How to beat Sierra in Pokémon GO (May 2025)

Team GO Rocket Leader Sierra is one of the three Team GO Rocket bosses in the game. The Rocket bosses are a real challenge in Pokémon GO. You’ll need a strong team of the best counters in order to beat Sierra in Pokémon GO. Here’s what you need to know to beat Sierra in May 2025.

We’ve gathered all the information you need about her most recent line-ups, their weaknesses and the best counters you can use to take them down.

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How to find Sierra in Pokémon GO

In order to find Sierra in Pokémon GO, or any of the other Team GO Rocket Leaders, you need a special item to help you track them down. That item is the Rocket Radar.

You can get a Super Rocket Radar in a few ways:

• Defeating 6 Team GO Rocket Grunts to collect enough Mysterious Components to build one.
• Purchasing a Rocket Radar directly in the in game shop, or as part of a box.
• As a reward for completing Timed and Special Research quest lines.

Once you have a Rocket Radar, pressing on it will bring up a map of nearby Team GO Rocket Leader hideouts. Leaders will also appear in Hot Balloons once your Radar is active too.

You cannot see which Leader is in a Stop or Balloon until you click on it. So, to find the Team GO Rocket Leader you want, you might have to check several.

Leader Sierra Lineup – May 2025

Here is the current line up for Sierra in Pokémon GO as of May 2025. There are three phases.

• Phase 1: Shadow Trapinch
• Phase 2: Shadow Mismagius or Shadow Staraptor or Shadow Ferrothorn
• Phase 3: Shadow Drapion or Shadow Houndoom or Shadow Camerupt

Pokémon GO reshuffle the Team GO Rocket Leader lineups whenever there is a Team GO Rocket Takeover event in the game. This shuffle just happened as of May 15, so this will be the Sierra line-up for some time.

How to beat Sierra in Pokémon GO (May 2025)

In order to beat Sierra in Pokémon GO, you’ll need to have a Super Rocket Radar, locate Sierra at a PokéStop or a Team GO Rocket Balloon, and defeat their Pokémon.

Shadow Pokémon do a lot of damage, and Sierra’s Pokémon are a lot higher CP than normal Pokémon. You’ll need a finely tuned team of strong counters in order to take Sierra down.

In addition, Sierra can have a range of Pokémon, with a different set every time you fight her. Ideally, you want Pokémon that can cover multiple potential Pokémon in Sierra’s lineup. Here are all the Pokémon you might face and the best counters to take them on.

Best Sierra counters in Pokémon GO (May 2025):

For the first Pokémon, this will always be the same Pokémon no matter how many times you take on Sierra. This is also the Pokémon that you will encounter after the battle, with a 1/256 chance of being shiny.

Shadow Trapinch Counters

Skorupi is a Ground-type Pokémon. That gives it a weakness to Water, Grass and Ice-type attacks. Here are the best Shadow Trapinch counters in Pokémon GO:

The Shadow Trapinch 100% IV Hundo CP is 287 CP or 473 CP when weather boosted.

Sierra Pokémon GO Counters Phase Two (May 2025):

Shadow Ferrothorn Counters

Shadow Ferrothorn is a Grass and Steel-type Pokémon. That gives it a double weakness to Fire-type attacks and a weakness to Fighting-type attacks. Here are the best Shadow Ferrothorn counters in Pokémon GO:

Shadow Mismagius Counters

Shadow Mismagius is a Ghost-type Pokémon. That gives it a weakness to Ghost and Dark-type attacks. Here are the best Shadow Mismagius counters in Pokémon GO:

Shadow Staraptor Counters

Shadow Staraptor is a Normal and Flying-type Pokémon. That gives it a weakness to Electric, Ice and Rock-type attacks. Here are the best Shadow Staraptor counters in Pokémon GO:

Sierra Pokémon GO Counters Phrase Three (May 2025):

Shadow Drapion Counters

Shadow Drapion is a Dark and Poison-type Pokémon. That gives it a weakness to Ground-type attacks. Here are the best Shadow Drapion counters in Pokémon GO:

Shadow Camerupt Counters

Shadow Camerupt is a Fire and Ground-type Pokémon. This makes it double weak to Water-type attacks and weak to Ground-type attacks. Here are the best Shadow Camerupt counters in Pokémon GO:

Shadow Houndoom Counters

Shadow Houndoom is a Dark and Fire-type Pokémon. That gives it a weakness to Fighting, Ground, Rock and Water-type attacks. Here are the best Shadow Houndoom counters in Pokémon GO:

What is the best team to beat Sierra in Pokémon GO? (May 2025)

With so many different Pokémon to prepare for, and lots of different combinations it can be hard to find an ideal catch all team. You want to start your battle with a broad team that covers as many of Sierra’s potential Pokémon as possible in Pokémon GO.

What makes this a lot easier is that all three different options for the final wave have a weakness to Ground-type attacks. That means one Ground-type Pokémon will counter any of the options. However, the beauty of taking on Sierra in Pokémon GO is that if you lose, you can keep your Super Rocket Radar or battle Sierra again. Then, you can adjust your team.

Here is the best initial team to use when fighting Sierra in Pokémon GO:

• White Kyurem
• Reshiram
• Therian Landorus

This should cover most of the Pokémon that Sierra can throw at you in Pokémon GO at the moment. Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest esports news and more Pokémon GO guides.