— September Spotlight Hours —

 

  • September 6  — Munna — 2x Stardust from Catching

 

  • September 13 — Ralts — 2x XP from Catching

 

  • September 20 — Aron — 2x Candy from Catching

 

  • September 27 — Minccino — 2x Candy from Transferring

 

The first Pokémon Championship series has concluded and the hype was real! If you are excited and looking to see where regionals are being held near you for the 2023 Championship Series we have you covered. In other big news with season 12, the season of light starting we have a ton of changes coming to Pokémon GO so the upcoming spotlight hours may now be more important.

 

Now without further ado let's get into this edition which will include a concise PvP breakdown on IVs to target and how much to prioritize grinding for XLs during the weekly spotlight hours which occur on Tuesdays between 6pm and 7pm local time

 

GO Stadium has an excellent IV rank checker to show how your Pokémon is ranked, and you can adjust for any way you obtain the Pokémon. The website is linked in the terms section at the bottom along with some helpful explanations of common Pokémon GO phrases if needed.

 

 

— September 6 — Munna Spotlight —

Pokemon Sword and Shield Munna | Locations, Moves, Weaknesses

Bonus: 2x Stardust from Catching

Munna: Psychic - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 1294

Musharna: Psychic - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 3079

Weaknesses: Bug, Dark, Ghost

Resistances: Fighting, Psychic

Catch Base Stardust: 100 

Evolution Costs: 50 Munna candy + Unova stone > Musharna

2nd Charge Move Costs: 50 Munna candy & 50k stardust

2nd Shadow Charge Move Costs: N/A

LC: Munna: 0/14/14 level 17.5  

GL: Musharna: 0/12/15 level 21

UL: Musharna: 0/15/15 level 39.5

ML: N/A

XL Priority: Low

Buddy Distance: 3 KM

Shiny: Yes 

Mega Evolve: Slowbro, Latios, Latias

 

PVP Considerations:

Munna and Musharna have limited PvP potential. They are both Psychic types, which comes with some limitations against common Ghost and Dark-types. That being said, Musharna has a decent combination of charge attacks with Psyshock and Dazzling Gleam and reasonable levels of bulk at the Great and Ultra league levels, comparable bulk to Walrein. It is held back by very lackluster fast attacks. We have seen with many moveset updates how a Pokémon can go from zero to playable in a heartbeat, so if you like to be prepared for anything be sure to have at least one good one in the bag. If that isn’t your thing, there is always 2x catch stardust and a good chance at a recently released shiny to get excited about.



 

— September 13 — Ralts Spotlight —

Pokemon Sword and Shield Ralts | Locations, Moves, Weaknesses

Bonus: 2x XP from Catching

Ralts: Psychic/Fairy - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 609

Kirlia: Psychic/Fairy - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 1093

Gardevoir: Psychic/Fairy - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 3497

Weaknesses: Ghost, Poison, Steel

Resistances: Dragon, Fighting

Gallade: Psychic/Fighting - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 3497

Weaknesses: Fairy, Flying, Ghost

Resistances: Fighting, Rock

Catch Base Stardust: 100

Evolution Costs: 100 Ralts candy > Gardevoir 

Evolution Costs: 100 Ralts candy + Sinnoh stone > Gallade

2nd Charge Move Costs: 75 Ralts candy + 75k stardust

2nd Shadow Charge Move Costs: 90 Ralts candy + 90k stardust

LC: Ralts: 1/15/15 level 47

GL: Gardevoir: 0/15/15 level 18

GL: Gallade: 0/15/15 level 18

UL: Gardevoir: 0/12/15 level 30.5

UL: Gallade: 0/12/15 level 30.5

ML: Gardevoir: 15/15/15 level 50

ML:Gallade: 15/15/15 level 50

XL Priority: High

Buddy Distance: 5km

Shiny: Yes

Mega Evolve: Slowbro, Latias, Latios, Altaria

 

PVP Considerations:

Ralts’ evolutions have seen a fair amount of play in PvP but nothing substantial. Gallade has seen play in limited formats for both Great League and Ultra League. For example, Ultra League Premier Classic is upcoming this season, a format where Gallade shines. Gardevoir can see play in Great, Ultra, or Master League, but typically you want the shadow version which will not be spawning in the wild. Additionally, Shadow Gardevoir tends to get outclassed by Shadow Granbull in GL and UL, and tends to get outclassed by Togekiss, Sylveon, and Primarina in ML. Both Gallade and Gardevoir can reach a high CP and have future Mega releases to consider, so it would be wise to hunt for good IVs and XLs for potential future use.

 

 

— September 20 — Aron Spotlight —

Aron sprites gallery | Pokémon Database

Bonus: 2x Candy from Catching

Aron: Steel/Rock - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 1478

Lairon: Steel/Rock - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 2324

Aggron: Steel/Rock - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 3391

Weaknesses: 2x Fighting, 2x Ground, Water

Resistances: 3x Poison, 2x Normal, 2x Flying, Rock, Psychic, Ice, Fairy, Dragon, Bug

Catch Base Stardust: 100

Evolution Costs: 25 Aron Candy > Lairon > 100 Aron Candy > Aggron

2nd Charge Move Costs: 25 Aron Candy + 10k Stardust

2nd Shadow Charge Move Costs: 30 Aron Candy + 12k Stardust

LC: Aron: 1/14/14 level 15

GL: Aron: 15/15/15 level 50

GL: Lairon: 0/14/14 level 28

GL: Aggron: 0/14/12 level 19

UL: Lairon: 15/15/15 level 50 

UL: Aggron: 0/13/15 level 33

ML: Aggron: 15/15/15 level 50

XL Priority: Low

Buddy Distance: 1km

Shiny: Yes

Mega Evolve: Steelix, Aerodactyl

 

PVP Considerations:

Aggron has long been the butt end of jokes for its incredible raiding performance. Does Aggron fare much better in PvP? The answer currently is no. Its moves tend to be too slow and lumbering. Its pre-evolution, Lairon, doesn’t do much better, held back by its poor selection of fast attacks. Both of these have future potential with future moveset updates, so it would be wise to stock up on candidates now. Aggron is a lower energy charge attack away from being competitive in GL, UL, and ML. In GL it has to compete with Bastiodon and Probopass, which makes it unlikely to make a mark outside of formats such as Silph where Bastiodon and Probopass get banned. In UL and ML it might be able to carve out more of a niche. Lairon is in a similar boat as Aggron, but without the UL and ML potential. That being said, it could be a player in Silph one day with an update to its fast attacks.



 

 

— September 27 — Minccino Spotlight —

Minccino - #572 - Serebii.net Pokédex

Bonus: 2x Candy from transferring

Minccino: Normal - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 986

Cinccino: Normal - 15/15/15 level 50 - CP 2535

Weaknesses: Fighting

Resistances: 2x Ghost

Catch Base Stardust: 100

Evolution Costs: 50 Minccino candy + Unova stone > Cinccino

2nd Charge Move Costs: 50 Minccino candy + 50k Stardust

2nd Shadow Charge Move Costs: N/A

LC: Minccino: 0/15/10 level 23.5

GL: Cinccino: 2/15/14 level 25

UL: Cinccino: 12/15/15 level 50

ML: N/A

XL Priority: Low

Buddy Distance: 3km

Shiny: Yes

Mega Evolve: Pidgeot, Lopunny, Kangaskhan

 

PVP Considerations:

Cinccino has very limited potential in PvP. Its current claim to fame is its ability to sneak in as a Charm user within formats where Fairy types are banned. That is just about it. Without Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB), its Charms are just not hitting hard enough to make a competitive advantage. You can have a Cinccino at the ready in your bag, just in case, but if you would rather have the bag space it can probably be saved here.




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— Terms —

 

Spawn rate = How fast Pokémon will show up in a giving time

XP = Experience Points

CP = Combat Power

Catch Base Stardust = Stardust amount before other bonuses are applied

Buddy Distance = Distance needed to walk to gain candy before other bonuses are applied

Pinap = Gives you twice the candy for catching

Silver pinap = Gives you twice the candy for catching and boost to help catching

Stacking = Keeping multiple research rewards to be used later

IVs – Individual Values

Mega Evolve = Pokemon when mega evolved will help gain extra candy

STAB – Same type attack bonus

META – Most effective tactics available

PVE = Player vs Environment – (Raiding/Gym Battles)

PVE - IVs = Individual values for Raiding – as close to 15/15/15 as possible

PVP = Player vs Player

PVP - IVs = Individual values for battling – usually low attack and high defense/stamina

Fast Move = Move used to gain energy for charge move

Charge Move = Move shown on the screen that energy is gained to use

GBL - GO Battle League

LC = Little Cup 500CP and lower 

GL = Great League 1500CP and lower

UL = Ultra League 2500CP and lower

ML = Master League unlimited CP

 

https://www.stadiumgaming.gg/rank-checker