How To Beat Cliff In Pokémon GO (June 2024)

Team GO Rocket's Cliff returns to provide a tough test for Trainers in Pokémon GO in June 2024. Regardless of whether you are a new or returning player, you should try to defeat Cliff and his fellow Team GO Rocket Leaders. Cliff's team is one of the strongest and can quickly take you down if you don't select the right team to beat him. For the start of June 2024, Cliff's line-up remains unchanged from last month, although this could change with the start of new in-game events.

Team GO Rocket Leader Cliff will use three Pokémon out of seven possibilities, but his exact line-up will change each time you face him. Before facing Cliff or the other Leaders, Arlo and Sierra, you must build a Rocket Radar. Each time you beat a Rocket Grunt, you will earn one part out of the six required to build it. Once you have all six, you can find and challenge Cliff by spinning Pokéstops or Rocket Balloons, but it will be a random leader you will face.

Related How To Get Shiny Elgyem & Shiny Beheeyem In Pokémon GO Shiny pocket monsters in Pokemon GO are extremely hard to get, but Elgyem and its evolution Beheeyem can be found sparkling through a specific event.

Cliff's Team In Pokémon GO (June 2024)

A Varied Challenging Line-up

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Cliff's line-up in Pokémon GO at the start of June remains the same as the seven Pokémon he has used for the past two months. This means he will always start the battle with Generation 1 Fighting-type Machop. Thankfully for Trainers, Machop doesn't pose many problems and has poor stats compared to most Fighting-types in the game.

Cliff's second and third Pokémon will be chosen randomly, changing each battle, so if you find yourself in trouble, you can quit the battle and hope to face a different line-up next time. After you have defeated Machop, you will face one of the Water- and Dragon-type Kingdra, Psychic- and Flying-type Gallade, or Rock- and Flying-type Aerodactyl.

Cliff will pick one from three Pokémon, either Rock- and Grass-type Cradily, Poison- and Flying-type Crobat, or Rock- and Dark-type Tyranitar, for his final choice in every battle. All three are potent opponents, who you will need to counter by using super-effective attacks against them.

Wave Cliff's Pokémon and Types Weaknesses Best Pokémon Counters 1 Machop (Shadow) Fighting Fairy, Flying, and Psychic Togekiss

Metagross

Mewtwo

Alakazam

Gallade 2 Kingdra (Shadow) Water & Dragon Dragon and Fairy Dragonite

Rayquaza

Togekiss

Garchomp

Salamence 2 Aerodactyl (Shadow) Rock & Flying Electric, Ice, Rock, Steel, and Water Tyranitar

Rhyperior

Mamoswine

Metagross

Rampardos

Wave Cliff's Pokémon and Types Weaknesses Best Pokémon Counters 2 Gallade (Shadow) Psychic & Flying Flying, Ghost, and Fairy Gengar

Togekiss

Giratina

Gardevoir

Xurkitree 3 Cradily (Shadow) Rock & Grass Bug, Fighting, Ice, and Steel Machamp

Lucario

Terrakion

Mamoswine

Metagross 3 Tyranitar (Shadow) Rock & Dark Fighting, Bug, Fairy, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Water Machamp

Lucario

Terrakion

Swampert

Metagross 3 Crobat (Shadow) Poison & Flying Electric, Ice, Rock, and Psychic Mewtwo

Mamoswine

Tyranitar

Rhyperior

Zapdos

Best Counters For Cliff In Pokémon GO (June 2024)

Using Super-effective Attacks Key To Victory

Cliff will always start with Machop, so you should counter this by using a type that is super-effective against it. Thankfully, it is not a strong Pokémon in Pokémon GO, with several weaknesses. Machop is weak to Fairy-, Flying- or Psychic-type attacks.

Fairy-types like Togekiss can quickly take down Machop in Pokemon GO.

There aren't a host of great Fairy- types in the game, but one of the best is Gen 2 Togekiss. Togepi's evolution has a vast move pool, including Fairy- and Fire-type attacks, making it super-effective against Kingdra and Gallade.

Including a fighting type is also a good tactic against all Team GO Rocket Leaders for removing shields, as well as being able to deal damage quickly. That is the case against Cliff, with Machamp and Lucario being the two best options to put you in control of the battle quickly.

For a final choice, a high CP Psychic- and Steel-type, such as Metagross, can work as a great all-rounder. It is super-effective against Machop, Aerodactyl, Cradily, and Tyranitar but powerful enough to dominate most of Cliff's other Pokémon.

Alternate Pokémon To Use Against Cliff

Psychic- and Dragon-types Can Also Overpower Cliff

While the above Pokémon are great options, many more can be used to combat Cliff's team if you have high CP ones at your disposal. A strong Psychic- type, such as Mewtwo in Pokémon GO, can dominate the battle. It is super-effective against Machop and Crobat while only being weak against one of Cliff's team, Tyranitar.

Another good alternative is to use a strong Dragon-type, such as Gen 1 Dragonite. Dragon types match up well against several members of Cliff's team, but as a dual Dragon- and Flying-type Dragonite is even better. It is super-effective against Machop, Kingdra, and Gallade and has quick attacks that can easily remove his shields.

Rewards For Defeating Cliff In June 2024

A Chance To Catch The Powerful Shadow Machop

If you beat Cliff in June 2024, you will receive several rewards, making the battle worth your while. Straight after the battle, you can catch a Shadow Machop, including a shiny version, which is easy to do due to its low stats. On top of this, you will get 1,000 stardust, which can increase the CP level of any of the Pokémon you have caught.

After every victory over Cliff, you will receive further regular items at random. Finally, you will get a 12km egg, which has the potential to hatch into some of the rarest Pokémon in Pokémon GO. While these will take much walking to hatch, the potential rewards are great. To ensure you can receive the special egg, you need to ensure you have space in your egg storage tab.

Beating Cliff is also a requirement, along with beating fellow GO Rocket Leaders Arlo and Sierra, if you want to face Giovanni in Pokémon GO this month. Cliff is one of the hardest battles for trainers to win in June 2024, and it is vital that you select Pokémon that are super-effective against his team to win.