GO Battle League: Season 9
Updated: Sep 9, 2021
Soon it will be time for the ninth season of GO Battle League (GBL). All information on this upcoming season can be found below! Good luck climbing the ranks, Trainers! 🥊
The season will kick off on Monday, August 30, 2021, at 01:00 p.m. PDT (GMT-7). At the start of the season, you can claim your end of season rewards on the battle screen and your GBL rank will be reset.
In this article:
1. Schedule
Click the links in the schedule to automatically jump to the information about the specific cups. All start and end times on the dates below are at 01:00 p.m. PDT (GMT-7) ⏰.
📅 August 30 → September 13
📅 September 13 → September 27
📅 September 27 → October 11
Bonuses:
3× Stardust from win rewards (this does not include end of set rewards)
📅 October 11 → October 25
Halloween Cup (begins Oct 15)
📅 October 25 → November 8
Halloween Cup (ends Nov 2)
📅 November 8 → November 22
Bonuses:
3× Stardust from win rewards (this does not include end of set rewards)
📅 November 22 → November 29
2. GO Battle Days
In earlier seasons we had the GO Battle Nights, but to enable more people to participate, Season 9 and the seasons after that will feature GO Battle Days. The concept is the same, but the bonuses will be available for the whole day, and not just for a few hours on those days.
Bonuses
20 sets of battles, so you can do a total of 100 battles during those days
4× Stardust from win rewards
❗ This does not count for end of set Stardust rewards
❗ This does not stack with the 3× Stardust bonus that is already active during the GO Battle Day on November 20
Schedule
📅 Saturday, September 18, 2021 (all day, local time)
→ Ultra League and Ultra League Remix
📅 Monday, November 1, 2021 (all day, local time)
→ Ultra League, Ultra League Premier Classic, and the Halloween Cup
📅 Saturday, November 20, 2021 (all day, local time)
→ Master League, Master League Premier Classic, and a cup chosen by Trainers (to be announced later)
3. Rewards
Guaranteed Reward Encounters
As in previous GBL Seasons, you will get a guaranteed encounter with specific Pokémon once you reach certain ranks. You will earn guaranteed encounters with the following Pokémon during Season 9:
Rank 1: Charizard
Rank 6: Mienfoo
Veteran: Noibat
Expert: Deino
Legend: Pikachu Libre
Please be aware that you will earn those in the first set after ranking up in which you earn the Pokémon encounter reward.
Standard Reward Encounters
Other than those guaranteed encounter rewards, several other Pokémon will be available:
🏅 Rank 1 and up:
Gothita
Solosis
Sableye
Charmeleon
Hypno
Nidorina
🏅 Rank 6 and up:
Mienfoo
🏅 Rank 11 and up:
Seismitoad
Drifblim
Rhydon
Litwick
Frillish
🏅 Rank 16 and up:
Snorlax
Scraggy
Rufflet
🏅 Rank 20 and up:
Legendary Pokémon currently active in five-star raids
🏅 Veteran and up:
Noibat
🏅 Expert and up:
Deino
Other Rewards
Once you reach rank 3, you will be awarded with the Pikachu Libre avatar items. During Season 9, Trainers can earn avatar items and a pose inspired by the Champion of the Galar Region, Leon. You can look forward to those rewards when reaching the following ranks:
Ace: Reigning Champion Sport Glove
Veteran: Leon's Look Sport Cap
Expert: Reigning Champion Sports Shorts
Legend: Reigning Champion Sport Top
Midway through Season 9, Leon's iconic pose will also be added as a reward for those that make it to Legend rank!
Once you reach rank 19, you will be awarded with an Elite Charged TM. On top of that, you will receive an Elite Fast TM at the end of the season.
4. Cups
During Season 9, there will be a rotation between different battle formats (Cups), in GO Battle League. Some of those are familiar and have been seen in other seasons, while others are new or updated.
Great League
The Great League is a returning battle format in Pokémon GO, where you are only allowed to use Pokémon in your battle party with a CP value of 1500 CP or less.
📅 When?
August 30 → September 13
October 11 → October 25
November 22 → November 29
Great League Remix
As in the Great League, the Great League Remix has a CP limit of 1500 CP for the Pokémon in your battle party. In Great League Remix, the 20 most used Pokémon by Trainers who reached Ace rank and up will not be allowed.
⛔ For Season 9, that means that the following Pokémon are not allowed to be used during the Great League Remix:
Venusaur
Alolan Ninetales
Alolan Marowak
Azumarill
Politoed
Umbreon
Skarmory
Swampert
Pelipper
Vigoroth
Sableye
Medicham
Altaria
Defense Forme Deoxys
Bastiodon
Scrafty
Jellicent
Galvantula
Galarian Stunfisk
Talonflame
📅 When?
August 30 → September 13
Ultra League
The Ultra League is, like the Great League, a common battle format in Pokémon GO. Pokémon used in the Ultra League are allowed to have a maximum of 2500 CP. To be able to participate in the Ultra League, you need to have a minimum of 3 Pokémon with a CP of 1500 or higher.
📅 When?
September 13 → September 27
October 25 → November 8
November 22 → November 29
Ultra League Remix
Ultra League Remix is a variant of the Ultra League and in this Remix, the 10 most used Pokémon by Trainers who reached Ace rank and up will not be allowed in your battle party. Like the regular Ultra League, the CP limit is 2500 CP.
⛔ For Season 9, that means that the following Pokémon are not allowed to be used during the Ultra League Remix:
Clefable
Alolan Muk
Swampert
Empoleon
Togekiss
Altered Forme Giratina
Cresselia
Talonflame
Melmetal
Obstagoon
📅 When?
September 13 → September 27
Ultra League Premier Classic
Another Ultra League variant is Ultra League Premier Classic. As in the Ultra League, the CP limit is 2500 CP, but in Ultra League Premier Classic, no Pokémon powered up with Candy XL, Legendary Pokémon, or Mythical Pokémon are allowed on your battle party.
📅 When?
October 25 → November 8
Master League
Master League is the last basic battle format in Pokémon GO. This league has no CP limit. To participate in Master League, Trainers need to have at least 3 Pokémon with 2500 CP or higher.
📅 When?
September 27 → October 11
November 8 → November 22
November 22 → November 29
Master League Classic
Just like Master League, Master League Classic has no CP limit. However, Pokémon powered up with Candy XL are not allowed in Master League Classic.
📅 When?
September 27 → October 11
Master League Premier Classic
More restrictions to the Master League format are found in Master League Premier Classic. Not only are Pokémon powered up with Candy XL not allowed, but Trainers can't use Legendary or Mythical Pokémon either.
📅 When?
November 8 → November 22
Little Jungle Cup 🌱
Little Jungle Cup is a twist on the Little Cup, a battle format in which only Pokémon under 500 CP are allowed. On top of the 500 CP limit, Little Jungle Cup has the following restrictions for the Pokémon on your battle party:
Pokémon don't need to be able to evolve to enter
Only Normal-, Grass-, Electric-, Poison-, Ground-, Flying-, Bug-, and Dark-type Pokémon are allowed
Shuckle and Smeargle are not allowed
📅 When?
September 27 → October 11
Halloween Cup 👻
The Halloween Cup is coming back, and has the same format as during Halloween 2020. This Cup is played in Great League, meaning there is a CP limit of 1500 CP. In the Halloween Cup, only Poison-, Bug-, Ghost-, Dark-, and Fairy-type Pokémon are permitted.
📅 When?
October 15 → November 2
Special Cup: Players’ Choice ❓
A poll on the official Pokémon GO Twitter will determine which cup this will be. The poll will be posted at a later time in the season. The cups Trainers can pick from are special cups that have previously been hosted in Pokémon GO.
📅 When?
November 8 → November 22
5. Move Changes and Updates
GO Battle League Season 9 will also have several changes and updates to the moves your Pokémon can learn.
New Attacks
Normal-type Weather Ball
Normal-type Weather Ball will be available in GO. This Normal-type attack can only be learned by Normal Form Castform for now. Weather ball doesn't require a lot of energy to charge. In both Trainer Battles and in Gym and Raid battles, this attack will do 55 Damage to the opposing Pokémon.
Attack Changes
Weather Ball
The damage Weather Ball does to the opposing Pokémon will be reduced:
Trainer Battles: 60 → 55 damage
Gyms and raids: 60 → 55 damage
Crunch
In Trainer Battles, this move will now have a chance of lowering the Defense of your opponent's active Pokémon.
Zap Cannon
In Trainer Battles, this move will now lower the Attack of the opposing Pokémon.
Scald
In Trainer Battles, the energy cost of this move will be reduced. On top of that, the move now has a chance of lowering the Attack of the opposing Pokémon.
Feather Dance
In Trainer Battles, the energy cost of this move will be reduced.
Megahorn
In Trainer Battles, the damage of this move will be increased from 100 to 110 damage.
Attack Availability Updates
Some Pokémon will be able to learn new attacks they couldn't learn before.
Nidoking: Sand Tomb
Poliwrath: Scald
Heracross: Rock Blast
Manectric: Thunder Fang and Overheat
Normal Form Castform: Normal-type Weather Ball
Cofagrigus: Shadow Claw
Do you have a specific cup you are looking forward to? Want to practice with others? Or share your favorite teams? Join the Couple of Gaming Discord server by clicking the button below!