Pokemon GO Sierra counters & lineup in May 2024

If you're on a mission to defeat Sierra in Pokemon GO, you'll need to know her team's weaknesses and the best counters to help you defeat the Team GO Rocket Leader's lineup.

Sierra has an incredibly formidable team of Pokemon that will require a specific strategy to overcome. Just like with the Rocket Grunts, Arlo, Cliff, and the group's boss Giovanni, finding out Sierra's current lineup is the first step to learning how to beat her in the game.

Currently, Sierra will always send out Trapinch at the first round of a battle, but the 'mon in phase two and phase three can be one of three different options.

Here are the current Shadow Pokemon that Sierra can use in battle:

On March 27, 2024, her lineup changed to what's listed above as part of the World of Wonders: Taken Over event. I'll update this page if any more alterations are made in the future, but so far in May, it seems as if they remain the same.

As a Ground-type Pokemon, Trapinch is vulnerable to Grass, Ice, and Water-type attacks. It shouldn't put up too much of a fight, but targeting these weaknesses will help things run faster.

Here are some of the best counters to use against Trapinch:

Sierra has three potential Pokemon she can send out in phase two of this battle, making it a little harder to plan ahead. You could be up against Honchkrow, Milotic, or Sableye.

Honchkrow counters

Honchkrow is a dual Dark/Flying-type Pokemon, which leaves it vulnerable to Electric, Fairy, Ice, and Rock-type attacks. You can use any of these types, but Electric has lots of usability when fighting Sierra.

Here are some of the top counters you can use to defeat Honchkrow:

Milotic counters

As a pure Water-type Pokemon, Milotic's weaknesses are Electric and Grass-type attacks. This makes it fairly easy to plan ahead, especially as Electric-types are strong against several of Sierra's other Pokemon.

Here are some of the best counters you can use to defeat Milotic:

Sableye counters

As a dual Ghost/Dark-type Pokemon, Sableye only has Fairy-type attacks as a weakness, which will likely catch some Trainers out - but there are still plenty of Pokemon under that banner for you to use.

Here are some of the best counters to defeat Sableye:

Things get trickier in phase three of this battle, as none of the potential Pokemon share weaknesses. Whether you're up against Alakazam, Houndoom, or Victreebel, you're going to need to customize your approach.

Alakazam counters

Alakazam is a pure Psychic-type Pokemon, so you're going to want to look to Bug, Dark, and Ghost-type attacks to target its weaknesses.

Here are some of the top counters you can use to defeat Alakazam:

Houndoom counters

As a dual Dark/Fire-type Pokemon, Houndoom is vulnerable to Fighting, Ground, Rock, and Water-type attacks. There are a lot of options here, but unfortunately not much crossover with Sierra's other Pokemon.

Here are some of the best counters you can use to defeat Houndoom:

Victreebel counters

Victreebel is a dual Grass/Poison-type, so it's weak to Fire, Flying, Ice, and Psychic-type attacks. I would recommend Ice or Psychic, as they can also be used against Milotic or Tentacool respectively.

Here are some of the top counters you can use to defeat Victreebel:

If you're looking for a well-balanced team to beat Sierra in Pokemon GO, I'd recommend using Galarian Darmanitan, Darkrai, and Mewtwo. These are three very powerful Pokemon who - if powered up high enough - can even defeat opponents they aren't super-effective against.

The most important thing to have on your team when battling Sierra is a strong Ice-type like Galarian Darmanitan or Mamoswine, as this will be able to defeat her guaranteed first-phase Pokemon, Trapinch, as well as her potential phase two 'mon Honchkrow and potential phase three 'mon Victreebel.

After this point, the counters you'll need will heavily depend on what Sierra sends out, as there aren't really any crossover weaknesses among her remaining Pokemon. I've suggested Darkrai for dealing with the tricky Alakazam, while Mewtwo is a great all-rounder who can deal with plenty of opponents.

While this is a good starting team, it's worth pointing out that Sierra is a very difficult opponent to plan ahead for with her current lineup - far more so than the other Team GO Rocket Leaders. The chances are high that you'll have to rematch her once you know what her Pokemon are going to be.

Before you can take on Sierra, you'll need to defeat six Team GO Rocket Grunts to earn Mysterious Components. You can find Grunts standing next to PokeStops on the map. Each one uses a specific lineup of Pokemon, and we've got a guide to help you defeat them all.

Once you've got six Mysterious Components, they'll automatically be put together to form a Rocket Radar. You can tap on this from the map screen to search for nearby Rocket Leader locations, or they'll occasionally appear in a Team GO Rocket hot air balloon in the sky.

You can't guarantee that you'll find Sierra, so if you do come across one of the other Leaders or a regular Grunt instead, simply leave the encounter and keep searching - you'll find her eventually!

That's everything you need to know to defeat Sierra this month in May 2024! Visit our Pokemon homepage for more guides like the current Raid Boss schedule, the upcoming Spotlight Hours, and the latest promo codes for free items.