Pokemon Go: All Cliff June 2023 Weaknesses and Best Pokemon Counters

Cliff has returned for Pokemon Go’s June 2023 Team Rocket Takeover event. Like previous Team Rocket Takeover events, his roster changed, giving him access to additional shadow Pokemon, with a chance to catch the first one he uses against players after defeating him.

For players who want to take on Team Rocket’s head boss, Giovanni, they’re going to need to take down Cliff at least once. This guide covers all the Pokemon Cliff can use against you in Pokemon Go, their weaknesses, and how to counter each one.

How to beat Cliff in Pokemon Go, June 2023

When looking for Cliff, you’ll need a Rocket Radar to track him down in Pokemon Go. You can receive a Rocket Radar by defeating six Team Rocket grunts and obtaining their Mysterious Components to find the leaders’ hideouts. They will appear at captured PokeStops or a Team Rocket Balloon. There is a chance you might find Arlo or Sierra at a PokeStop instead.

All of Cliff’s Pokemon in Pokemon Go

These are all of the Pokemon Cliff can use in his battle against you. The first Pokemon will always be the same, but the second and third choices will be different, based on the options available to him, so you will need to be flexible in your strategy when battling him.

Cliff’s First Pokemon in Pokemon Go

The first Pokémon Cliff uses in battle will be Aerodactyl, a Flying and Rock-type Pokemon. I recommend using an Electric, Ice, Rock, Steel, or Water-type Pokemon to take it down, although a Rock or Steel-type might have the most effectiveness during this battle, and they should be capable to withstand any of Aerodactyl’s attacks for the first round.

Cliff’s Second Pokemon in Pokemon Go

The second Pokemon Clfif has the chance to use can be Gallade, Cradily, or Slowking in Pokemon Go. Gallade is a Fighting and Psychic-type Pokemon, weak to Fairy, Flying, and Ghost-type attacks. Then, we have Cradily, a Rock and Grass-type Pokemon weak to Bug, Fighting, Ice, and Steel-type moves. The last Pokemon might use against you is Slowking, a Water and Psychic-type Pokemon weak to Bug, Dark, Electric, Ghost, and Grass-type moves.

Given these options, I think preparing to use a Pokemon that can use Ghost-type moves might be the best option, given Gallade and Slowking are weak to those attacks, but Cradily shakes it up and makes it more difficult to find a good choice. A Pokemon like Volcarona, Conkeldurr, Metagross, Breloom, Gengar, or Chandelure could be choices to use during this battle in Pokemon Go.

Cliff’s Third Pokemon in Pokemon Go

The final Pokemon Cliff might use against you can be Tyranitar, Dusknoir, or Mamoswine in Pokemon Go. Tyranitar is a Dark and Rock-type Pokemon, weak to Bug, Fairy, Fighting, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Water-type moves. We then have Dusknoir, a Ghost-type weak to Dark and Ghost-type moves. Finally, we have Mamoswine, an Ice and Ground-type Pokemon weak to Fighting, Fire, Grass, Steel, and Water-type moves.

Like the previous choices, only Mamoswine and Tyranitar share the most weaknesses, whereas Dusknoir only has two weaknesses, Ghost and Dark-type attacks. Given these options, I think Chandelure is one of the better Pokemon to use here, because it can use Ghost and Fire-type moves, capable of taking out Dusknoir and Mamoswine, but it will struggle against Tyranitar. The other suitable options I think Pokemon Go players should consider using are going to be Lucario, Conkeldurr, Buzzwole, Blaziken, Gallade, or Pangoro.

After defeating Cliff, you have a chance to capture a shadow Aerodactyl. There is a chance it could be a shiny version of Aerodactyl, but it is not a guarantee to encounter one.