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Writer's pictureSarah Ertelt

Pokémon GO Giovanni Heatran Weaknesses and Team GO Rocket Raid Guide

A new Team GO Rocket event is launching in October, letting players catch their own Shadow Heatran. Find the best Pokémon to use against Heatran in raid and how to catch 6 new Shadow Pokémon in Pokémon GO!

New October Event - Galarian Expedition: Taken Over


On October 8th, 2024, a new Team GO Rocket event launches and players will start encountering Team Rocket at PokeStops and hot air balloons.


Along with tons of Team Rocket Grunt battles and one to three-star raids, players can access a Special Research assignment to rescue a corrupted shadow Heatran from Giovanni. This quest line also gives players the chance to catch plenty of shiny shadow Pokémon, making this a huge opportunity to catch cool rare Pokémon!


This new event titled Galarian Expedition: Taken Over only runs from October 8th to October 11th, but the seasonal quest to catch Giovanni's Shadow Heatran will be available until December 3rd.


Although the Special Research questline for Shadow Heatran stays up until December, Pokémon GO players will only have 3 days to complete the new raids and increase their chances of catching six new shadow Pokémon!


Here are the new raids and battles coming on October 8th:


Grunt and Leader Battles:

  • Shadow Caterpie

  • Shadow Mankey

  • Shadow Roggenrola

  • Shadow Venipede

  • Shadow Karrablast

  • Shadow Shelmet


One-Star Raids:

  • Shadow Machop

  • Shadow Grimer

  • Shadow Exeggcute

  • Shadow Sudowoodo


Three-Star Raids:

  • Shadow Pinsir

  • Shadow Sableye

  • Shadow Mawile


Special Research

  • Shadow Heatran


If trainers defeat Team GO Rocket leaders, they'll have an increased chance of running into the six 6 catchable Shadow Pokémon. There are rumors that there may be more than 6 new shadow Pokémon, leaving a surprise for players!


After defeating the Grunts and Team Rocket Leaders, players will be able to encounter Shadow Caterpie, Shadow Mankey, Shadow Roggenrola, Shadow Venipede, Shadow Karrablast, and Shadow Shelmet in the wild.



Preparing for Giovanni's Shadow Heatran


Heatran is a Fire and Steel-type legendary Pokémon originating from Sinnoh. Heatran is ranked as an A-tier Raid Attacker, and a must-have legendary for Pokémon GO players. With the combination of Fire and Steel - two elements that are not normally paired together - Heatran is a unique legendary with very few weaknesses.


As a Fire and Steel combination-type Pokémon, Heatran is only weak to Ground, Fighting, and Water-type moves. Ground-type moves deal the most damage at 256% damage, whereas Fighting and Water moves will deal 160% damage. When preparing to face Giovanni's Heatran, it would be wise to have a powerful ground-type on your team!


With the Fire and Steel combination, Heatran is resistant to 10 move types. Normal, flying, psychic, and dragon-type moves will deal 63% damage. Poison, Bug, Steel, Grass, Ice, and Fairy moves will deal a minimal 39% damage to Heatran.


The 5 strongest Pokémon to use against Heatran in Giovanni's battle are powerful ground-types like Landorus, Mamoswine, Excadrill, Garchomp, and Rhyperior.


Conversely, the weakest Pokémon to use against Heatran will be common bug and ice-types like Alola form Sandslash, Alola form Vulpix, Parasect, Galarian Meowth, Galarian Mr. Mime, and Jynx. With both Alola form and Galarian form Pokémon in the game, double check your team's types before trying to challenge Giovanni.



If players can make the rescued Shadow Heatran their own, they can use Fire and Steel-type Mega evolutions to boost Heatran's power! Mega Houndoom, Mega Blaziken, and Primal Groudon are the best fire-type Mega Pokémon to boost Heatran's fire moves.


Mega Steelix, Mega Scizor, Mega Aggron, and Mega Lucario are the best steel-types to boost Heatran's steel-type moves.


The October event Galarian Expedition: Taken Over is a unique opportunity for trainers to catch new Shadow Pokémon and start the questline to rescue Giovanni's Heatran.


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