attack); Gunk Shot, Sludge Bomb (Charged Attack)
- Origin Giratina (Ghost/Dragon): Shadow Claw (Fast Attack); Shadow Ball, Shadow Force (Charged Attack)
- Alakazam (Psychic): Confusion (Fast Attack); Future Sight, Psychic (Charged Attack)
- Excadrill (Ground/Steel): Mud-Slap (Fast Attack); Earthquake, Scorching Sands (Charged Attack)
- Latios (Dragon/Psychic): Zen Headbutt (Fast Attack); Luster Purge, Psychic (Charged Attack)
- Mewtwo (Psychic): Confusion (Fast Attack); Psychic, Psystrike (Charged Attack)
- Primal Groudon (Ground/Fire): Mud Shot (Fast Attack); Earthquake, Precipice Blades (Charged Attack)
- Blaziken (Fire/Fighting): Fire Spin (Fast Atatck); Blast Burn, Overheat (Charged Attack)
- Charizard (Fire/Flying): Fire Spin (Fast Atatck); Blast Burn, Overheat (Charged Attack)
- Magnezone (Electric/Steel): Spark (Fast Attack); Mirror Shot, Wild Charge (Charged Attack)
- Raikou (Electric): Thunder Shock (Fast Attack); Thunderbolt, Wild Charge (Charged Attack)
- Reshiram (Dragon/Fire): Fire Fang (Fast Attack); Fusion Flare, Overheat (Charged Attack)
Best Gyarados, Houndoom & Victreebel Counters:
The final round could see a potential line-up against Sierra’s Shadow Gyarados, Houndoom, or Kingdra. The Water/Flying-type, Gyarados, is most vulnerable to Electric and Rock attacks, while the Dark/Fire-type Houndoom is weakest to attacks from Fighting, Ground, Rock, and Water Pokémon.
Kingdra is a Water/Dragon Pokémon with a weakness to Dragon and Fairy-type Pokémon. With varying counter typings to consider, this shouldn't give you many problems finding the right counters.
- Electivire (Electric): Thunder Shock (Fast Atatck); Thunder, Wild Charge (Charged Attack)
- Therian Thundurus (Electric/Flying): Thunder Shock (Fast Atatck); Thunder, Thunder Punch (Charged Attack)
- Xurkitree (Electric): Spark (Fast Attack); Discharge, Thunder (Charged Attack)
- Zapdos (Electric/Flying): Thunder Shock (Fast Attack); Thunder, Thunderbolt (Charged Attack)
- Zekrom (Dragon/Electric): Charge Beam (Fast Attack); Fusion Bolt, Wild Charge (Charged Attack)
- Conkeldurr (Fighting): Counter (Fast Attack); Dynamic Punch, Stone Edge (Charged Attack)
- Kyogre (Water/Ice): Waterfall (Fast Attack); Blizzard, Surf (Charged Attack)
- Machamp (Fighting): Counter (Fast Attack); Cross Chop, Rock Slide (Charged Attack)
- Rhyperior (Ground/Rock): Mud-Slap (Fast Attack); Rock Wrecker (Charged Attack)
- Tyranitar (Rock/Dark): Smack Down (Fast Attack); Stone Edge, Crunch (Charged Attack)
- Garchomp (Dragon/Ground): Dragon Tail (Fast Attack); Outrage (Charged Attack)
- Gardevoir (Psychic/Fairy): Charm (Fast Attack); Dazzling Gleam, Psychic (Charged Attack)
- Latios (Dragon/Psychic): Zen Headbutt (Fast Attack); Luster Purge, Psychic (Charged Attack)
- Rayquaza (Dragon/Flying): Air Slash (Fast Attack); Dragon Ascent, Hurricane (Charged Attack)
- Salamence (Dragon/Flying): Dragon Tail (Fast Attack); Draco Meteor, Outrage (Charged Attack)
With all the best counters to utilize against Sierra, Trainers should have an idea of which Pokémon they can use in their line-up. Based on all the Pokémon we’ve listed above, the best team line-up to use in battle will be Gardevoir (Sableye & Kingdra), Magnezone (Gardevoir, Gyarados & Skarmory) and Primal Groudon (Houndoom & Muk).
