DEXERTOThe exciting and unique Retro Cup is returning to Pokemon Go‘s Battle League, so check out its particular set of rules as well as the best team to dominate the competition.
Besides the very well-known Great, Ultra, and Master League competitions, Niantic regularly introduces new and remixed Cups to the Battle League to offer trainers fresh challenges.
As part of the current Might and Mastery season, the Retro Cup: Great League Edition is being celebrated, but just for one week!
This limited-time event has been described as a “throwback” competition for longtime trainers, as only the first 15 types can participate. This means Dark, Steel, and Fairy-type Pokemon cannot fight. So, here are our recommended fighters.
Best team for the Pokemon Go Retro Cup: Great League Edition
One of the best team combinations for the Retro Cup includes Clodsire, Primeape, and Jumpluff, as they are some of the strongest Pokemon with wide coverage.
However, as with the rest of the Go Battle League, it’s hard to say what a ‘best team’ looks like because you’ll never know what Pokemon you’re going up against. You can have a very solid team, but a lot of it comes down to type combinations.
Still, there are a few that can perform well in most situations, which we’ve listed below alongside their optimal movesets and weaknesses.
Best Pokemon for the Retro Cup: Great League Edition
Goodra
DEXERTO- Fast Move: Dragon Breath
- Charged Moves: Aqua Tail and Thunder Punch
- Resistances: Water, Grass, Fire, and Electric
- Weaknesses: Dragon, Fairy, and Ice
This slimy Dragon from Generation 6 has some outstanding type coverage in its move pool. Goodra’s bulk is a big factor in its success in the Go Battle League, alongside its spammy moves.
With five different types across both Move types, it can counter many different opponents. We recommend Dragon Breath for its Fast Move and Aqua Tail, and Thunder Punch for its Charged Moves to give it wider coverage. However, feel free to switch things up depending on Goodra’s teammates.
Diggersby (XL)
NIANTIC- Fast Move: Quick Attack
- Charged Moves: Fire Punch and Scorching Sands
- Resistances: Ghost, Electric, Rock, and Poison
- Weaknesses: Fighting, Grass, Ice, and Water
Even though Diggersby is not a great attacker, it is an extremely bulky Pokemon with a unique and useful type combination.
This season features very strong Poison types, so Diggersby is a great choice to break them. Plus, having access to Fire Punch helps this enormous rabbit fight Grass and Ice types, which are two of its weaknesses.
As if it were not enough, Scorching Sands is a wonderful Ground-type move that deals very high damage for low energy.
Gastrodon
NIANTIC- Fast Move: Mud-Slap
- Charged Moves: Body Slam and Earth Power
- Resistances: Steel, Rock, Poison, Fire, and Electric
- Weaknesses: Grass
Gastrodon didn’t use to be good at the Go Battle League, but thanks to the Mud-Slap buff and its very high Stamina, things changed for the dual Water/Ground-type creature. Plus, having only one weakness makes the water slug an even better choice.
Out of both Fast Moves, Mud-Slap is stronger, cheaper, and benefits from STAB. Body Slam is Gastrodon’s cheapest Charged Move, and due to how fast it is, it can be used to force the enemy shields while Earth Power hits extremely hard.
Aurorus
NIANTIC- Fast Move: Powder Snow
- Charged Moves: Weather Ball (Ice) and Meteor Beam
- Resistances: Poison, Normal, Ice, and Flying
- Weaknesses: Fighting, Steel, Grass, Ground, Rock, and Water
Aurorus made it to the list mainly because of its outstanding Stamina (214) and Ice typing, which is offensively valuable as it hits a specific niche.
This dual Rock/Ice-type Pokemon works ideally as a lead as it can push the enemy shields with its spammy Fast Move Powder Snow and then devastate them with Weather Ball or the nuke Meteor Beam, depending on the coverage.
Hakamo-o
DEXERTO- Fast Move: Dragon Tail
- Charged Moves: Dragon Claw and Brick Break
- Weaknesses: Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Ice, and Psychic
- Resistances: Bug, Dark, Electric, Fire, Grass, Rock, and Water
This middle-stage Pokemon is looking like a top-tier choice for the Retro Cup, as it doesn’t face much resistance with the special ruleset and it has some great stats to work with.
Make sure you have Dragon Tail as a Fast Move and Dragon Claw as a Charged Move for some great STAB damage potential. If you can afford a second move, we’d recommend going with Brick Break for its cheap energy cost.
Cresselia
Niantic / The Pokemon Company- Fast Move: Psycho Cut
- Charged Moves: Grass Knot and Moonblast
- Resistances: Fighting and Psychic
- Weaknesses: Bug, Ghost, and Dark
One of the few Legendaries that can realistically compete in the Retro Cup is the Psychic-type Cresselia, who has proven to be a useful, bulky Pokemon that combines strong defensive stats with good moves.
Psycho Cut is the best Fast Move at Cresselia’s disposal, giving quicker access to its Charged Moves – the cheap Legacy Move Grass Knot for spamming and Moonblast for dealing huge STAB damage.
However, be particularly wary of its weaknesses, mostly against Ghost types, as a few of those are constantly exploited in the league.
Jumpluff (Shadow)
NIANTIC- Fast Move: Fairy Wind
- Charged Moves: Aerial Ace and Energy Ball
- Resistances: Ground, Grass, Water, and Fighting
- Weaknesses: Ice, Fire, Flying, Poison, and Rock
Even with its Shadow debuff, Jumpluff still boasts an impressive Defense stat, making it one bulky fellow to have on your team.
Unlike most Battle League choices, Jumpluff doesn’t spam moves to charge its Charged Move, but instead, it uses Fairy Wind’s high energy generation to reach Aerial Ace and Energy Ball.
Aerial Ace is pretty cheap and deals ok damage while covering Fighting, Bug, and Grass types. Energy Ball has a relatively low cost for a Charged Move and deals a great amount of damage while covering Water, Ground, and Rock types.
Drifblim
DEXERTO- Fast Move: Hex
- Charged Moves: Icy Wind and Shadow Ball
- Resistances: Fighting, Normal, Ground, Bug, Poison, and Grass
- Weaknesses: Dark, Electric, Ghost, Ice, and Rock
While Drifblim’s Attack is decent, its Defense is basically non-existent. However, its Stamina is ridiculously high, which means the dual Ghost/Flying-type creature can hold its ground in the Retro Cup.
Both Fast Moves are good options, but Hex’s fast charge will allow players to reach the Charged Moves sooner in the battle. That way, they can bait the opponent’s shields and leave them defenseless.
As for the Charged Moves, Icy Wind expands Drifblim’s coverage and decreases the target’s Attack stat by 20%. After that, they will be wide open to receive Shadow Ball’s full blow.
Arctibax
DEXERTO- Fast Move: Dragon Breath
- Charged Moves: Avalanche and Dragon Claw
- Resistances: Water, Grass, and Electric
- Weaknesses: Dragon, Fairy, Fighting, Rock, and Steel
Arctibax is a nightmare for those in a mirror match against fellow Ice and Dragon-type Pokemon. That’s because it has Ice/Dragon-type, has access to both types of moves, and is not weak to Ice-types.
Dragon Breath is a brilliant Fast Move. Arctibax can also be equipped with Avalanche and Dragon Claw to pound against Flying-types or fellow Dragon-type opponents.
Dunsparce
NIANTIC/DEXERTO- Fast Move: Rollout
- Charged Moves: Drill Run and Rock Slide
- Resistances: Ghost
- Weaknesses: Fighting
Dunsparce’s massive Stamina and Fast Move are the ideal combination for using this Pokemon as a lead. The Stamina will keep Dunsparce alive while you use Rollout to bait enemy shields and unlock your Charged Moves.
While Rock Slide deals great damage for little energy and benefits from STAB, Drill Run can cause even more harm while expanding the Pokemon coverage.
The best thing about Dunsparce is that it is resistant to the Ghost type, which is always being used in PvP. Plus, it only has one weakness to worry about.
Feraligatr
NIANTIC- Fast Move: Shadow Claw
- Charged Moves: Hydro Cannon and Ice Beam
- Resistances: Steel, Fire, Water, and Ice
- Weaknesses: Grass and Electric
This happy crocodile works perfectly as a charger or closer, thanks to its stats and moves. Despite its weaknesses, it can resist very used Pokemon types such as Fighting and Fire, which is very handy.
Additionally, its Fast Move Shadow Claw helps Feraligatr reach its Charged Moves faster. This means players can then force the enemy to use its shields early on by using Hydro Cannon, leaving them defenseless for the rest of their team.
Keep Ice Beam as your secondary Charged Move – if you can afford it – as it is a strong coverage move.
Primeape
NIANTIC/DEXERTO- Fast Move: Karate Chop
- Charged Moves: Rage Fist and Close Combat
- Resistances: Rock, Dark, and Bug
- Weaknesses: Fairy, Flying, and Psychic
Even though Primeape doesn’t have an outstanding bulk, it’s still a great Fighting-type choice. While being similar to fan favorite Machamp, Primeape offers wider coverage and lightning-fast moves.
Primeape works great as a lead or switch, as it has very spammy moves that can force the opponents to use their shields early on, leaving them open for a mighty Charged Attack.
Karate Chop is the standout of the Fast Moves, but there are plenty of great options for Charged Moves that will vary depending on what you need. The best part is that most of them are quite cheap without sacrificing the damage they can inflict.
Oranguru
DEXERTO- Fast Move: Confusion
- Charged Moves: Brutal Swing and Trailblaze
- Resistances: Psychic and Ghost
- Weaknesses: Bug and Dark
Dual Normal/Psychic-type Oranguru might not be the first Pokemon that comes to mind when thinking about great fighters for the Go Battle League.
However, thanks to its type combination, coverage, bulkiness, and spammy moves, Oranguru earned a solid place on our list.
While all of its Fast Moves benefit from STAB, Zen Headbutt and Yawn are really low-quality options, so go with Confusion for good damage output. Then, for the Charged Moves, use Trailblaze to increase your Attack stat by 25% and then hit hard with Brutal Swing.
Lickilicky
NIANTIC- Fast Move: Rollout
- Charged Moves: Body Slam and Shadow Ball
- Resistances: Ghost
- Weaknesses: Fighting
The bulky Lickilicky is a very solid choice for the Retro Cup, as it only has one weakness and its move pool allows it to hit a wide range of types with Normal, Shadow, and Rock attacks.
Rollout is a move that offers fast charge, so Lickilicky can access both Charged Moves faster. Body Slam can be used as shield bait, while Shadow Ball works as a coverage nuke to target league favorites Drifblim and Feraligatr.
Clodsire
NIANTIC- Fast Move: Poison Sting
- Charged Moves: Earthquake and Stone Edge
- Resistances: Poison, Electric, Rock, Fighting, Fairy, and Bug
- Weaknesses: Ground, Ice, Psychic, and Water
Clodsire appeared out of nowhere and stole a high spot of our ranking basically because – in the current meta – it is good at everything.
This dual Poison/Ground creature works fine as a lead, switch, or closer thanks to its good Defense, but mostly its massive Stamina of 209.
The blob Clodsire might exert low Fast Move pressure with Poison Sting, but it still manages to reach its incredible Charged Moves. Earthquake is one of the best moves of all time and benefits from STAB, while Stone Edge works as a coverage nuke. Clodsire’s access to 5 different types of moves makes it very hard to target and take down.
Pokemon Go Retro Cup rules & restrictions explained
The Retro Cup is one of the most unique challenges in the Go Battle League, as all Pokemon at or below 1,500 CP can enter.
However, Dark, Steel, and Fairy types are banned from the competition, as this is a “Retro” tournament where only the original 15 Pokemon types can participate.
Retro Cup: Great League Edition start & end date
The latest Pokemon Go Battle League season will run from March 4, 2025, until June 3, 2025.
During those three months, the Retro Cup will run from May 13, 2025, until May 20, 2025, along with the Master League. Moreover, trainers will get x4 Stardust from win rewards.
This means you’ll have just one week to dominate this Go Battle League cup and work your way to the top.
Those are the best Pokemon you can add to your Retro Cup: Great League Edition team during this Pokemon Go season. For more content, check our guide with the Battle League schedule and rewards, as well as all the best attackers, defenders, and PvP champions.
