Pokemon Go's Team Go Rocket leaders can be some of the toughest encounters you'll come across in this popular mobile game, with each of the four leaders having strong Pokemon that can trip you up if you're not prepared. There are four leaders in Pokemon Go--Arlo, Cliff, Sierra, and Giovanni--but in this guide, we'll tell you how to tackle the "Lone Lioness" and defector from Team Instinct herself, Sierra.

Sierra's Pokemon

　　Phase 1 Shadow Sneasel (Weaknesses: Bug, Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Rock, Steel)Phase 2 Shadow Ampharos (Weaknesses: Ground)Shadow Gliscor (Weaknesses: Ice, Water)Shadow Granbull (Weaknesses: Poison, Steel)Phase 3 Shadow Drapion (Weaknesses: Ground)Shadow Houndoom (Weaknesses: Fighting, Ground, Rock, Water)Shadow Kingdra (Weaknesses: Dragon, Fairy)

Best Sierra Counters

　　Excadrill, equipped with Mud Slap as its Fast Move and Iron Head as its Charged MoveGarchomp, equipped with Mud Shot as its Fast Move and Outrage as its Charged MoveKrookodile, equipped withMud Slap as its Fast Move and Earthquake as its Charged MoveYou'll note that two of those Pokemon have Charged Moves of other types, and those are specifically to deal with other trouble spots in Sierra's repertoire--namely Phase 2's Granbull and Phase 3's Kingdra. The rest of your team should follow this approach, being able to handle two or three of Sierra's creatures:

　　Lucario, equipped with Counter as its Fast Move and Aura Sphere as its Charged MoveMamoswine, equipped with Mud Slap as its Fast Move and Avalanche as its Charged MoveSwampert, equipped with Mud Shot as its Fast Move and Hydro Cannon as its Charged Move

Rewards for defeating Sierra

　　1 Max Potion, which can heal a non-fainted Pokemon to full health1 Max Revive, which restores a fainted Pokemon to full health1 Revive, which restores a fainted Pokemon to 50% health1 Sinnoh Stone, which is used to evolve certain Pokemon from the Sinnoh region1 Strange 12km egg, which will hatch a Pokemon after you activate an Incubator and walk 12 kilometers1 Unova Stone, which is used to evolve certain Pokemon from the Unova regionNow that you know how to approach this tenacious Team Go Rocket trainer, make sure you check out the rest of our Pokemon Go guides on how to take on the rest of Team Go Rocket's top brass: Arlo, Cliff, and of course the boss Giovanni.

　　Jason Fanelli on Google+