Best team for the Evolution Cup in Pokemon GO

The Evolution Cup is a unique challenge in the Pokemon GO Battle League, as only middle-stage evolutions are eligible to take part. This means forming a 'best team' is going to be tricky.

While the traditional Great League allows you to choose any Pokemon under the 1,500 CP limit, the Evolution Cup: Great League Edition adds an evolution-based twist to this format, so many of your favourite Pokemon won't be able to enter.

One of the best teams you can use for the Evolution Cup is Vigoroth, Primeape, and Golbat.

Vigoroth is currently sitting pretty at number one on PvPoke's rankings for this cup, which doesn't come as much of a surprise. The Normal-type Pokemon has long been a standout in the open Great League, with an excellent moveset and a lack of major weaknesses, so it makes sense it would reign supreme here.

With Vigoroth expected to be the star of the show, you'll want something to counter it. Now that Annihilape has arrived in Pokemon GO, its pre-evolution Primeape is perfect for taking down the Wild Monkey Pokemon with Fighting-type moves - while access to an Ice-type attack means it can take out Dragons too.

Finally, a strong Golbat will be a great asset to your team, as it's got the potential to take out both Primeape and Vigoroth, as well as other threats like Dragonair and Togetic (as long as you've got the right moveset).

Click to enlarge

With such an unusual set of rules, the Evolution Cup is a great time to experiment with Pokemon you wouldn't normally use. It's probably not worth spending all of your resources getting the 'perfect' team as many of the top choices won't have much usability once this cup comes to an end.

Here are some of the best Pokemon you can use in the Evolution Cup alongside their optimal movesets:

Pokemon	Fast Move	Charged Moves	Sprite
Vigoroth	Counter	Body Slam & Rock Slide	Click to enlarge
Primeape	Counter	Ice Punch & Night Slash	Click to enlarge
Golbat	Wing Attack	Poison Fang & Shadow Ball	Click to enlarge
Dragonair	Dragon Breath	Aqua Tail & Body Slam	Click to enlarge
Togetic	Fairy Wind	Aerial Ace & Ancient Power	Click to enlarge
Zweilous	Dragon Breath	Body Slam & Dark Pulse	Click to enlarge
Charjabug	Volt Switch	X-Scissor & Discharge	Click to enlarge
Marshstomp	Mud Shot	Surf & Mud Bomb	Click to enlarge
Piloswine	Powder Snow	Avalanche & Stone Edge	Click to enlarge

Many of the Pokemon featured in the table above are middle-stage evolutions of Pokemon that already thrive in the GO Battle League in their final evolutions, like Marshtomp, Togetic, and Dragonair.

If you don't have any of these Pokemon, don't worry - just make sure you have a range of coverage between your team, and that all three of them are powered up as close to 1,500 CP as possible.

I'd also recommend checking out PvPoke to see if you have any Pokemon on their list!

The main rule of the Evolution Cup is that you can only enter Pokemon who have evolved once and can evolve again - often referred to as middle-stage evolutions.

Every member of your team must also be under 1,500 CP, which can make forming a team pretty tricky!

The Evolution Cup will arrive in the Pokemon GO Battle League on Friday, February 9, 2024, at 1PM PT / 4PM ET / 9PM GMT and run until Friday, February 16, 2024.

It will appear alongside the traditional Master League. We've got a best Master League team guide which might help you out if you want to compete in that challenging league as well!

That's everything you need to know about the Evolution Cup! Make sure you visit our Pokemon homepage for more guides, like the latest promo codes, the current Raid Bosses, and the upcoming events you can enjoy.