Giovanni returns for March in Pokémon GO with yet another Shadow Legendary to deal with.
Another month, another corrupted Johto Legendary for you to cleanse of evil. This time it’s Entei, the legendary fire beast. Defeating Giovanni will give you your very own Entei to love and hold, which is nice.
He’s also got a few different options to fight in his second slot, although his first Pokémon is still his beloved Persian.
Giovanni's Team - March 2020 Edition
As previously mentioned, Giovanni will first send out his Persian, which shouldn't be too much trouble if you have even a slightly tanky Fighting-type Pokémon. Next, he'll toss down either a Kingler, a Steelix, or a Rhyperior. The Steelix remains from last month, but the Rhyperior and Kingler are new. And finally, he brings Shadow Entei to the fight.
Giovanni Counters
Countering Persian is relatively simple. Anyone that can learn Super Power is likely fine, but Giovanni's Persian could have a Fairy-type charge move that will give pure Fighting-type Pokémon fits. For this reason, bring dual or off-type Pokémon with a strong fighting move such as Melmetal, Rhyperior, or Lucario.
As a pure Water-type, Kingler is easy to put down. Torterra, Venusaur, or Roserade will get around anything it can throw at you. Steelix is a lot tougher with it's access to a variety of moves, but it has no answers to pure Fighting-types like Machamp or Fire-types like Charizard. Rhyperior is easily taken down by Water or Grass-types, with Swampert, Torterra, and Venusaur being great choices.
Finally, we arrive at Entei. Entei can hit with Fire fast moves and Fire or Steel charge movies, which means he's pretty easy to counter. Dual Water-types such as Swampert and Omastar are ideal, but you can get by with a pure Water-type such as Kyogre. Rhyperior is also a fine choice if you want to bring one along.
The Final Team
Swampert is likely going to be an all-star contender against Giovanni's entire team and especially Shadow Entei. A Super Power equipped Rhyperior is also likely to perform well, while Torterra can both survive Entei's flames and deal with anything in Giovanni's second slot too. Go with Rhyperior/Torterra/Swampert and you’re good as gold.