Good day, Pokémon trainers! A new season of Pokémon GO Battle League is upon us. Which means new moves, rebalances, and new entrants to PvP! A lot of this has already been covered by other members over here at GOHub, such as these extensive move rebalance analyses by JRE and the GBL season overview by Avrip.
And today I want to add to the discussion by talking about the often understated part of Pokémon GO PvP. The Pokémon available as rewards for getting three in a set wins in the GO Battle League! We had similar articles before for seasons 16, 17, and 18, so I will avoid talking about the same Pokémon that were available in last season’s reward pool. Key terms I’ll be using are explained in the season 16 article. Now let’s get right into it and focus only on the newcomers or the Pokémon that got a substantial update this season.
Pokémon Leaving The Pool
These are the Pokémon that were available in the GBL reward pool last season but are no longer available as GBL rewards this season:
Honestly, not much was lost this time around. Arguably the biggest loss is Phantump, as it is leaving the reward pool just when Seed Bomb got a buff. Thankfully, there are still many good Pokémon in the pool. Including:
Rank 1+
These are the new or meta-shifted Pokémon that will be available as soon as you hit rank 1:
Wingull
Wingull
Type: Water
Viable League: Great League, Ultra League
Best IVs: 0/12/15 (Great League), 15/15/15 (Ultra League)
Usability As Is: Yes (Great League), Absolutely! (Ultra League)
Wingull is perhaps the most significant addition to the reward pool roster this season. It’s actually replacing two Pokémon. It’s replacing Primeape as the guaranteed Rank 1 reward and Marill as one of the potential rewards after surpassing Rank 1.
So is the presence of Wingull relevant for PvP? Well, yes! However, Wingull is certainly in an interesting position. Its evolution, Pelipper is not even close to being as bulky as its fellow Water type evolution Azumarill. Which it has replaced from the reward pool. However, Pelipper makes up for it with its sub-typing and the heavy damage dealing Hurricane.
In fact, if Pelipper manages to land a Hurricane and a less energy extensive Weather Ball, Pelipper can actually beat the bulky Azumarill! Along with most Ground,Fire,Fighting, and even some Grass types, despite the part water typing. Coverage for these types means Pelipper can beat fellow popular types Gligar and Talonflame. Though it doesn’t do too well against Skarmory.
To add to Pelipper’s positives, its biggest issue is its double weakness to Electric. And with Lanturn getting nerfed this season Pelipper has a lot less electric-type damage to worry about. With all this being said, can you even get a decent Pelipper from the GBL reward pool? Well once again, Yes!
You can get a 10/14/14 Pelipper, which while not being perfect, does get a unique win against Cresselia. And if you’re willing to make the huge investment a 15/15/15 XL Pelipper can actually be really solid in the Ultra League. Once again beating the bulky Water type of that meta, Tapu Fini!
Rank 6+
These are the new or meta-shifted Pokémon that will be available when you hit rank 6:
Scraggy
Scraggy
Type: DarkFighting
Viable League: Great League, Ultra League
Best IVs: 0/8/15 (Great League), 9/15/15 (Ultra League)
Usability As Is: No (Great League), Yes (May as well be absolutely!) (Ultra League)
Scrafty, Scraggy’s evolution has always been a great if not fantastic Fighting type Pokémon for the Great and Ultra Leagues. Scrafty is a very good safe swap for both the Great League and the Ultra League. Being a DarkFighting type with Counter it only has three weaknesses, is bulky and does solid damage. So it has a lot going for it.
And now it has even more going for it. As this season, it has received the Electric type charged attack, Thunder Punch. This move might actually be a direct upgrade to Power-Up Punch. It does more damage sure. But it also gives Scrafty coverage against many Water types as well. This will perhaps be more impactful in the Ultra League. Again, check out JRE’s article to get a better idea of the impact of Thunder Punch and other moveset changes this season.
While you won’t find a decent one for Great League again, 9/15/15 is the best potential UL Scrafty. So 10/15/15 might as well be the best. Other combinations of low attack, high defense, and stamina work as well. So you can definitely get a very very good UL Pokémon right from GBL if you’re lucky!
Rank 11+
These are the new or meta-shifted Pokémon that will be available after you hit rank 11:
Ralts
Ralts
Type: PsychicFighting (Gallade), PsychicFairy (Gardevoir)
Viable League: Great League, Ultra League, Master League
Best IVs: 0/15/15 (Great League), 0/12/15 (Ultra League), 15/15/15 (Master League)
Usability As Is: Yes (Great League), Yes (Ultra League), Absolutely! (Master League)
The final new Pokémon for this season’s movepool, we have Ralts. Ralts has two final evolutions. And of the two, Gallade is arguably more noteworthy for PvP. This is thanks to one simple fact, Psycho Cut! This fast attack generates energy really really fast. Mix it up with a spammy-charged attack like Leaf Blade and Gallade’s naturally high attack stats, and you have a Pokémon that will threaten shields or knockouts when on the field!
To add to that Gallade has Close Combat for some serious Fighting type damage as well. And it’s not like Gardevoir is completely useless for PvP either. It’s pretty great for certain Limited Great League metas such as the Psychic Cup. Where Gardevoir can Charm down most of the Pokémon with occasional boosts from Triple Axel. And both Gardevoir and Gallade can be interesting mons to mess around with in Master League Premier.
With all that being said, what IVs should you be looking for in the reward pool? A 10/14/12 for the Great League and a 10/13/15 for the Ultra League can be decent. But since both Gallade and Gardevoir are so attack-weighted to begin with, you might want a shadow Ralts to power up. As such I recommend you keep an eye out for a good shadow Ralts and transfer the GBL reward pool Ralts for candies. If you manage to find one with good PvP IVs, you could keep them just in case though.
Pokémon From The Last Season
These Pokémon are staying this season from last season’s pool and my opinion of them also remains more or less the same from the previous article:
Conclusion
And there you have it. A look at every new Pokémon available as rewards in the GO Battle League. If you’re into PvP in Pokémon GO, you’ve probably figured out by now that you need to be smart about how you use your resources and make use of any and all benefits that come your way. Since you’ll be catching these Pokémon while participating in GBL anyways, might as well know how to make the best use of them. That was the idea behind this article anyway. So I hope it has been useful for you and happy battling!
Goodbye for now, Pokémon trainers. Priom-out!
