How To Beat Cliff In Pokémon GO (January 2025)

Cliff is one of three Team Rocket leaders you can challenge in Pokémon GO, offering great rewards in January 2025 for anyone who can beat him. Although Cliff's team may be familiar going into the new year, there are even better ways to counter his Pokémon than before. By analyzing his lineup of strong pocket monsters, you can easily find a way to defeat this Team Rocket captain every time.

Along with Sierra and Arlo in Pokémon GO, Cliff can only be found when you build the Rocket Radar item by defeating Team Rocket Grunts. Six Mysterious Components collected from Grunts make up the Radar, which leads you to a Leader once it's built. Unfortunately, the leader you encounter is determined randomly, so you only have a 33% chance of running into Cliff.

Cliff's Lineup & Counters (January 2025)

Bring Pokémon Who Exploit Type Weaknesses

Like other Team Rocket battles, the fight against Cliff is divided into three phases, or "waves," that you must get through. The first wave always has you facing the same Pokémon on Cliff's team, but the second and third waves could feature any of three different Pokémon. This makes it hard to predict what counters you need to face Cliff since he may not use the Pokémon you'd expect.

Cliff does tend to favor Dark-type Pokémon, but don't let that preference fool you. The Team Rocket leader has plenty of other options, including Pokémon who will directly counter your attempts to battle against Dark-types alone. Unlike Rocket Grunts like Team Ke Ke Ke Ke in Pokémon GO, Cliff is a far more cunning opponent.

Below is a table outlining all the possible Pokémon Cliff could use throughout his battle, and which counters work best against him:

Arguably the best team you can put together to counter Cliff is:

• Heracross
• Torterra
• Metagross

These three Pokémon deal super-effective damage to every one of Cliff's team members in some way, allowing you to take them down fast. Heracross is the greatest example of this, as the Bug/Fighting-type can counter Cliff's Shadow Tyranitar, Obtagoon, and Zigzagoon easily. Similarly, Torterra has favorable match-ups against Marowak and Tyranitar while being a bulkier Pokémon for your team.

Metagross' defensive Steel-type gives it resistance to Crobat's attacks and lets it inflict greater punishment on Cliff's Tyranitar, Aerodactyl, and Venusaur. Although you will never know which one of Cliff's Pokémon you'll face in his last two waves, this team gives you an option for anything the Team Rocket leader throws out.

Rewards For Beating Cliff (January 2025)

Catch A Shadow Galarian Pokémon

Managing to take down Cliff will instantly reward you with 1,000 Stardust​​​​, giving you currency to spend whenever you want. You also receive two different item bundles out of six available sets, placing extra resources in your inventory to use in other battles. Some of the item bundles you could get include:

• 4x Revives
• 2x Max Revives
• 4x Hyper Potions
• 2x Max Potions
• 1x Unova Stone
• 1x 12km Strange Egg

Another reward from beating Cliff is the chance to capture his Shadow Galarian Zigzagoon after the fight. Once the battle ends, you are placed in an encounter with the Shadow Pokémon, who has a 1 in 64 chance of being a Shiny variant. Challenging Cliff multiple times is the best way to increase your odds for a Shiny, but just the Shadow Pokémon on its own can be a great addition to your collection.

Cliff's defeat will advance your Special Rocket Research, helping you move one step closer to challenging Giovanni for a final battle. Those who beat Cliff in Pokémon GO for January 2025 should consider using the rewards from his battle to participate in upcoming events, Raids, or Max battles being introduced during the new year.