Yet another season of Go Battle League is coming to a close, and with it we have yet another season to look forward to. The announcement is in, the goals are set, so let's close out Season 8, and jump right into Season 9!
Go Battle League: Season 9
| Season Start | Season End |
|---|---|
| August 30, 2021 | November 29, 2021 |
| League/Cup | Start Date | End Date | Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great League + Remix | August 30, 2021 | September 13, 2021 | |
| Ultra League + Remix | September 13, 2021 | September 27, 2021 | |
| Master League + Classic + Little Jungle Cup | September 27, 2021 | October 11, 2021 | 3x Stardust Winnings |
| Great League | October 11, 2021 | October 25, 2021 | |
| Halloween Cup | October 15, 2021 | November 2, 2021 | |
| Ultra League + Premier Classic | October 25, 2021 | November 8, 2021 | |
| Master League + Premier Classic + Players' Choice | November 8, 2021 | November 22, 2021 | 3x Stardust Winnings |
| All Leagues | November 22, 2021 | November 29, 2021 |
Go Battle Days
It seems that Go Battle Nights are going away in favor of Go Battle Days. During these days, players will be able to complete a total of 20 sets, making it far less taxing on players for the same effect. These days will also include 4x Stardust rewards, though this effect won't stack with the 3x Stardust bonus that will be active during one of them. These events will last from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. local time on their days.
- Saturday, September 18
- Monday, November 1
- Saturday, November 20
The Season's Cups and Formats
Little Jungle Cup
- Only Pokemon at or below 500 CP can enter
- Pokemon that are at their final form can enter this time
- The typing restriction is Normal, Grass, Electric, Ground, Poison, Flying, Bug, and Dark.
- Shuckle and Smeargle are banned.
Halloween Cup
- Pokemon need to be 1500 CP or lower
- The typing restriction is Poison, Bug, Ghost, Dark, and Fairy.
Player's Choice
- A poll will go up on the official Pokemon Go Twitter page giving players a choice of cups for this time period.
Great League Remix
- The top-20 Pokemon from the Great League used by Ace rank + are banned from this cup:
Ultra League Remix
- The top-10 Pokemon from the Ultra League used by Ace rank + are banned from this cup:
Season's Rewards
What's a Go Battle League season without a set of rewards? Here's what we'll be striving for this time around:
Rank 1+ Encounters
Rank 6+ Encounters
Rank 11+ Encounters
Rank 16+
Rank 20+ Encounters
The current Legendary Pokemon available in raids.
Rank Veteran+
Rank Expert+
Specific Rank Rewards
- Rank 1: Charizard Encounter
- Rank 3: Pikachu Libre Avatar Items
- Rank 6: Mienfoo Encounter
- Rank 19: Elite Charged TM and Elite Fast TM at the end of the season
- Ace Rank: Reigning Champion Sport Glove
- Veteran Rank: Noibat Encounter, Reigning Champion Sport Cap
- Expert Rank: Deino Encounter, Reigning Champion Sport Shorts
- Legend Rank: Pikachu Libre Encounter, Reigning Champion Sport Top, Leon Pose (added midway through the season)
This season, we're leaning hard into the Champion of the Galar Region: Leon, with his full outfit and pose. Shame we don't get the cape.
Season 9 Move Shakeup
And now what we've all been waiting for; the move changes for Season 9! We've got a few genuinely interesting ones to talk about, but note that any in-depth review will be saved for a follow-up article.
Weather Ball
Weather Ball Normal has been (re)added, the power for all Weather Ball variants has been dropped from 60 to 55.
Crunch
Crunch now has a chance to lower the target's Defense in PvP.
Zap Cannon
Zap Cannon now has a 100% chance to lower the target's Attack in PvP.
Scald
Scald now costs less energy, and has a chance to drop the target's Attack in PvP. Well what do 'ya know, Scald might be a real move now!
Feather Dance
Pidgeot's ace-in-the-hole now costs more energy to use.
Megahorn
Megahorn now has a higher base power.
New Attack: Sand Tomb
New Attack: Scald
New Attack: Rock Blast
New Attacks: Thunder Fang, Overheat
New Attack: Weather Ball (Normal)
New Attack: Shadow Claw
(Runerigus when?)
Full Announcement
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Trainers,
GO Battle League Season 9 is set to kick off!
Your ranking at the end of this season will be more important than it ever has, so make sure to start your climb early! As the season progresses, we’ll have more to share on how this season’s results will impact things going forward—so stay tuned!
Now, let’s get into what you can expect during GO Battle League Season 9!
Season 9 Start Date, Rank Resets, and End-of-Season Rewards
GO Battle League Season 9 will start on Monday, August 30, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).
The following will occur at the beginning of the season.
- End of season rewards will be available on the battle screen.
- Your GO Battle League rank will be reset.
- Rank-up requirements will remain the same as in Season 8.
Season 9 Schedule
The following leagues will begin and end at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7) on the dates listed below.
Aug 30 - Sep 13
Great League
Great League Remix
Sep 13 - Sep 27
Ultra League
Ultra League Remix
Sep 27 - Oct 11
Master League*
Master League Classic*
Little Jungle Cup*
* 3× Stardust from win rewards (this does not include end of set rewards)
Oct 11 - Oct 25
Great League
Halloween Cup (begins Oct 15)
Oct 25 - Nov 8
Ultra League
UL Premier Classic
Halloween Cup (ends Nov 2)
Nov 8 - Nov 22
Master League*
ML Premier Classic*
Special Cup: Players' Choice*
* 3× Stardust from win rewards (this does not include end of set rewards)
Nov 22 - Nov 29
Great League
Ultra League
Master League
What’s new in Season 9?
GO Battle Days
To allow more Trainers to participate, GO Battle Nights will become GO Battle Days from GO Battle League Season 9 onward!
Bonuses
The maximum number of sets you can play per day will be increased from five to 20, for a total of 100 battles.
4× Stardust from win rewards (this does not include end of set rewards and will not stack with the 3× Stardust bonus on November 20).
Dates and Times
Saturday, September 18, 2021, from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. local time
- The Ultra League and Ultra League Remix will be active.
Monday, November 1, 2021, from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. local time
- The Ultra League, the UL Premier Classic, and the Halloween Cup will be active.
Saturday, November 20, 2021, from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. local time
- The Master League, ML Premier Classic, and a cup chosen by Trainers will be active.
Season 9 rewards
Guaranteed rank-up encounters
You can encounter the following Pokémon once per season at the designated ranks. At rank 1, you’ll be guaranteed to encounter one of the Pokémon that Galar Champion Leon is known to use!
: If you're lucky, you may find a shiny one!
: Veteran Rank
: Expert Rank
: Legend Rank
Standard encounters
You can encounter the following Pokémon as win rewards throughout the season at the ranks shown in the image below.
: If you're lucky, you may find a shiny one!
: The Pokémon currently appearing in five-star raids has a chance of appearing as a reward encounter after you reach Rank 20.
: Veteran Rank
: Expert Rank
Avatar items and other rewards
Pikachu Libre avatar items will be rewarded to Trainers who reach Rank 3.
Trainers will be able to earn avatar items and a pose inspired by the champion of the Galar region, Leon, who first made his debut in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield!
- At Ace rank, you’ll receive the Reigning Champion Sport Glove.
- At Veteran rank, you’ll receive the Leon’s Look Sport Cap.
- At Expert rank, you’ll receive the Reigning Champion Sport Shorts.
- At Legend rank, you’ll receive the Reigning Champion Sport Top.
- Midway through season 9, Leon’s iconic pose will be added as a reward for Trainers who reach Legend rank.
At Rank 19, you’ll receive an Elite Charged TM, and you’ll also receive an Elite Fast TM as an end-of-season reward.
Cups
You can look forward to the following cups this season.
Great League Remix
The 20 Pokémon most used by Trainers Ace rank and up in the Great League will not be allowed in the Great League Remix.
The following Pokémon will not be allowed.
Ultra League Remix
The 10 Ultra League Pokémon most used by Trainers Ace rank and up in the Ultra League will not be allowed in the Ultra League Remix.
The following Pokémon will not be allowed.
Little Jungle Cup
- Pokémon must be at or below 500 CP to enter.
- Pokémon do not need to be able to evolve to enter.
- Only Normal-, Grass-, Electric-, Poison-, Ground-, Flying-, Bug-, and Dark-type Pokémon are permitted.
- Shuckle and Smeargle are not permitted.
Halloween Cup
- Pokémon must be at or below 1,500 CP to enter.
- Only Poison-, Bug-, Ghost-, Dark-, and Fairy-type Pokémon are permitted.
Special Cup: Players' choice
We’re interested to hear which prior special cup you’d like to see return this season! Stay tuned for a poll on Twitter later in the season to determine which cup will be held.
New attacks
Weather Ball
A new, low energy cost Normal-type Charged Attack.
- Trainer Battles: 55 Damage
- Gyms and raids: 55 Damage
Attack changes
Weather Ball
Weather Ball is currently a little too efficient as a low-energy Charged Attack. As a result, we’re toning down its damage just a tad.
- Trainer Battles: 60 → 55 damage
- Gyms and raids: 60 → 55 damage
Crunch
We’re adding an effect to this move when it’s used in Trainer battles to tie in with its effect in the core Pokémon RPGs.
- Trainer Battles: Now has a chance of lowering the opposing Pokémon’s Defense.
Zap Cannon
We’re adding an effect to this move when it’s used in Trainer Battles to tie in with its effect in the Pokémon RPGs. We hope this will provide Pokémon like Zapdos, Regirock, Magnezone, and Porygon-Z a chance to shine.
- Trainer Battles: Guaranteed to lower the opposing Pokémon’s Attack.
Scald
We’re lowering the energy cost of this Charged Attack and adding an effect to this move when it’s used in Trainer battles to tie in with its effect in the core Pokémon RPGs.
- Trainer Battles: Energy cost decreased and now provides a chance of lowering the opposing Pokémon’s Attack.
Feather Dance
We’re increasing the energy cost of this Charged Attack slightly to make it harder to use as often.
- Trainer Battles: Energy cost increased.
Megahorn
We’re giving Megahorn a slight increase in damage to boost Nidoking’s, Heracross’s, and Escavalier’s high-cost Charged Attack options.
- Trainer Battles: 100 → 110 damage
Attack availability updates
Nidoking
Nidoking will now be able to learn the Charged Attack Sand Tomb.
Poliwrath
Poliwrath will now be able to learn the Charged Attack Scald.
Heracross
Heracross will now be able to learn the Charged Attack Rock Blast.
Manectric
Manectric will now be able to learn the Fast Attack Thunder Fang
Manectric will now be able to learn the Charged Attack Overheat.
Normal Form Castform
Castform will now be able to learn the Charged Attack Normal-type Weather Ball.
Cofagrigus
Cofagrigus will now be able to learn the Fast Attack Shadow Claw.
There’s a lot to look forward to this season, so be sure to turn on push notifications in the game settings and follow @PokemonGoApp on Twitter for all the latest updates on the GO Battle League.
Please be aware of your surroundings and follow guidelines from local health authorities when playing Pokémon GO. Upcoming events are subject to change. Be sure to follow us on social media, opt in to receiving push notifications, and subscribe to our emails to stay updated. For the latest on in-game events and feature updates, be sure to check this help center article.
—The Pokémon GO team
