What Pokémon should I use to defeat the leader in Sierra?

August 31, 2022: These Pokémon GO Sierra counters are sure to help you battle through the Rocket leader's team.

Need to know the latest Pokémon GO Sierra counters?The best can be hard to come by, but there are always alternatives for those with less complete collections. Fighting the others? Check out our Pokémon GO Cliff counters, Pokémon GO Arlo counters, or our complete list of the Team GO Rocket leader teams for September 2022.

Now that we're into the second half of the year, Sierra's team has finally changed up again. This happened mid-July, with the Rocket event that ran alongside the Summer Pokémon GO Fest celebrations.

Sierra's latest team hasn't changed even with the advent of the Season of Heritage. It could change again by the end, when Giovanni is likely to reappear with yet another enthralled Pokémon like Shadow Lugia. If that happens, come back here to prep your team once more.

Sierra Pokémon teams and counters for September 2022

Sierra now uses Squirtle as her first Pokémon. Sierra’s second Pokemon will either be Blaziken, Lapras, or Blastoise. Finally, for Sierra's third Pokémon, expect her trusty Houndoom, or she may switch it up and use either Drapion or Nidoqueen.

Now that you know which Pokémon she'll use, you just need to know how to beat them. The best way to do that is to use the Pokémon GO Sierra counters suggested below.

First Sierra Pokémon counters

Squirtle Counters

You're not going to need to worry too much about Sierra's Shadow Squirtle. They are a single type Pokémon, and therefore are weak to Grass and Electric. It's important to use this phase to burn through the shields as quickly as you can so that you can move on to the more difficult Pokémon and make sure that they have no shields for those harder fights.

Second Sierra Pokémon counters

Blaziken Counters

Blaziken can be a bit of a difficult opponent because they are a dual-type Pokémon. However, they can still be countered by plenty of other Pokémon. Sierra's Shadow Blaziken is a Fire and Fighting dual-type, meaning that it's weak to Psychic, Flying, Water, and Ground. Although this can be a difficult opponent, it's not as hard as Lapras.

Lapras

Shadow Lapras demands bulkier Pokémon. As it is one itself, going at it with glass cannons will spell a quick end to your run. The Pokémon that have been chosen to counter it now are quite tanky Pokémon, so you will most likely survive the attacks Shadow Lapras has in store for you. Machamp is a very solid choice against Lapras, as their attacks are strong, and so are their defences. Magnezone is another winner for this scenario. Kyogre is not the strongest out of the bunch and is best avoided if possible.

Blastoise

Sierra's Shadow Blastoise is a Water-type, which has very low stamina. It's also incredibly easily countered by Grass and Electric types, making Vileplume perfect for the situation. Palkia is also a fantastic counter, as they are a bulky counter, and dish out a tonne of damage to the target.

Third Sierra Pokémon counters

Houndoom Counters

Houndoom is weak to Fighting, Ground, Rock and Water-type Pokémon. Here's a list of Pokémon and their moves that counter Houndoom.

Houndoom is also weak to Ground-types, so we'd probably just use our Ampharos counter here. That being said, if you led with a Fighting-type to quickly reduce Sierra's shields, it will prove equally effective against Houndoom.

Nidoqueen

Sierra's Nidoqueen is a Ground and Poison-type. It's weak to Ice, Psychic, Water, and Ground. Any of the choices from the table above are good counters for Nidoqueen. It's one of her weaker options if you're well prepared, but it can hit hard if you're caught off guard.

Shiftry

In place of Shiftry from before is a powerful Drapion. This Poison/Dark-type Pokémon can only be dealt double damage by Ground-type attacks, making it a rough fight if you're not prepared to take it on.

Thankfully, it shares a weakness with the rest of her final options. If you bring along a Mamoswine, Garchomp, or Excadrill, you should be ok.

How do I battle Sierra in Pokémon GO?

To receive the honour of battling Sierra, you'll first need to defeat six Team Rocket Grunts. Each one will grant you a Mysterious Component. Combine these to build a Rocket Radar and you'll be able to use it to find the location of a Rocket Leader.

However, battling a Rocket Leader is a different story from taking on their lowly Grunts. Leaders use strong, high-level monsters. Sierra counters are necessary to get the win, and they shift when her team changes, making it a constant struggle.

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Her monsters are also high CP, likely much higher than any of your Pokémon. Using super-effective moves is a great strategy to best her, but bringing bulky Pokémon can often be an even better idea.

Defeating Sierra can not only offer an encounter with a shiny Nidoran (F), but also grants you one of the Strange 12km Eggs and helps you complete the A Seven-Colored Shadow research quest.

Pokémon GO Sierra rewards

For every Team Go Rocket Leader you defeat, you'll earn plenty of rewards in return—like 1,000 Stardust and two of the following items:

• One Strange 12km egg (this will go into your extra egg storage if you don't have space)
• One Max Revive
• One Revive
• One Max Potion
• One Unova Stone
• One Sinnoh Stone

Players will also have the opportunity to catch a Team Go Rocket Leader Shadow Pokémon. When defeating Sierra, players will have the chance to capture Shadow Squirtle, but how easy it is will largely depend on how well you perform in your battle with Sierra. Shadow Squirtle can be shiny.

• Check out: Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Terastal Pokemon explained

As a rule of thumb, players get five Premier Balls to capture the Shadow Pokémon, with extra bonus balls added depending on:

1. How many Pokémon survive the Sierra trainer battle
2. Your individual 'purify Pokémon' medal rank (Purifier)
3. Your individual 'defeat Team Rocket' medal rank (Hero)

If you still haven't beaten Giovanni, then you'll need to take down each Rocket Leader (including Sierra) in order to find Team GO Rocket's infamous leader. Hopefully, this long list of the best Pokémon GO Sierra counters for August will help you defeat her.

For more mobile game goodness, check out what we already know about Peridot - Niantic's next creature collecting game. We even have a Peridot pre-order page up in case you're confused by it, and a guide on how to walk in Peridot if you're not sure how the whole AR game system works.

An earlier version of this guide was written by James Wright.