Honestly, if you were playing Pokémon GO back in the spring of 2025, you probably remember the collective groan that went up across the community when the Crown Clash: Taken Over event finally dropped.
We had grown comfortable. Too comfortable. For months, Leader Cliff was basically a pushover, leading with that predictable Shadow Cubone. But May 2025 changed the math. Halfway through the month, specifically on May 14, Niantic decided to shake the table, and suddenly the "easy" leader became a legitimate wall for casual players.
If you’re looking back at that era or trying to understand the legacy of that specific meta shift, you have to look at why that May 14th cutoff mattered so much. It wasn't just a lineup change; it was a total tactical pivot that required a completely different set of counters.
The Mid-Month Shift: From Cubone to Gible
For the first two weeks of May 2025, Cliff was still running his "old" squad. You could basically sleepwalk through those encounters with a decent Mamoswine or a Swampert. Cubone was the lead, and while Shadow Tyranitar at the end could hit like a freight train, it had so many double weaknesses that it rarely felt like a threat.
Then the Crown Clash event hit.
Suddenly, the lead switched to Shadow Gible. Now, Gible might look cute, but it brought a Dragon/Ground typing that meant your old Water-type "safe swaps" weren't as effective. More importantly, it signalled the start of the "Garchomp hunt." Everyone wanted that Shadow Gible because a high-IV Shadow Garchomp was, and still is, one of the most oppressive attackers in the game.
Why the Post-May 14 Lineup Was a Nightmare
The second half of May 2025 is what most people actually mean when they talk about the "Leader Cliff May 2025" difficulty spike. The variety in his second and third slots was designed to punish anyone who didn't scout the fight first.
Basically, you’d go in blind and get wrecked by a specific combination. Here is what that rotation actually looked like:
✨ Don't miss: Shiny Flareon Pokemon GO: Why Most Players Still Find It Frustrating
- Slot 1: Always Shadow Gible.
- Slot 2: A toss-up between Shadow Honchkrow, Skarmory, or Annihilape.
- Slot 3: The heavy hitters—Tyranitar, Machamp, or the newcomer, Luxray.
Think about that Slot 2 for a second. If you brought an Electric-type to handle Honchkrow, and he pulled out Annihilape, you were in trouble. If you brought a Fairy-type for Annihilape, but he had Skarmory, your Fairy was basically dead weight. It was a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors where Cliff had two rocks and a gun.
The Strategy That Actually Worked
Kinda surprisingly, the "meta" team that emerged during those few weeks wasn't just a bunch of maxed-out Legendaries. It was about shield baiting. Because Cliff—like all Rocket Leaders—always shields your first two Charged Attacks, the goal was to use a "spammy" Pokémon first.
Lucario was the MVP here. Power-Up Punch is cheap, it forces the shields, and it buffs your attack. Even though Lucario took neutral damage from Gible, the ability to burn Cliff's shields early was the only way to survive the back half of the fight, especially if he had Tyranitar in the third slot.
I saw a lot of trainers failing because they’d lead with their biggest, slowest attacker. Big mistake. You've gotta be fast. If you didn't have a Lucario, Poliwrath with Power-Up Punch was the "budget" king of May 2025.
Best Counters for the May 2025 Lineup
- Mamoswine (Ice/Ground): Essential for Gible and Honchkrow. If you had Powder Snow and Avalanche, you could usually outpace them.
- Togekiss or Xerneas (Fairy): These were the hard counters for Annihilape, Machamp, and Tyranitar. Xerneas with Geomancy was particularly broken during this period.
- Entei or Blaziken: You needed these specifically for Skarmory. If you didn't have a Fire-type in the back, a Shadow Skarmory could literally farm your entire team down with Steel Wing.
The Rewards: Was It Worth the Hassle?
The main reason people obsessed over Cliff this month—besides needing to beat him to get the Super Rocket Radar for Giovanni—was the 12km Red Egg.
In May 2025, the egg pool was actually decent. You were looking at chances for Salandit (still a nightmare to evolve into Salazzle) and Pancham. Plus, defeating Cliff gave you that chance at a Shiny Shadow Gible. The odds were roughly 1 in 256, but for the hardcore grinders, those were good enough odds to hunt Rocket balloons every six hours.
What This Taught Us About the Game
Looking back, May 2025 was a turning point for how Niantic handled Team GO Rocket. It was the first time they really leaned into "Type Coverage" for the Leaders. Before this, you could usually beat Cliff with one strong Pokémon. After May 14, you actually had to think about your switches.
The "switch trick"—where you start with one Pokémon and immediately swap to another to "freeze" the AI for two seconds—became mandatory for most players during this month. Honestly, if you weren't using that three-second window to farm energy, you were playing at a massive disadvantage.
Actionable Takeaways for Future Leader Battles
- Scout and Surrender: Don't waste potions. Enter the fight, see what he’s running in slot 2, then leave. Your team won't be healed, but you can then pick the perfect counters and go back in.
- Prioritize Fast Moves: In Rocket battles, turn-count matters more than raw DPS. Moves like Mud Shot, Psycho Cut, and Fairy Wind generate energy so fast the Leader can't keep up.
- The Power of the Buff: Use moves that guaranteed an Attack or Defense buff. Since Rocket battles are essentially a race against a high-CP clock, those incremental stats make the difference between a win and a "fainted" screen.
- Check the Event Dates: Always look for the "Takeover" announcement. Lineups almost always change mid-month during these events, so your May 1st team will likely be obsolete by May 15th.
If you're still sitting on a Shadow Gible from that May 2025 window, keep it. Don't purify it. Even with mediocre IVs, the damage output of a Shadow Garchomp remains a gold standard in the current meta. It was a tough month for trainers, but the rewards definitely justified the Revive-burning grind.