Good day, Pokémon Trainers. We are close to 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 Seoul, South Korea 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:
Clefairy
Clefairy
Starting the list off strong with Clefairy! Perhaps one of the best possible poster children for the mono Fairy types, its evolution Clefable is very solid for PvP. It’s decent in the Great League, being able to defeat the likes of popular picks such as Medicham and Umbreon. But its true usefulness lies in the Ultra League, where its mono Fairy typing and added bulk make it strong against many of the mainstays of the Open Ultra League meta. These include the likes of popular Dark types such as Scrafty and Obstagoon. Along with bulky monsters such as Giratina (Altered) and Walrein.
You even have a choice between how you want to play Clefable. You could prioritize fast attack damage with Charm. Or be spammy and pressurize your opponent to use shields with the fast energy-generating Fairy Wind. So if you don’t have a decent one already, definitely keep your eyes open for a good defence-weighted Clefairy for PvP!
Vulpix (Both Forms)
Both versions of Ninetales, Vulpix’s evolution are very solid for the Great League and can even be used in the Ultra League. Though they are usually preferred in their shadow form. But I’d argue their Non-shadow forms are solid as well, especially in the Great League where regular Alolan Ninetales might actually be better in the current meta. And honestly, Alolan Ninetales outclasses Kanto Ninetales in general, as IceFairy is a much more desirable typing than mono Fire. Especially since there’s quite a lot of Water types hanging around in the Great League.
There is a case where Kanto Vulpix shines brighter than the Alolan one though. And that is in Limited Little League metas as an unevolved Vulpix. Particularly in the Little Element Cup, which has been on rotation for three GO Battle League seasons back to back so far.
Electabuzz
Electabuzz
Let’s move away from PvP for now and talk about PvE. Because Electivire is a good raid attacker, in fact, in its shadow form Electivire is really really good! Being the 3rd best overall Electric type raid attacker even counting in Legendaries and Mega Pokémon with a total damage output of 485.94. And regular Electivire isn’t much of a slouch either, being ranked 14th overall and beating out most Pokémon that aren’t Legendary, Mega, or Shadow.
You want to run Thunder Shock and Wild Charge regardless of which version you want to use. And you can definitely use a regular variant as it would be less expensive to build up compared to a shadow variant. Especially if you have other good Electric type raid attackers to compliment it. So definitely keep an eye out for an Electabuzz with high IVs!
Murkrow
Murkrow
Moving from one solid raid attacker to another, we have Murkrow. Its evolution Honchkrow is very good both as a type raid attacker and a Dark type raid attacker. And its best moveset uses both typings running Snarl and Sky Attack. Though I can’t think of a Pokémon that has both dark and flying as weaknesses so you might have better luck running a pure flying or pure dark moveset. And thankfully, Honchkrow does very well under those conditions as well. As in its shadow form, it’s the 6th overall flying type and 11th overall dark type raid attacker.
Though once again Honchkrow can be pretty decent as a raid attacker in its regular form as well. So check out the IVs for a good one!
Heracross
Heracross
Going back to PvP again, we have Heracross. This BugFighting type is very decent for the Ultra League. The fighting typing with access to the move Counter gives Heracross solid ground against Dark types such as Obstagoon, along with what I tend to refer to as the mineral types (Ice, Ground, Rock, Steel). And it has some diversity with some bug and rock-type charged attacks as well.
It’s a pretty inexpensive Pokémon to build. Even a rank #1 0/14/13 IV Heracross will only take about 90 candies and a bit more than 100,000 Stardust to fully power up for the Ultra League.
Joltik
Joltik
And we now finally arrive at the final Pokémon worth taking note of on the gameplay side of things. Galvantula, Joltik’s evolution is a solid spice/limited meta pick for the Great League and a decent pick for the open Ultra League as well. And that’s despite it being relatively attack-weighted. For the Great League the regular variant performs better, whereas for the Ultra League, you want a shadow variant.
It’s quite expensive to build one up for the Ultra League so even if you don’t have a decent one for PvP yet, it’s worth catching as many of these that you can find to save up on candies for when you want to build one.
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.
Helioptile and Noibat
I’m lumping these two Pokémon together because both of them received their shinies somewhat recently (Late 2022 for Noibat, early 2023 for Helioptile) and are relatively difficult to find or are generally unavailable in the wild. So City Safari Seoul is providing you with a good opportunity to hunt for these shinies if you haven’t already.
Helioptile is of particular note. As not only is the shiny very cool looking (in my humble opinion), but it’s evolution Heliolisk is very solid for the Ultra League as well.
Cutiefly
Cutiefly
Cutiefly is a Pokémon only recently released on GO. So if you haven’t had your chance to catch one yet, this is a good opportunity. However, the shiny version of Cutiefly isn’t available yet, nor will it be available during the City Safari event either. As such, if you’re pressed for time and/or Pokéballs, I’d recommend catching just one for the dex entry.
Unown
Unowns S, E, and O will be available along with their shiny forms during the City Safari at Seoul. 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 got 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!
