One of Team GO Rocket’s leaders is Cliff, known in Pokemon GO for his use of many strong Rock-type Pokemon. He has a new team for 2021 that is no pushover, meaning that players will need to plan smartly on how to defeat him.

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If players do defeat Cliff, they will get the chance to rescue a Shadow Aerodactyl. Lucky players may even encounter one in its shiny form, but the odds of that are low. Players also have the chance to get a special Cliff sticker that they can attach to gifts.

Party Member One - Aerodactyl

Cliff’s first Pokemon will always be Aerodactyl. This Pokemon is a dual Rock and Flying-type Pokemon, making it weak to Ice, Rock, Steel, Water, and Electric-type moves. It also resists Ground, Normal, Bug, Poison, Flying, and Fire-type moves.

With this in mind, the most effective Pokemon against Aerodactyl and their movesets are:

Tyranitar - Smack Down and Stone Edge Cobalion - Metal Claw and Sacred Sword Melmetal - Thunder Shock and Superpower Empoleon - Metal Claw and Hydro Cannon Togekiss - Charm and Ancient Power Kyogre - Waterfall and Hydro Pump

Party Member Two - Gallade

Gallade is one of the three Pokemon that can possibly be Cliff’s second Pokemon. It is a dual Psychic and Fighting-type Pokemon making it weak to Fairy, Flying, and Ghost-type moves. This Pokemon also resists Fighting and Rock-type moves.

What makes Gallade so dangerous is that Cliff’s Gallade can have three different possible fast moves with each having a different type. This means that different Pokemon are recommended based on what this fast move is.

If Cliff’s Gallade uses Charm for its fast move, players should use:

Heatran - Fire Spin and Flamethrower Jirachi - Confusion and Doom Desire Ho-Oh - Incinerate and Brave Bird Lugia - Dragon Tail and Aeroblast

If the Gallade is using Confusion, players are recommended to use:

Jirachi - Confusion and Doom Desire Lugia - Dragon Tail and Aeroblast Darkrai - Snarl and Shadow Ball Tyranitar - Smack Down and Stone Edge

Finally, if Gallade is using Low Kick, players should use:

Ho-Oh - Incinerate and Brave Bird Lugia - Dragon Tail and Aeroblast Altered Giratina - Shadow Claw and Dragon Claw Origin Giratina - Dragon Tail and Shadow Ball

Party Member Two - Cradily

Another option for Cliff’s second Pokemon is Cradily. This Pokemon is a dual Rock and Grass-type Pokemon making it weak to Fighting, Ice, Bug, and Steel-type moves. Cradily also resists Electric and Normal-type moves when in battle.

Compared to Gallade, Cradily is far more consistent. Because of this, the recommended Pokemon to bring against Cradily are:

Ho-Oh - Incinerate and Brave Bird Genesect - Fury Cutter and X-Scissor Melmetal - Thunder Shock and Superpower Galarian Stunfisk - Metal Claw and Earthquake Jirachi - Confusion and Doom Desire Origin Giratina - Dragon Tail and Shadow Ball

Party Member Two - Slowking

Slowking is the final possible Pokemon for Cliff to have as his second party member. It’s a dual Water and Psychic-type Pokemon making it weak to Ghost, Dark, Electric, Grass, and Bug-type moves. It however has even more resistances with it resisting Steel, Fighting, Water, Psychic, Ice, and Fire-type moves.

The best Pokemon to use against Slowking are:

Umbreon - Snarl and Foul Play Altered Giratina - Shadow Claw and Dragon Claw Magnezone - Spark and Wild Charge Bisharp - Snarl and Dark Pulse Origin Giratina - Dragon Tail and Shadow Ball

Party Member Three - Tyranitar

Tyranitar is one of Cliff’s possible third and final Pokemon, making it an absolute beast that can catch players off guard. This Pokemon is a dual Rock and Dark-type that is weak to Fighting, Fairy, Ground, Bug, Steel, Water, and Grass-type moves. It meanwhile also resists Dark, Normal, Poison, Ghost, Flying, Fire, and Psychic-type moves.

In order to take down this powerful Pokemon, players should bring along:

Conkeldurr - Counter and Dynamic Punch Scrafty - Counter and Power-Up Punch Machamp - Counter and Dynamic Punch Heracross - Counter and Megahorn Sirfetch’d - Counter and Leaf Blade Hariyama - Counter and Dynamic Punch

Party Member Three - Dusknoir

Dusknoir is a pure Ghost-type Pokemon and one of Cliff’s possible final Pokemon. This Pokemon’s typing makes it weak to only Dark and Ghost-type moves while also resisting Bug, Poison, Fighting, and Normal-type moves.

Although players are a lot more limited when it comes to type weaknesses to exploit, the recommended Pokemon to bring against Dusknoir are:

Snorlax - Lick and Earthquake Obstagoon - Lick and Night Slash Slaking - Yawn and Earthquake Lickilicky - Lick and Shadow Ball Porygon2 - Lock On and Zap Cannon

Party Member Three - Mamoswine

Cliff’s final possible party member is Mamoswine. This Pokemon is a dual Ice and Ground-type Pokemon, making it weak to Fire, Fighting, Grass, Water, and Steel-type moves. It also resists Poison and Electric-type moves.

The final batch of recommended Pokemon that can take a beating from Mamoswine and come out on top are:

Walrein - Waterfall and Blizzard Empoleon - Waterfall and Hydro Cannon Kyogre - Waterfall and Hydro Pump Lapras - Ice Shard and Surf

Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.

MORE: Pokemon GO Complete Guide for General Tips, Tricks, & Strategies

Source: Pokemon GO Hub