Good day, Pokémon Trainers! The Pokémon GO World Championships are just around the corner. And whether or not you’ve been ardently following this year’s Pokémon GO Championship series or it’s your first time watching an official Pokémon GO tournament, there has never been a better time to start!
In my effort to add to that excitement, I wanted to make this piece to highlight some of the more exciting and interesting Pokémon we might see in this year’s World Championships.
Choose Your Fighter
So I talk about this often, but the update in GO that came after the 2023 World Championships significantly nerfed Noctowl and Altaria, putting them immediately out of favor. And it didn’t take long for another type to take their place, as Gligar very swiftly became the type of choice.
I bring this up, because a few seasons later, another 2023 favorite, Medicham would also be nerfed. Medicham had been the preferred Fighting type of choice for trainers until that point. And it took a while before a de-facto Fighting type king came for the throne after that point. First, it seemed like Poliwrath would be the one on the throne. But then Annihilape came to GO and stole the show.
But Annihilape’s claim to the throne is not uncontested. NAIC, the last tournament to have taken place before Worlds saw multiple Vigoroth. With both the winning and 3rd place team having a Vigoroth in their rosters. Granted, Vigoroth is actually a Normal type, but with the damage it brings with Counter, it may as well be an honorary fighting type. So it’ll be fun to see which one of these two will come up on top. The frail but strong Annihilape that can win against Vigoroth, or the more reliable Vigoroth itself.
Season of Shared Skies
Speaking of types. I stated before that Gligar took the forefront for the 2024 season. But that doesn’t mean it was the only one. In one of the earliest European tournaments, Pelipper made an ahem Splash as well. Then not soon after, trainers came to realize the value of Mandibuzz’s immense bulk. It is often called the Umbreon of the skies by the tournament casters.
Eventually, the floodgates started to open more and more. Talonflame got an Incinerate buff in both damage and energy, Skarmory’s Steel Wing got a buff, Altaria came back in force as its resistance to elemental typing became a huge boon. Even Mantine started to get some love as it is very bulky with spammy charged attacks.
So, while Water is definitely still the most over-represented type in PvP. There is a case to be made for to be a close second. What’s interesting is that many of these types have their own unique niches, typically thanks to their secondary typing. Gligar is a solid Ground type, Skarmory is Steel, Talonflame is Fire, and so on and so forth.
So unlike the Fighting types mentioned prior, it’ll be more than likely multiple types will be represented in Worlds. The last few tournaments leading to the World Championships even saw teams with multiple types finding success!
Thunder Pawnch!
Typhlosion
So, Lanturn got a Spark nerf this season, effectively nerfing one of the main Water type counters. Lanturn, who is, ironically, also a Water type. There is still Charjabug, who I imagine will play the role of the Electric type water counter in Worlds.
But to get to the main point of this section, to remedy the Electric coverage this season saw multiple Pokémon getting Thunder Punch. The first most noteworthy of these, is Typhlosion, one of my personal most favorite Pokémon.
So does this help Typhlosion? Yes, absolutely. Typhlosion is an excellent spice Pokémon. But it is a spice Pokémon. Despite having Thunder Punch, being a Fire type, it is weak to most Water types. Not only that, but it is also very frail. So it is a risky Pokémon to bring to the biggest tournament of the year. But hey, that has never discouraged trainers before. So we might see a few.
Goodra
Another new Thunder Punch user is Goodra. And unlike Typhlosion, I think I’m fairly certain that we will have some Goodra gaming action during Worlds this year. Why? Well for starters, Goodra was already being piloted by the trainer uewaxod at NAIC to respectable success, as uewaxod achieved a commendable 9th place in that tournament.
And it isn’t hard to see why someone would choose to run Goodra. It’s a well-balanced Pokémon. Not being too frail and attack-weighted, but not completely defensive at the expense of damage either. As a Dragon type, it has a healthy amount of resistance as well. And now with Thunder Punch, Goodra has a fast charging coverage move as well.
All of these have made Goodra a popular pick in the GO Battle League, so it isn’t hard to imagine Goodra doing well as well.
Conclusion
And there we go. Only a few days before the World Championships start and I cannot be more hyped. Whether you’ll be participating in person at Honolulu, Hawai’i, or watching from home I hope you have a blast! As for me, since NAIC was the only tournament that took place in this season of Shared Skies, I’m very excited to see the lesser thought of and unexpected mons in the meta.
Maybe keep an eye out for some of these Pokémon for your own team. And someday you might just be out there on the stage as well. And I will gladly be prepared to write about the greatness of your team!
Goodbye for now, Pokémon trainers. Priom-out!
