A PvP Field Guide to Global GO Fest 2023: Spawns, Raids, and Legacy Moves To Target

Pokémon GO Fest concludes this weekend… wherever you are on the globe! There are lots of interesting Pokémon in raids, research, and in the wild, so today I’m publishing our third and final 2023 GO Fest PvP Field Guide. Not all of you may need it, but some certainly WILL be looking for something akin to this, so here you go: JRE’s opinions on what GO Festers should prioritize hunting down this weekend while you have the chance!

The bulk of this analysis will be what’s new, mostly Legendaries and Mythicals (some with new moves). But I’ll have a quick “ranking” of wild spawns from the various habitats at the end, with a few highlighted in particular, AND a review of which returning Legacy moves to prioritize evolving. And I will be borrowing liberally from the guides I published for Osaka, London, and New York City GO Fests, as some may notice. It’s not plagiarism if you’re “stealing” from your own past writings, right? 😅

SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS

Rayquaza DragonFlying

So not all that long ago, I did an analysis on Breaking Swipe Rayquaza and was lauding the sudden potential the big guy finally had in PvP. Particularly in Master League, where it went from this all the way up to this. The problem still remained, however, of what second charge move to run. Hurricane is generally considered the best because of the coverage it can provide (without it, RayRay is completely walled by things that resist Dragon damage) and the closing power, but Outrage had some play too (or even something like Ancient Power).

With all these options, you may not think Rayquaza would be looking for another move even more expensive than all of those, but here comes Dragon Ascent, a 70-energy Flying move (5 more energy than Hurricane) that deals a whopping 150 damage (40 more damage than Hurricane!), second in Flying-type moves only to the amazing Aeroblast that’s exclusive to Lugia. Yes, it’s even more expensive on a relatively flimsy Dragon that generates only the average 3.0 Energy Per Turn with its preferred fast move (Dragon Tail), but consider this: with Dragon Tail being a three-turn move, each one actually generates 9 energy (3.0 Energy Per Turn x3), so after seven Tails, you’re sitting at 63 energy, 2 short of firing off Hurricane. Adding on one more Tail gets you over the 65 energy needed… but it’s ALSO enough to fire off 70-energy Dragon Ascent anyway. Similarly, after baiting with a 35-energy Breaking Swipe, seven more Dragon Tails gets you to only 64 energy, again just short of what’s needed for Hurricane, and again it takes one additional Tail to get to the energy necessary for Hurricane OR Dragon Ascent. In short: with the way Dragon Tail generates energy, in most cases you won’t even notice that Dragon Ascent is more expensive than Hurricane, as they will very often both become charged on the same turn anyway.

“Yeah yeah, that’s great, JRE. But what does that MEAN?” Put simply, in the common 1-1 shielding scenarios, either of the Flying closing moves makes beating Zacian (minus Play Rough) possible (not surprisingly, Outrage can’t do that, and Dragon Ascent allows RayRay to overcome Xerneas! Well… assuming you successfully shield the Moonblast. Aaaaaaaaaand only until Xerneas gets Geomancy instead of the Tackle it’s stuck with now.

In short, it’s no worse than Hurricane, but not appreciably better either. Where you’ll see it pop a bit is with shields down, where Dragon Ascent has the power to knock out Sylveon and Zacian (even WITH Play Rough now!) while Hurricane falls short. With that in mind, yes, it’s fair to call Dragon Ascent a slight upgrade overall. Not a drastic improvement, but very much viable and probably preferable to Hurricane (and Ray’s other non-Breaking Swipe moves) going forward. For those going to Osaka or London: get it while you can. But for those who aren’t… you’re not missing out on TOO much by waiting. Win-win?

ROCK ON!

Carbink RockFairy

Diancie RockFairy

I already did a PvP analysis on CARBINK which I highly recommend checking out, but in short… it’s very, very good in Great League. But ONLY in Great League, with a CP that maxes out at 1658 (and only 1467 at Level 40, so this thing requires XLs no matter what). Use the fact that it’s in raids and research to grind for the candy and XL Candy it requires, and hope to land like a 14-15-15, which is just as good as a higher rank IV one and MUCH cheaper to build (only need to get to Level 42.5). Good luck!

But the star of the show at this year’s GO Fests (as indicated by “The Season of Hidden Gems” and the obvious gem theme of GO Fest itself) is another Fairy/Rock type: the Mythical (and long-awaited) DIANCIE.

In MSG, Diancie is “a sudden transformation of Carbink”, and so it’s not a big surprise that (at the time of this writing, at least) they share the exact same moves. This means that in Great League, where Carbink has the fourth highest stat product of ALL Pokémon, Carbink excels, while Diancie, with a stat product ranked around #230 (roughly the same as things like Dragalge, Grotle, Drapion, and the mighty Spoink), struggles in Great League. While Diancie can beat most big name Fire, Ice, Dark, Flying, and/or Dragon types (as you’d expect of a Fairy/Rock), Carbink goes on from there to ALSO beat many Fighters (Medicham and Scrafty, most notably) and quasi-Fighters (things like Vigoroth and Obstagoon), notable Ghosts and Ghost damage dealers (Jellicent, Sableye, Cofagrigus, Alolan Sandslash), and other impressive wins like Lickitung, Lanturn, and Drapion. Carbink does all that, and Diancie just can’t.

What Diancie CAN do is play in bigger Leagues, and it looks much more interesting in that context. Ultra League Diancie is okay, still struggling with Fighters, but nicely clobbering the large number of Dragon, Dark, Flying, Ice, and Fire types in the UL meta, as well as bonuses like Snorlax, Dubwool, Golisopod, Greedent, and Charmers like Granbull, Sylveon, and Clefable. I think it definitely has a role to play, and Ultra League is THE League I think I would want to prep one for…

…because it is held back in Master League. Not because it doesn’t have a good typing and moves to compete, but because it tops out at a barely-over-3000 CP. I imagine Mega Diancie may break out in Mega Master League (whenever that returns), and as my friend and colleague u/Teban54 recently wrote about, there is certainly wisdom in powering Diancie up for PvE use. But strictly in terms of PvP, I would get one built for Ultra League and stop there. It’s the best bang for your buck.

X + Y = YOU?

Yveltal DarkFlying

Xerneas Fairy

If you’re looking for Master League impact and are disappointed by Diancie, remember that YVELTAL and XERNEAS will be back in raids on Sunday, and they will have their new moves as well! I wrote a longer analysis on both last week, but so you don’t have to jump around too much, here’s a shorter summary of their pros and cons.

Both Yvette and Xernie were already good enough to use in Master League without any move tweaks, but yes, both are now better with those new moves. Yveltal with new Oblivion Wing has an easier time in the mirror match and, like Rayquaza with Dragon Ascent, can blow past Xerneas (those that still have fast move Tackle, that is), though it does lose to Lugia without Dark Pulse. And getting cute with Oblivion Wing/Dark Pulse causes other problems, as big Focus Blast is key to have a shot at taking down Ursaluna, Excadrill, and Dialga, which is no bueno. I think Oblivion Wing/Focus Blast will likely be the standard going forward, though existing Dark Pulse variants will still have a place too.

As for Xerneas, the improvement it sees with Geomancy — finally giving it the Fairy fast move players have been begging for since its initial release over two years ago — cannot be understated. SEVEN new wins become possible. Some, like Yveltal (even with Oblivion Wing), Garchomp, and both Giratinas (as well as unlisted-in-that-sim Dragon Ascent Rayquaza, which beats Xerneas with Tackle), are rather obvious. Others like Lugia are less obvious but make sense, with Tackle generating only 3.0 Energy Per Turn, but Geomancy hitting the game with 4.33 EPT and thus spamming Xernie’s big charge moves for match-flipping damage. And still others are pleasant surprises, like Melmetal and Excadrill, thanks again to the superior energy of Geomancy leading to more Close Combats that Steels hate. In this way, it can beat Diagla in ALL even shield scenarios. Or if you don’t want to go the self-nerfing route, you can stick to straight Moonblast and still win with shields down and 1v1 shielding, which is pretty nifty! If you already built a Xerneas and don’t feel like making that grind again, I DO think Geomancy is worth an Elite TM, but if you’re still working on building one up, bye-bye Tackle… Geomancy Xernie is clearly THE way to go from here on out.

EARTH AND WATER

Groudon (Primal) Ground

Kyogre (Primal) Water

Not exactly part of GO Festivities, but advertised on Saturday as “part of” GO Fest anyway, we have Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre hanging around in raids before handing the spotlight back to Xernie and Yvette on Sunday. Far as I know, they do NOT come with their signature moves Precipice Blades and Origin Pulse (respectively), so that’s a bummer and kind of stops my analysis right there. I will point out, however, that I did a full analysis article on the pair earlier this year which may be worth your while to go back and dust off for a fresh read. In short though, if they DO somehow come with their special moves, Groudon is by far the priority. Kyogre arguably operates better in PvP without Origin Pulse, but Groudon gets a very nice boost from Precipice.

GOING WILD!

Time to get to the wild spawns during these events. As with other recent GO Fests, these are mostly tied to certain habitats — with the Global event, these habitats rotate every hour — and below I will cover each of those habitats and briefly talk about the priority targets from each (again, strictly from a PvP perspective). Note that most are the base form that you want to evolve up for PvP. I’ll use the following key as a quick reference.

KEY TERMS

A couple quick notes of markings I’ll be adding to Pokémon throughout:

🌑 – Shadow consideration. Not all Shadows are better, but most are viable alternatives, so check and see if you have de-Frustrated candidates to build up too!

🏋️ – Legacy/Exclusive Move Required. These will require Elite TMs (or the event’s special evolve window… see last section of this article for details) to get their needed Legacy moves. I will spell out any such move(s) specifically per Pokémon.

💰 – High XL Investment. Obviously anything in Master League requires all 296 XL Candy to max, but this is more to denote things that require deep XL investment to work best in Ultra or even Great League. Even if you have a good specimen or two of these species already, you may need more XLs to finish them off, so this is your grinding opportunity!

🌶️ – Spice Pick. Generally not viable in Open formats, but has enough potential to be good in certain Limited/Cup formats. Worth having on hand, but not quite as high a priority.

🕯️ – Incense-only Spawn. These Pokémon will show up during their associated habitat, but ONLY as a spawn from active Incense. If you don’t use an Incense, these will not show up at all. Niantic also hinted that only regular (green) Incense will work, not the blue Daily Adventure Incense.

And to make it EVEN easier, with a quick visual reference while you’re out grinding, here’s each habitat with the priority spawns to grind out for each one! Note the emoji by each habitat, as I will be using those as I go into detail on some of these spawns below the table.

All that out of the way… let’s see what we’ve got to work with!

PvP PRIORITIES

These Pokémon should be your highest priority to hunt down if you still lack them in your PvP arsenal. If you pursue nothing else during GO Fest, lock up a good one (or several) of each of these!

LICKITUNG 🏋️💰💎

Lickitung Normal

Little League Priority: HIGH

Great League Priority: VERY HIGH

Ultra League Priority: LOW-MODERATE (Lickilicky)

Master League Priority: n/a

I mean, does Licki need any introduction at this point? it is perpetually ranked in the Top 10 in basically every Great League format where it appears, including even Open Great League, and it puts up the numbers to back it up. Do note that you can save yourself a little XL candy by going with a near hundo and lose practically nothing in performance (dropping a super close win over Dunsparce, of all things, to instead win the mirror match), but either way, this is one of the crazier XL grinds in the game (outside of Master League, of course). Hopefully you already have a Licki you’re working on that has Body Slam, because otherwise, you’re going to need an Elite TM to get it now. Good luck on the grind!

GIBLE 🌑🏋️🏜️

Gible DragonGround

Little League Priority: n/a

Great League Priority: MODERATE (Garchomp)

Ultra League Priority: LOW-MODERATE (Garchomp)

Master League Priority: MODERATE-HIGH (Garchomp)

Earth Power/Outrage Garchomp is what you really want in Master League, whichever fast move you prefer… but that requires an Elite TM (for Earth Power). Fortunately, non-Legacy Chompy works too, though it’s much more bait-reliant with Sand Tomb. Either way, this is a good one to have in your Master League collection, so grind those XLs if nothing else!

SNOVER 🌑🏞️

Snover GrassIce

Little League Priority: MODERATE (Snover & Abomasnow)

Great League Priority: HIGH (Abomasnow)

Ultra League Priority: HIGH (Abomasnow)

Master League Priority: n/a

Would you believe there was a time when Abomasnow was a spice option at best? Those were in the days before Weather Ball. Ever since getting that, Aboma has been a staple of many formats in Great, Ultra, and even Little League (well, when allowed in Little, that is… and when it’s not, Snover does well enough for itself). It’s a superstar in many Cup formats, and consistently ranks in the Top 50 even in Open play. If you lack a good one in any of those three Leagues — or enough XLs to build up a full-fledged Ultra League specimen — go get ’em!

PACHIRISU 💰💰🕯️🌊

Pachirisu Electric

Little League Priority: HIGH

Great League Priority: HIGH

Ultra League Priority: n/a

Master League Priority: n/a

If ever there was better evidence that bulk mattered, it’s right here. Electrics have a spotty history in PvP, being awesome in some formats but generally taking a back seat to other typings even in the anti-Flying/Water role. Electrics that thrive with ONLY Electric moves are practically unheard of… the only ones that do make it sometimes rely on other moves and/or typing (Steel, Bug, Water, Rock, Fire… something) to carve a niche.

…and then there’s Pachirisu, who puts basically all other Electric types to shame. By record, it even outpaces the mighty Lanturn. About the only things Lanturn can beat that Pachi can’t are Sableye and Water-weak Bastiodon, while Pachi wins the head-to-head versus Lanturn AND adds on things like Vigoroth, Toxicroak, and even Registeel. Very little stops it aside from Grounds, a few Grasses, and a few things that outbulk even Pachi.

So why don’t you see it everywhere in PvP? Because it’s A.) one of the rarer Regionals in the game, basically available only in Canada, and B.) it is prohibitively expensive. SO bulky is Pachirisu that it ends up as something that doesn’t even reach 1500 when fully maxed out, hitting only 1372 even at Level 50 (hence the double 💰s). So yeah… even our Canadian friends have a hard time building one. I think it’s highly unlikely this will spawn in enough volume for you to go from none to suddenly having a Level 50 in the two one-hour slots where it can be found (especially since it’s an Incense-only spawn), but this is at least a chance to get started, and who know when we’ll have even THAT chance again. This is THE priority target of the Aquamarine Shores habitat timeslot AND of any Incense spawns of the day. Do whatever you have to do to catch every single one you can. At the very least, you can use it in Little League for now.

HERACROSS 💎

Heracross BugFighting

Little League Priority: MODERATE

Great League Priority: HIGH

Ultra League Priority: VERY HIGH

Master League Priority: MODERATE

Obviously being another one of the rare Regionals that we all know and love (cough), this is a great opportunity to scoop up something that’s useful across all Leagues… even Little League for potential use in Little Jungle Cup. Heracross works well enough in Great and even Master, but its real standout spot these days is probably Ultra League as a competent Fighter that can also bring down Bugs thanks to Rock Blast, beats most Grounds and other Fighters thanks to resisting Ground and Fighting damage, and even beats most Grasses and even some Psychics thanks to Megahorn. It is extremely versatile and matches the UL meta very, very well. Get a bunch while you can… the combination of usefulness and rarity outside of events like this make Heracross one of the highest wild spawn priorities to target this weekend for PvPers.

JOLTIK 🌑💰🏜️

Joltik BugElectric

Little League Priority: LOW

Great League Priority: HIGH (Galvantula)

Ultra League Priority: HIGH (Galvantula)

Master League Priority: n/a

Another Level 50 candidate is Ultra League Galvantula, which hits a nice cool 2494 CP right at Level 50. If nothing else, use this opportunity to grind those XL Candies, but of course Great League Galv is quite awesome too. We’ve had some attempted replacements come along since (such as Charjabug, which is also a worthy grind target in the Pyrite Sands habitat {as pre-evolution Grubbin}), but none can or likely ever will surpass the OG. Galvantula is likely to always be a fixture in PvP, and is something every PvPer should have at the ready at all times.

STUNFISK 🏞️

Stunfisk GroundElectric

Little League Priority: MODERATE

Great League Priority: HIGH

Ultra League Priority: MODERATE-HIGH

Master League Priority: n/a

Obviously not as prolific as its Galarian bear trap cousin, Original Recipe Stunfisk is still pretty awesome in its own right, and has more utility even in Ultra League than you may think. The main thing holding it back really is Galarian Stunfisk, since you can’t use both on the same team in GBL and G-Fisk really is generally better all around. But if you need XLs for Ultra League G-Fisk, you can grind them via original Stunfisk in Malachite Wilderness. If you already have a maxed out G-Fisk, you can still grind XLs for an UL Unovan Stunfisk too. I really do think it’s worth having BOTH maxed out if you have an embarrassment of XL riches.

BELDUM 🌑🏋️🌊

Beldum SteelPsychic

Little League Priority: n/a

Great League Priority: LOW

Ultra League Priority: LOW

Master League Priority: HIGH (Metagross)

Admittedly a one-trick pony in PvP, as Metagross is really only usable in Master League, but it’s a good trick, particularly in Master Premier. And while I know this is a PvP analysis pretty much exclusively, I would be remiss to not point out that Metagross is and basically will forever be the best Steel in PvE as well. And it owes its PvP and PvE success to the awesome Meteor Mash, which is a legacy move BUT is conveniently available during this same GO Fest event (more on that later), driving up the grinding priority even further. If it wasn’t for Pachirisu, Beldum would rather easily be the top “get” in the Aquamarine Shores habitat.

CLEFAIRY 💎

Clefairy Fairy

Little League Priority: LOW

Great League Priority: MODERATE-HIGH (Clefable)

Ultra League Priority: HIGH (Clefable)

Master League Priority: n/a

For my third and final Quartz Terrarium highlight, it was honestly a toss-up between Clefable and Miltank, and honestly you can’t go wrong either way. Clefable is far less impressive in Great League, though I still see more of a place for it in both Open and Cup metas, and PvPoke seems to agree as Clefable is higher ranked in both Open GL and Open UL. And it is that latter case that pushes Clefable up higher for me, because while Miltank is more than good enough to be worth building for Ultra League, it basically HAS to be maxed out, while Clefable is both cheaper and more effective overall, even at “only” Level 45. Both are worthy, but if I had to choose one to grind XLs for this weekend, for me it’s Clefable, and (literally) twice on Sunday!

PAWNIARD 🕯️🏜️

Pawniard DarkSteel

Little League Priority: HIGH (Pawniard)

Great League Priority: MODERATE (Bisharp)

Ultra League Priority: MODERATE (Bisharp)

Master League Priority: HIGH? (Kingambit – future)

A unique opportunity to get Pawniard under 500 CP for Little League, where it’s actually quite good, beating many big names like Deino, Swinub, Vullaby, Igglybuff, Onix, Chansey, A-Shrew, Stunky, and the great evil known as Bronzor, among others. Even a Research level Pawnie is too big to squeeze into Little League, so use this unique chance to land one for you own squad!

As for Bisharp, if I’m being honest, it’s really a spice option at best, in both Great and Ultra League. There have been a couple metas where it has kinda-sorta worked on the right team, but I don’t see it ever moving beyond fringe. Still, Little League Pawniard make this a worthy target. As does the potential of Kingambit one day in Master League…..

FERROSEED 🏞️

Ferroseed GrassSteel

Little League Priority: MODERATE (Ferroseed)

Great League Priority: MODERATE-HIGH (Ferrothorn)

Ultra League Priority: MODERATE-HIGH (Ferrothorn)

Master League Priority: n/a

Man, Malachite Wilderness is loaded. While Ferrothorn is more a star of Limited/Cup formats, boy oh boy has it had some of those where it has shone out brightly. (Like the recent Fossil Cup!) So while its numbers are perhaps a little tepid in Great League, keep some of those Limited metas firmly in mind and look for a good one if you lack it. It’s good in Ultra League as well, and little Ferroseed has moved into Little League discussion since the recent-ish buff to Tackle.

LAPRAS 🌑🏋️🌊

Lapras WaterIce

Little League Priority: LOW

Great League Priority: HIGH

Ultra League Priority: HIGH

Master League Priority: LOW

Yes, it will often require at least one Elite TM for Ice Shard and/or Ice Beam (so potentially two Elite TMs.) And yes, Lapras has been around forever and slipped backward a bit with the rise of other Icy Waters like Walrein and (more recently) Dewgong. But there is still a LOT to like about ol’ Lappie, in both Great and Ultra Leagues. The thing that most separates it from the others is being able to dish out spammy Water damage thanks to Surf. In fact, these days, it is arguably better with Water Gun as well, giving it a nice boost in Great League (you may not have even noticed the GL sim above has Water Gun… Ice Shard is less impressive) and even Ultra League too. Point is… it’s good to have a couple different Lappies on hand, and while it is perhaps in a crowded field these days, it’s never going to fade away from being a viable option. Maybe use this opportunity to scoop up those nifty Water Gun versions, eh?

Others Of Note

• Quartz Terrarium 💎: As I noted earlier, it is good to have a good Miltank (or two)…. Shellos actually shows up in two habitats (East Sea here, and West Sea in Aquamarine Shores), but other than being able to snatch up whichever version is not native to your part of the world, you probably haven’t though much about it. But Gastrodon is quietly a very good Pokémon in the right Limited metas and worth having thanks to its unique-among-Mud Boys combination of Mud Slap and Body Slam…. Hisuian Growlithe is this habitat’s Incense-only spawn, and while it’s just okay in Little League Hisuian Arcanine is only so-so in Great and Ultra, I remain convinced it will have its day in the sun, just as Magcargo with the same Fire/Rock typing has. And more importantly, this is the first and only time we’ve been able to get them below hatch level, so the first time H-Nine has been possible in Great League and H-Growlie in Little League. That alone is worth an Incense or two, I think.

• Pyrite Sands 🏜️: Trapinch JUST missed the cut earlier, so don’t mistake its relatively low placement in this article. Flygon is still something you want on hand in Great League and especially in Ultra League. Just note that you really need former Community Day move Earth Power for ol’ Goggle Eyes to be at its best, which is thankfully available during the weekend! (More on that shortly, I promise)…. I briefly mentioned Grubbin, but only insofar as its immediate evolution Charjabug is a slightly worse Galvantula. Still, we at least have the precedence of Electric Cup to show that it CAN shine on the right stage and it’s worth scooping up when you’ve gotten other higher priority spawns around you already…. Gotta give a shout-out to my boy Farigamarif… I mean Geoffamarag… okay, okay, it’s Girafarig, no longer a complete joke since it got both Psychic Fangs and Double Kick. It still isn’t all that in Open, but it’s more than good enough to be legit viable now in certain Cup formats. Scoop a few up to check out the IVs later, at the very least.

• Malachite Wilderness 🏞️: Honestly, there’s really not a bad spawn in this habitat. Fomantis (and especially Lurantis), Cowboy Hat Snorlax, Cottonee (and Whimsicott), Roselia’s evolution Roserade (more on her shortly), Scyther’s and Spinarak’s evolutions (I still have a soft spot for Ariados, and Oranguru are ALL Cup options at the very least, and even Incense-exclusive Carnivine has at least enough potential to be interesting. I wouldn’t say any are MUST haves, but they’re all WORTH having. This is probably the best habitat in which it’s good to just let your GO Plus device of choice go ham for the whole two hours we have it. There aren’t ANY true clunkers here.

• Aquamarine Shores 🌊: Marill is worth it for the XL Candy alone, but if you somehow don’t have (or just need a better) Azumarill, then seriously, what are you waiting for?…. Barboach remains a JRE favorite in basically every Little League format where it can be used (nobody expects the Ice Beam Inquisition!), but of course, its evolution Whiscash is more of a household name, especially with the Mud Bomb buff…. I remain convinced the rise of Toxapex is still nigh, so I’m still on the hunt for Mareanie whenever it’s widely available…. Kingdra has never been a personal favorite, but many people still swear by it in Ultra League, so sure, scoop up some Horsea, I guess. At least it’s a gorgeous shiny. Very aquamarine!

BUST A MOVE… OR SEVERAL!

Unique to Global GO Fest — this wasn’t part of Osaka, London, or New York — we have the opportunity to get some Legacy moves back on our Pokémon (via evolving)! Not all of them are things you actually need — or in some cases, are not things you even want — but let’s wrap this up by talking about them.

Metagross SteelPsychic

• Metagross we talked about earlier, as a good tool for Master League and PvE that is unlikely to ever truly be surpassed in its Steel role, but it’s all thanks entirely to Meteor Mash. Without that, there IS no Metagross. This one in the highest evolve priority of all, and thankfully Beldum is one of the wild spawns during the event, so you can theoretically build one from scratch if you need to.

Roserade GrassPoison

• Roserade‘s pre-evolution (Roselia) is ALSO spawning during the event, in the crowded and high value Malachite Wilderness habitat, and Roserade gets TWO moves upon evolving during event hours: fast move Bullet Seed and crucial charge move Weather Ball (Fire). Rose is good with both of those moves, but it’s also a good idea to have one or two with Weather Ball and fast move Poison Jab instead. Make sure you come out of this weekend with a Bullet Seed AND Poison Jab version for whichever League(s) you might use Rose in.

Flygon GroundDragon

• Flygon is — you guessed it! — available during the event via wild Trapinch, and while it CAN function alright without its Legacy move (and no, I do NOT mean with Boomburst! 😝), it’s only at its best with Legacy Earth Power. Get one while you can!

• As for the rest, Butterfree (Bug Bite), Sandslash (Night Slash), Lickilicky (Body Slam… why couldn’t we get Lickitung with this instead?! 😑), and Salamence (Outrage) remain mere fringe options in PvP (though Salamence is okay in PvE, at least), and while Clefable, as a reminder, IS good in PvP, it wants NO parts of Legacy Pound. Evolve each of those if you have a spare pre-evo sitting around, sure, but don’t expect to actually use these anytime real soon.

WRAP UP

Most ‘mons I didn’t already talk about are solid in Limited/Cup formats at the very least, and they (and their evolutions) are all good ones to have on hand! Just wanted to highlight above what ‘mons and moves I personally consider the ones to go after the hardest.

Good luck out there, folks! Here’s hoping the weather is pleasant, the lag is minimal, and the spawns are plentiful!

Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter or Threads (@JRESeawolf for both) for regular analysis nuggets, or Patreon.

Good hunting, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!

P.S. – Apologies on the lack of an infographic like we had for Osaka/London and New York City. It IS in progress but my buddy has had a rough go of it this week. If it comes in time for the event, we’ll get that posted later as well!