You’ve encountered lots of Pokémon, mastering thefine art of the Curveball along the way. You’ve participated in all ofProfessor Willow’s research tasks, expanding your knowledge as you discovermore Pokémon. You’ve evolved your Pokémon using every available item from SunStones to Glacial Lure Modules and everything in between. You’ve challengedLegendary Pokémon in raids, studying up on their weaknesses along the way.You’ve powered up your Pokémon using Stardust, Candy, and XL Candy.
Now what?
After all that effort, what’s the next step onyour path as a Pokémon GO Trainer? How can you prove that your Pokémon are thevery best they can be, while increasing your understanding of Pokémon?
It’s time to enter the GO Battle League. Pit yourknowledge and skill against your fellow Trainers for glory, Stardust, Pokémonencounters, and other rewards worthy of your time and skill.
Getting started in the GO Battle League might seemintimidating initially, but the fast-paced battles are fun—you’ll find yourselfpicking up the experience and knowledge to battle like a pro. Continue readingto learn everything you need to know to get started and quickly rise throughthe ranks, from how the GO Battle League’s system works to what you shouldconsider when building your team. You’ll be a seasoned battler in no time!
How to Unlock Battles
How to Build a Balanced Team for Trainer Battles
How to Pick Pokémon Perfect for Trainer Battles
How to Increase Your Rank and Rank Rewards
League Rotations: Great League, Ultra League, Master League, and More
How to Prepare for Battle: Training, Second Charged Attacks, and TMs
How to Train outside the GO Battle League
GO Battle!
You can access the GO Battle League by tapping the Poké Ballicon at the bottom center of your screen. You’ll see the Battle optionin the middle of your screen on the right side. Tap the Battle option—andwelcome to the GO Battle League!
When you enter the GO Battle League, you’ll be able tochoose between two reward tracks: Basic Rewards and Premium Rewards. Asindicated by the name, Premium Rewards offer better prizes for winning battlesbut require a Premium Battle Pass for each set of five battles. Once you’veselected your rewards track, you’ll be able to battle! Each time you battle,you can choose between a set of leagues and cups, which change throughout a GOBattle League season. In each battle format, you’ll assemble a team of threePokémon, with different formats allowing different CP ranges. In some cases, athemed cup might limit which Pokémon you can include on your team.
Once you select which league or cup you want to battle in, you’llselect a team of three Pokémon and get matched with another Trainer competingat a similar rank. Even if you’re just getting started, you won’t have to worryabout battling a Trainer who has already racked up lots of GO Battle League wins.
How to Build a Balanced Team for Trainer Battles
Assembling a team for Trainer Battles in the GO BattleLeague can be challenging, given the vast variety of available Pokémon andattacks. To improve your odds of winning, you should select a team of Pokémonthat compensate for one another’s weakness. For example, you wouldn’t want toenter a Trainer Battle with three Pokémon that are weak to Fire-type attacksand risk having your entire team defeated by a single Charizard. In this case, youit might be wise to include a Pokémon that’s strong against Fire-type Pokémonas well.
It’s also crucial to consider which Pokémon your opponentsare most likely going to use. Each league has some Pokémon that are favored bya lot of competitors. If you’re a fan of these Pokémon, you may want to featurethem in your own teams. But whether or not you use the most popular Pokémon, it’simportant to make sure you have Pokémon on your team that can also oppose thesepopular Pokémon. For instance, Dragon-type Pokémon—like Dragonite, Dialga, andGiratina—are popular in the Ultra and Master Leagues, so many Trainers usePokémon like Gardevoir or Togekiss with a Fairy-type Fast Attack to gain anadvantage against Dragon types. Pay attention to the Pokémon you find yourselfencountering frequently in Trainer Battles, and make sure you’re prepared todefeat them.
Wondering how to keep track of your Pokémon once you’vedecided which teams are best for each league? Make use of PokémonGO’s tagging feature to organize your Pokémon.
How to Pick Pokémon Perfect for Trainer Battles
If you’re just jumping into Trainer Battles after focusingon Raid Battles, it’s a good idea to supplement the Pokémon you’ve alreadypowered up with ones more focused on Trainer Battles.
Many Trainers have used their resources to power up Pokémonthat can quickly dish out damage to beat the clock in Raid Battles. In TrainerBattles, you should value a more even distribution between offense and defense.Trainer Battles in the GO Battle League are a race to defeat three Pokémonbefore your own three Pokémon faint, so taking less damage is just as valuableas dealing more.
Another key element to consider is that not all Fast Attackscharge energy at the same rate. Pokémon with Fast Attacks that quickly chargeenergy can dish out their Charged Attacks sooner, pressuring the opponent into blowingthrough their two Protect Shields. For example, Swampert is widely used becauseit can rapidly charge energy using its Mud Shot Fast Attack.
Different Pokémon excel within different leagues, so you’llwant power up a Pokémon as close as you can to the maximum CP for the leagueyou want to use it in, such as 1,500 for the Great League or 2,500 for the UltraLeague.
How to Increase Your Rank and Rank Rewards
Everyone begins their GO Battle League journey at rank 1. You’llprogress through the early ranks just by completing battles, regardless ofwhether you win or lose. But you’ll soon find that it’s necessary to winbattles to continue moving up in the ranks. When you reach the higher ranks, you’llbe able to see your rating, which is a numerical representation of yourperformance. If you’re shooting to be one of the best, set your sights on Legendrank—the highest rank achievable in the GO Battle League.
Currently, the GO Battle League is comprised of 24 ranks: 1–20 are numbered, with the next fourranks being Ace, Veteran, Expert, and then Legend.
Ranks aren’t just aesthetic; as your rank increases, you’ll receivebetter rewards for winning battles. For example, increasing your rank willallow you to encounter different Pokémon in GO Battle League reward encounters—you’lleven be able to earn encounters with Legendary Pokémon as you rise to the top. Ifyou use a Premium Battle Pass to enter on the Premium Rewards track, you’llneed fewer wins in order to encounter these Pokémon.
League Rotations: Great League, Ultra League, Master League, and More
Trainer Battles in Pokémon GO have three core leagues, eachof which has its own CP cap. The GO Battle League often features only one ofthese leagues at a time, rotating between them periodically during each season.You’ll have to master battling in each league to keep a steady flow of rewardscoming in. While the strategy of Trainer Battles is the same no matter whichPokémon you’re using, the Pokémon that experienced Trainers tend to favor vary substantiallyfrom league to league.
Each new GO Battle League season kicks off with the GreatLeague, which is the easiest league to get started in because only Pokémon with1,500 CP or less can participate. In the Great League, Pokémon that haverelatively low maximum CP compared to other species can thrive due to this league’slow CP cap. You won’t frequently see Pokémon like Azumarill, Medicham, andAltaria in the other two leagues, but in the Great League, these Pokémon can dominate.
The Ultra League caps the CP of participating Pokémon at 2,500.You’ll start seeing more Legendary Pokémon in the Ultra League, especially moredefensively inclined Legendary Pokémon like Registeel, Altered Forme Giratina,and Cresselia, which have lower maximum CP than some of the other powerhouseLegendary Pokémon. But don’t let the presence of these Legendary Pokémon foolyou—plenty of other Pokémon are excellent performers in the Ultra League, too.Many of the first partner Pokémon with Community Day–exclusive attacks, such asVenusaur with Frenzy Plant and Swampert with Hydro Cannon, are also popularchoices in this league.
The Master League allows any Pokémon to participate,regardless of its CP. As you might expect, Trainers in this league trend towardPokémon with high maximum CP. Pokémon that shine in this league are often alsogreat choices for Raid Battles, too, so you’ll get lots of value from poweringup Pokémon like Mewtwo, Kyogre, Groudon, and Origin Forme Giratina to theirmaximum power. However, some Pokémon that aren’t such popular picks for RaidBattles are also powerful competitors in the Master League: Dialga and AlteredForme Giratina are both key contributors, for example.
In addition to the three core leagues—Great, Ultra, andMaster Leagues—each season features themed cups. For example, a Master League Classic will often feature Pokémon with no max CP but exclude certain Pokémon. An exampleof a themed cup is the Element Cup, which features Fire-, Water-, and Grass-typePokémon. These cups vary from season to season, offering some fun variety alongwith an opportunity to mix up your battle lineups.
How to Prepare for Battle: Training, Second Charged Attacks, and TMs
Since every Trainer is competing with the same restrictions,it’s important to get as much as you can out of your Pokémon to avoid leavingthem at a disadvantage. In addition to the species of Pokémon you select, thereare two other main factors to consider: the CP of your Pokémon, and the Fastand Charged Attacks available to them.
CP is simple on the surface but surprisingly tricky tooptimize. CP is a representation of a Pokémon’s power, so you’ll generally wantyour Pokémon’s CP as close to the maximum CP permitted for whichever leagueyou’d like to use it in. Each individual Pokémon’s CP can differ from others ofthat Pokémon’s species due to its stats, which you can see by appraising it.
By tapping the POWER UP buttonon a Pokémon’s profile, you can see how much your Pokémon’s CP would increaseif you proceeded to power it up. By tapping the + icon, you can see how closeto a league’s CP limit you can power the Pokémon up to, as well as how muchStardust and Candy you’d need to use to get there.
The Attack stat influences a Pokémon’s CP more than Defenseand HP do. Some Trainers are very particular about their Pokémon, opting to usePokémon that have lower Attack and higher Defense and HP to get a little moreoverall power at a lower CP. It costs a lot of Stardust to power up primoPokémon, so make sure you’re sure which Pokémon you’d like to power up beforeyou invest.
Teaching your Pokémon a second Charged Attack can cost a lotof Stardust and Candy, but it offers your Pokémon a major competitive edge. Asecond Charged Attack gives you the ability to take an opponent by surprise,cover for a Pokémon’s weakness, or trick an opponent into using or saving aProtect Shield at the wrong time.
Finally, it’s important that your Pokémon has the right Fastand Charged Attacks for your strategy. Perhaps you want your Pokémon to knowattacks that are super effective against a Pokémon you’re concerned about, ormaybe you just want to maximize your Pokémon’s damage output with attacks ofits own type. Pokémon with a type that matches its attack type receive a same-typeattack bonus causing it to deal an additional 20% damage, which can make asignificant difference in a close battle. Either way, it’s worth using a few FastTMs and Charged TMs so that your Pokémon knows the attacks you want. You wouldn’twant to find yourself narrowly losing a battle because your Pokémon didn’t knowthe right attacks!
You can acquire four types of TMs in Pokémon GO: Fast TMs,Charged TMs, Elite Fast TMs, and Elite Charged TMs. Elite Fast TMs and EliteCharged TMs are much rarer and should be used thoughtfully, as they allow youto choose which attack you’d like your Pokémon to learn. Before using an Elite FastTM or an Elite Charged TM, research the different attacks available to yourPokémon and which are considered the most powerful. For special attacks thataren’t normally available to a Pokémon outside of events like Community Dayevents, you can use an Elite Fast TM or Elite Charged TM to teach the Pokémonthat attack.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to masterCharged Attacks and Fast Attacks in the Pokémon GO Battle League, check out thetips inthisguide.
How to Train outside the GO Battle League
Normally you can participate in five sets of five GO BattleLeague battles each day. Participating in as many battles as possible each dayis a great way to learn and to earn rewards, like Stardust and TMs, that willhelp you prepare your Pokémon for future battles. You can also battle outsideof the GO Battle League, which can provide you with great opportunities forpractice.
You can battle against friends by tapping your avatar iconin the bottom left corner of the screen. Then, tap FRIENDS in the topright corner. When you tap on a friend’s name, tap BATTLE to send them abattle challenge. You can also battle Team Leaders Spark, Candela, and Spark bytapping BATTLE and scrolling to the bottom to TRAINING.
GO Battle Nights offer another great opportunity toparticipate in more battles and earn even better rewards. During GO BattleNights, you can participate in 20 five-battle sets—for a total of 100 battles.And, depending on the event, you may earn additional rewards like tripleStardust for competing and winning. The next GO Battle Night is August 26, 2021,from 6:00 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. local time. Stay tuned for details on future GOBattle Night events.
We hope this overview helps you get started, but to becomethe very best in the GO Battle League, you’llhave to learn some things through experience. Take the time to get a feel forwhich Pokémon seem to fare best in the first spot on your team, when to useyour Protect Shields, and when to switch your Pokémon (after you switch yourPokémon, you’ll have to wait a long time before you can switch again).
If you have Premium Battle Passes, don’t be afraid to usethem if you feel confident at your current rank. The difference in rewards issignificant, especially if you don’t win all five of your matches. You’ll getmore than twice as much Stardust as you normally would, and you’ll have a mucheasier time getting the valuable Pokémon encounter reward.
Good luck in your pursuit of Legend rank, Trainers! Keepchecking Pokemon.com for news andstrategy about Pokémon GO and other Pokémon games and apps.
