Good day, Pokémon Trainers! We are now experiencing the first-ever City Safari events in Pokémon GO. The City Safari is a new type of ticketed live event that will take place in specific cities throughout the world. Conceptually these seem to be similar to the City Experience during GO Fest, with similar bonuses such as increased shiny rates available. With that being said, we once again ask the ever-popular question:
What are the best Pokémon to catch?
Well, not to worry fellow trainer, I’m here to help narrow the field! But before we get to that it’s worth noting that this guide only accounts for those Pokémon that we know for sure will be available during the City Safari in Mexico City, Mexico according to the information shared by Niantic. If you want to learn further about the event, here’s everything that we know will be going down.
With that out of the way, Which Pokémon are truly worth getting?
Let’s begin and find out!
For Gameplay
Whether it be for PvP, PvE, or grinding for Stardust and XP, these are the Pokémon to look out for to amp up your gameplay potential:
Charmander
Charmander
Its fully evolved form is arguably the most useful of the original starter trio. In fact, Charizard is an omnipresent force in PvP whether it be the Great League, Ultra League, or Master Premier. In the Great League and the Ultra League, despite being a more attack-weighted Pokémon, I wouldn’t feel wrong to say it is a part of the core meta, both in its regular and shadow form. Even in 1 shield scenarios, Charizard can win against top meta picks it doesn’t even have a type advantage against. This includes the likes of Medicham and Sableye in the Great League and Scrafty and Cresselia in the Ultra League.
Where Charizard really shines however is when it has a shield advantage. By spending both shields Charizard can load up on a lot of energy with its Wing Attack. Before raining down Blast Burns and Dragon Claws for heavy damage. This is why Charizard is such a popular pick. Going as far as to become somewhat of a mainstay in official Pokémon GO tournaments. When it comes to the Master League, however, I believe Charizard is best relegated to the limited Premier format. As the Open Master League is dominated by very powerful legendaries and mythicals.
Charizard’s claim to fame doesn’t even end there! As both versions of Mega Charizard, along with Shadow Charizard are great for PvE as fire-type raid attackers. So ya, catch Charmanders. Even if you have decent ones built I’m sure you can always use more Charmander candies. And if you don’t have some solid Charizards built yet look out for good PvP IVs along with close to max IVs. Also worth noting, no matter what you use Charizard for, it really needs its legacy moves, especially Blast Burn. So I would recommend waiting on fully evolving your Charmander until a community day or being prepared to use some Elite TMs.
Paras
Paras
While not really a particularly noteworthy Pokémon either in terms of PvP or PvE, you still want to catch any Paras you come across. This is because a successful catch on Paras awards you with 500 Stardust, the equivalent of catching 5 base form Pokémon. And in Pokémon GO, you can never have too much stardust. So ya, catch those Paras.
Wooper
Wooper
Its evolution, Quagsire, is a very solid Pokémon for the Great League both in its regular and shadow forms. It’s referred to as a “Mud Boy”, a title shared with its fellow WaterGround type Swampert. This name stems from its access to the very quick energy-generating fast attack Mud Shot. Along with its part ground typing, which helps it resist the common water type weakness to Electric. And instead, it is able to punish electric types with its ground-type charged-attack Mud Bomb.
So if you care about PvP at all, Quagsire is a solid Pokémon to have on your team. The best possible IV for Quagsire is 0/15/14 by the way and you can find other ideal IV combinations here. Also worth noting, we will be getting Paldean Wooper in Pokémon GO soon. And Paldean Wooper’s evolution Clodsire is going to be a solid PoisonGround type Pokémon for the Great League as well. As they share the same candy pool, you can take this opportunity to collect some candies for Clodsire as well!
Lotad
Lotad
Lotad in its base form is very decent for some Limited 500 CP Little Cup metas. Particularly the Element Cup Remix thanks to its WaterGrass type combination. And its fully evolved form, Ludicolo sees some play here and there for some Limited Great League metas. Though it doesn’t exactly have the kit or the stats necessary to even be considered a proper spice pick in the open leagues. So while not a completely useless Pokémon by any means, it’s not a particularly exceptional Pokémon either. I would say only catch a few if it’s a Pokémon you personally like.
Seedot
Seedot
Going from an okay dual Grass type to a more decent dual Grass type, Seedot’s final evolution Shiftry isn’t half bad! It’s a GrassDark type with access to the immensely fast energy-generating move Snarl. Which it makes full use of to spam charged attacks and deal with equally spammy water types, such as Swampert. Though I do have to take a few points away from it as it does lose to some of the most prominent Pokémon in the Great League. Especially the face of the Great League itself at this point, Medicham, which it loses really hard to.
So perhaps Shiftry is best suited to Limited Great League metas, where its greatest threats aren’t available. Shiftry can definitely pull its weight in such scenarios, so I wouldn’t hold it against you if you wanted to build one for yourself!
Tropius
Tropius
Going along the train of dual Grass types, we have Tropius. And this one’s good! In fact, I’d say we finally have a grass type that’s solid for the Open Great League. The current season has certainly done Tropius a lot of favors. Grass types are running much more safely in the Open Great League thanks to Sky Attack getting nerfed and Steel types becoming less prominent due to the presence of Gligar.
And Tropius can make better use of its type now as well. Since its flying type charged attack of choice Aerial Ace got a buff this season. So while not the first grass or flying type pick for most people, it is still very solid as both. So I would personally recommend taking the time to catch any Tropius you come across! Especially since its a rather rare Pokémon. Only being available in African and Middle-Eastern regions normally.
The “Just OK”s
While all three of these Pokémon do have some use cases, they just don’t have enough for me to expound upon. So let’s do a rapid-fire round:
Cacnea: It’s evolution Cacturne, in its shadow form, is a decent Dark type raid attacker.
Emolga: Is a decent Pokémon for the Great League thanks to its unique Electric typing. Which it can utilize to deal with certain popular meta picks such as Medicham in no or 1 shield scenarios. It was a very common hatch from 10 km eggs last season, so you might have some already. But you can’t get its PvP IVs from eggs, so keep an eye out for one with good IVs.
Rufflet: Evolves into Braviary. Which is a very decent type raid attacker. Being the 3rd best not counting in legendaries, megas, or shadows on our database.
Axew
Axew
We started this part of the list with a Pokémon that had multiple very solid use cases. And now we are ending with one as well. Haxorus, Axew’s final evolution is solid for the Great League and Master League Premier and okay for the Ultra League as well. And this is in spite of it being a rather glassy attack-weighted Pokémon. Access to arguably the strongest Fighting type fast attack Counter, along with the attack-debuffing Breaking Swipe means Haxorus can hang around just long enough to deal big damage before getting knocked out. And in fact, Haxorus’s raw damage output means it can actually defeat some mainstays of the Open Master League, such as Zacian and Groudon. Though just barely.
Again, much like Charizard at the start, Haxorus’s gameplay potential doesn’t end there. As Haxorus is a very solid Dragon type raid attacker. With future potential as well, if it ever gets a shadow variant. So once again, I recommend keeping an eye open for both high and PvP IVs. And once again, I have to give a warning that Haxorus reaaally needs its community day legacy move, Breaking Swipe to be really useful. So withhold from evolving immediately if you don’t want to use an Elite TM.
For Collection
Moreso than any gameplay benefits, these Pokémon make for great collector’s items due to their new or limited availability so far. Including the likes of:
Eevee
Eevee
Wearing an Explorer Hat
While you’ll receive this event exclusive Eevee as a guaranteed reward for the research that will be available for ticket holders, it’s still worth noting. Because this Eevee can also be shiny and will have the Explorer Hat regardless of which Pokémon you evolve it into. So you have the chance to get a rather unique and personalized Pokémon if you’re planning on participating in any of the three City Safari events happening this year.
Duskull
Duskull
Wearing a cempasúchil crown
This is a unique version of Duskull being made available for Día de Muertos, the real-life Mexican “Day of the Dead” festival. This has been available globally briefly before, and will again for the Dia de Muertos event. However, it is still worth keeping in mind that there is a shiny boost for City Safari participants. So if you’re participating in the City Safari in Mexico City, you still have higher odds of catching this exclusive costumed shiny over anybody else.
Unown
Unowns M, E, and X will be available along with their shiny forms during the City Safari in New Mexico. So if you’re trying to catch every type of Unown. Or have taken up the even more daunting task of catching every shiny Unown and haven’t gotten these three yet. Well, here’s your chance at getting them.
Skiddo
Skiddo
And we reach the final and newest Pokémon for this entry. Skiddo will be available for the very first time in the three City Safari events taking place this year. And its shiny is available as well. If you’re planning on participating in any of these events, you have the chance to be one of the very first to catch this new shiny!
Conclusion
As stated before, City Safari is a new type of event for Pokémon GO. So if you’re one of the lucky participants who will be in one of the three cities they will take place in this year, you have quite a lot to look forward to. I hope I managed to help narrow down what to focus on during the event with this article. But either way, hope you have a blast and stay safe out there!
Goodbye for now, Pokémon trainers. Priom-out!
