The Pokémon Go Battle League takes Pokémon Go's Battle system - which until 2020 allowed friends or local players to complete against one another - and make it into a competitive, worldwide matchmade league anyone can compete in.

Following the release of Season 6 in November 2020, the Go Battle League underwent a number of significant changes - increasing the number of ranks to 24 with the highest ranks being marked by special names (Ace, Veteran, Expert, Legend), new rewards and an increased length.

Despite these changes, the overall structure of the Go Battle League in Pokémon Go has remained the same - players are still placed Ranks that reset at the end of every Season.

Like Raids, it also has paid and free participation, with different Go Battle League rewards accordingly.

How the Pokémon Go Battle League works, from Ranks to SeasonsPokémon Go Battle League rules and battle restrictionsPokémon Go Battle League Season 16 dates explainedGo Battle League Season 16 events in Pokémon GoPokémon Go Battle League Rank requirementsPokémon Go Battle League item rewardsPokémon Go Battle League Season 16 encounter rewardsTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings Watch as battle Guzzlord - one of the Ultra Beasts in Pokémon GoWatch on YouTube

How the Pokémon Go Battle League works, from Ranks to Seasons

There are many components to how the Pokémon Go Battle League works, with a number of changes being introduced in Season 6 alongside the Season of Celebration, but here it is at a glance:

The Pokémon Go Battle League takes place over the course of a Season, and will rotate through all three existing Leagues which cap Pokémon by their CP - the Great League (1500 CP), Ultra League (2500 CP) and Master League (any CP) - every two weeks. There are bonus leagues introduced in new seasons, but those three will feature in every season.From Season 6 onwards, the number of Pokémon Go Battle League Ranks increased to 24. The ranks still have a number of different progression requirements; climbing from Rank 1 to Rank 20 requires you to partake and win a number of battles, while Rank 21 to Rank 24, each with it's own unique title, requires you to reach a certain rating. During the current Interlude season, however, the rankings have been capped at 20. Your 'battle rating' that increases when you win and drops when you lose. Though this exists outside of the Rank system, you are required to progress past certain thresholds to progress the last four Ranks. It also gives you an additional metric to complete against (with your friends, or even yourself) once you reach Rank 24 within a Season.For the five matches you play within a set, you can receive rewards, which are displayed on screen in a 'free' and 'premium' track, the latter you can enter by using a Premium Pass. Note once you have entered a run of battles, you cannot change track partway through.There are also additional rewards you earn when you level up a rank, and more at the end of the season.

Pokémon Go Battle League rules and battle restrictions

Go Battle League battles seem to behave the same as a standard Battle against a Friend or someone locally, but there are some competitive-orientated rules and restrictions to make things fair:

Each time you enter the Go Battle League, you will play a 'set' of five matches.There is a limit to how many Go League Battles you can participate in per day, whether free or paid, at six sets (or 30 battles) per day.You can only use one of each Pokémon species in your Battle team in a contest. As per game-wide Battle rule changes, if Pokémon use Charged Attacks at the same time, the Pokémon with the highest Attack stat will go first. If they are the same, one Pokémon chosen at random will go first.Switching between Pokémon will reset any changes made to Attack or Defence, such as buffs or debuffs from moves made during battle.

Thanks to martycochrane on reddit for helping with some of the above information.

Pokémon Go Battle League Season 16 dates explained

Season 16 of the Go Battle League is running throughout the Season of Adventure Abound in Pokémon Go. During this season, you'll be able to compete in a selection of special cups and all three leagues - Great, Ultra and Master.

The Leagues will rotate on a fortnightly basis, while the special cups change every week apart. The only exception is when all three Leagues are running simultaneously towards the end of Season 16 and, during this time, no special cup will be available.

It's important to remember that these dates are subject to change and we'll keep this page updated with any changes which occur.

The Go Battle League Season 16 begins on Friday, 1st September at 1pm PDT / 8pm UK time and ends on Friday, 1st December.

Here are all the dates, including the Go Battle Days, for the Go Battle League Season 16:

Great League and Element Cup Remix: Little Edition dates - 1st September to 8th SeptemberUltra League and Element Cup Remix: Little Edition dates - 8th September to 15th SeptemberMaster League and Psychic Cup: Great League Edition dates - 15th September to 22nd SeptemberGreat League and Psychic Cup: Great League Edition dates - 22nd September to 29th SeptemberUltra League and Sunshine Cup: Great League Edition dates - 29th September to 6th OctoberGreat, Ultra and Master League dates - 6th October to 13th OctoberGo Battle Weekend: Adventures Abound dates - 7th October to 8th OctoberGreat League and Sunshine Cup: Great League Edition dates - 13th October to 20th OctoberUltra League and Halloween Cup: Great League Edition dates - 20th October to 27th OctoberMaster League and Halloween Cup: Great League Edition dates - 27th October to 3rd NovemberGreat League and Electric Cup: Great League Edition dates - 3rd November to 10th NovemberUltra League and Electric Cup: Great League Edition dates - 10th November to 17th NovemberCatch Cup: Adventure Abound Edition dates - 17th November to 24th NovemberGreat, Ultra and Master League dates - 24th November to 1st December

You'll receive quadruple Stardust for win rewards, but not end-of-set rewards, between the following dates:

15th September to 22nd September6th October to 13th October27th October to 3rd November17th November to 1st December

Go Battle League Season 16 events in Pokémon Go

There are two Go Battle League event running throughout Season 16 in Pokémon Go.

The first is the Go Battle League Timed Research, which you can claim from the in-game shop between Friday 1st September to Friday 15th September at 1pm PDT / 8pm UK time. Thankfully, this quest is free.

This quest tracks your victories throughout Season 16, with each step requiring 100 wins to complete. When you achieve this feat, you'll receive some Stardust and a selection of items. You can earn an Elite Fast TM at 400 wins, an Elite Charged TM at 500 wins and, for every 100 wins, you'll earn Rare Candy XL.

The second event is Go Battle Weekend: Adventures Abound, which is running from Saturday 7th October at 12am (local time) to Sunday 8th October at 11:59pm (local time).

During this event, the number of battle sets you can complete will be increased to 20, meaning you can complete 100 battles each day. Both the Master League Premier and Single-type Cup: Great League Edition will be live throughout this weekend.

You will recieve triple Stardust fromthe win rewards during this event, but this doesn't include the end-of-set rewards. You can also complete a free timed research quest to earn a pair of Geeta-Style Gloves for your avatar. It's important to note that if you've already earned the Geeta-Style Gloves, you can not recieve a second pair. There will also be a pay-to-play Timed Research quest.

There is also a free timed research quest, which will reward you with Geeta-Style Gloves, and a pay-to-play Timed Research quest. It's important to note that if you've already earned the Geeta-Style Gloves, you can not recieve a second pair.

Pokémon Go Battle League Rank requirements

Go Battle League has you progress through 24 Ranks per Season. This number was increased from 10 on November 30th 2020, alongside the release of Season 6 of the Go Battle League and the Season of Celebrations.

Each Rank requires a different objective for you to progress, and each one also has it's own set of rewards.

From Season 6 onwards, you'll need to participate and win a number of battles to progress from Rank 1 to Rank 20.

Certain ranks will be easier to overcome than others, because they will only require you to complete one set of battles to progress. This means that, even if you only win one battle out of five, you'll still progress to the next rank.

The Ranks that only require you to complete one battle set are - Rank 5, Rank 10, Rank 15 and Rank 19.

If you wish to climb from Rank 21 to Rank 24, however, you need to obtain a certain rating by remaining undefeated for a certain number of matches.

Each Rank from 21 to 24 also has it's own specific title - Ace, Veteran, Expert and Legend - which not only helps you identify which rating you need to achieve, but gives you some good bragging rights too.

Below you can find which title has been assigned to each rank, alongside the rating you'll need to progress to that specific rank:

Rank 21 - Ace - 2,000 ratingRank 22 - Veteran - 2,500 ratingRank 23 - Expert - 2,750 ratingRank 24 - Legend - 3,000 rating

The Season of Adventures Abound is here! The Halloween event has returned, bringing with it Greavard and Houndstone.Party Play - Pokémon Go's multiplayer feature - is here, along with the Welcome Party quest.You can also work on the Timed Investigation: Master Ball quest and compete in the Go Battle League.Be sure to compete in Shadow Raids, complete Routes, use Daily Adventure Incense for the chance of encountering Galarian Articuno, Galarian Zapdos and Galarian Moltres. This incense may also give you encounters with other rare Pokémon in Pokémon Go.

Pokémon Go Battle League item rewards

As you climb through each Season's in the Go Battle League, you'll find yourself being rewarded in a number of way. This includes set win rewards, Pokémon encounters and rewards for progressing to new a Rank.

The specifics of rewards, especially the Pokémon encounters, tend to change from season to season, so it's always a good idea to read through this section at the beginning of each season, so that you know what's waiting for you.

Rank rewards

Rank rewards are, as the name suggests, the rewards you receive for progressing to a new rank in the Go Battle League. These rewards often include useful items, like Potions, and Stardust.

Under the ranking system from Season 6 onwards, a number of ranks now only require you to complete one set of battles, be it win or lose, for you to progress to the next rank. These ranks have also been given specific reward tracks, which means you're guaranteed a certain type of reward for completing them.

Below you can find these special ranks and the type of rewards you'll receive for completing them:

Rank 5 - Mystery itemsRank 10 - StardustRank 15 - Rare CandiesRank 19 - Pokémon encounters and an Elite Fast TM

Go League set win rewards

Each set contains five matches, and you earn more rewards for each subsequent win, allowing you to win a total of five rewards if you win every match.

Before you play, you can either earn basic (free) rewards or use a Premium Pass to earn a different set of rewards. These are usually more of the same reward types, or will see the order shuffled so it's easier to get certain rewards.

You can see what the rewards in both the basic and premium sets are before you begin, so you can make the call of whether you want to spend a Premium Pass or not (after all, winning isn't guaranteed!).

Possible rewards in both tracks include:

StardustCharged TMsMystery Item (either a Sinnoh Stone, Charged TMs, Golden Razz Berry or Silver Pinap BerryRare CandyPokémon Encounter (some suaranteed at certain ranks)When you hit certain ranks - Avatar items, such Pikachu Libre and character-inspired clothing and avatar pose exclusive to that season

Pokémon Go Battle League Season 16 encounter rewards

Pokémon encounters are the same regardless of whether you go for the free or premium reward track, but differ according to your Rank. If your playing the free reward track, then you're guaranteed a Pokémon encounter after three wins, but, if you're on premium, then you only need one win to earn your encounter.

The higher the rank, the wider the pool of possible encounters gets, with more rare creatures available. Here are the Pokémon encounter rewards which have been currently announced for the Interlude Season:

RankGuaranteed Pokémon encounterPokémon added to encounter pool1BisharpMarillSneaselMedititeCroagunkSkwovet6CarbinkFrillish (Male)Carbink11NoneLickitungWobbuffetSkarmoryPhantumpMareanie16NoneScraggyWoolooFalinks20NoneCurrent five-star raid bossAce RankGoomyGoomyVeteran RankGibleGibleExpert RankJangmo-oGoomyLegend RankPikachu LibreNo new Pokémon

If you reach rank 20, you're also guaranteed an encounter with the legendary Pokémon which is in five-star raids at the time you reach the Pokémon encounter reward.

Guaranteed Pokémon encounters will always occur, even if you don't earn enough wins on that encounter specific rank. This means if you haven't had your encounter with Bisharp by the time you reach Rank 6 and then earn an encounter, you'll have to face these Pokémon before Carbink.

Once you've caught Bisharp, you'll be able to catch Carbink during your next Pokémon encounter and this is the same all the guaranteed Pokémon encounters.

Other Pokémon Go Battle League rewards

The exclusive clothing for Season 16 is inspired by Geeta - the Top Champion of the Paldea Pokémon League who made her debut in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

There are five pieces in the Geeta-themed clothing set, including a new pose, and you'll earn each piece by reaching a specific Rank in the Go Battle League.

You can, however, earn the Geeta-Style Gloves by completing the free Go Battle Weekend: Adventures Abound free timed research quest. If you've already earned the Geeta-Style Gloves before this quest, you can not earn them again.

Below you'll find which pieces of the Geeta-themed clothing set are earned at each Rank:

Ace Rank - Geeta-Style Gloves and ShoesVeteran Rank - Geeta-Style PantsExpert Rank - Geeta-Style ShirtLegend Rank - Geeta-Style Pose

Finally, by reaching Rank 19, you'll earn an Elite Charged TM and, when Season 16 ends, you'll also receive an Elite Fast TM.

Remember - your ranking will reset at the end of every season, so, if a certain reward has caught your eye, make sure you get it this season or else you risk missing it!

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