Best Pokemon to use in Go Battle League’s Element Cup

A brand new cup is coming to Pokemon Go Battle League. It’s called the Element Cup, and a set of very unique restrictions means that trainers will have to completely rethink their ‘best’ team of Pokemon.

Season 8 of the Go Battle League is well underway, and Niantic are introducing a brand new cup for trainers to compete in alongside the Master League and Master League Classic: the Element Cup.

In this unusual cup, only Fire, Water, and Grass-type Pokemon that are the first in their Evolutionary line are allowed to compete. With a max CP set at 500, the pool of Pokemon to choose from is incredibly slim.

With so many restrictions, you might struggle to find any Pokemon that you can actually use, especially if you’re used to powering up and evolving all of your ‘mon as soon as you can – so we’re here to help.

Best team for Pokemon Go Element Cup

In order to get maximum coverage across the three elements, we’d recommend an Element Cup team consisting of Ducklett, Cottonee, and Vulpix. They’re three of the best-performing Pokemon available here and are relatively easy to get.

As with any Go Battle League cup, though, it’s hard to say what a definitive ‘best team’ looks like in the Element Cup as it really depends on the Pokemon you’re up against, and you’ll never know that until you actually enter a battle.

However, based on the small pool of Pokemon that are available to choose from in this cup, there are some standouts that can form a really solid team. Below, you’ll find five of the best Pokemon to help take you to victory in the Element Cup.

Best Pokemon for the Element Cup

Ducklett

• Fast Move: Wing Attack
• Charged Move: Aerial Ace and Brave Bird
• Strengths: Ground, Steel, Fire, Bug, Water, and Fighting
• Weaknesses: Electric and Rock

Ducklett is the clear frontrunner in the Element Cup, and every trainer should have one on their team. Being a dual Water/Flying-type means it can wipe out both Fire and Grass opponents and has very few weaknesses that can be exploited.

The main counter to worry about here is the Water/Electric-type Chinchou, which will have no problem defeating Ducklett. Besides that, it seems Ducklett is going to be the key to success for most trainers in the Element Cup.

Cottonee

• Fast Move: Charm
• Charged Move: Grass Knot and Seed Bomb
• Strengths: Water, Grass, Fighting, Electric, Ground, Dark, and Dragon
• Weaknesses: Fire, Poison, Steel, Flying, and Ice

Following closely behind Ducklett is the bulky Cottonee, another Pokemon with a dual typing that helps it rise to the top. Being a Grass/Fairy-type means it’s a good counter for both Water and Grass-types, but watch out for its weakness to Fire.

With Fast Moves likely playing a big part in the Element Cup, having the powerful Charm is a huge advantage. You won’t get many chances to use Charged Moves in this cup, but go with Grass Knot or Seed Bomb anyway.

Bulbasaur

• Fast Move: Vine Whip
• Charged Move: Seed Bomb and Sludge Bomb
• Strengths: Water, Grass, Fairy, Electric, and Fighting
• Weaknesses: Fire, Flying, Ice, and Psychic

Of all the starter Pokemon you could use in the Element Cup, the Kanto region’s Bulbasaur is arguably the best. Chances are, you’ll probably have a few lying around in your Storage, making it very accessible. If you have a Shadow version, even better.

Using the Fast Move Vine Whip makes sense, while a combination of the Grass-type Seed Bomb and the Poison-type Sludge Bomb as Charged Moves will make it the perfect counter to take down Cottonee (and maybe even Ducklett).

Vulpix

• Fast Move: Ember
• Charged Move: Weather Ball (Fire) and Body Slam
• Strengths: Grass, Fire, Ice, Steel, Bug, and Fairy
• Weaknesses: Water, Ground, and Rock

There aren’t many Fire-types available to use in the Element Cup, but Vulpix stands above the rest. It has relatively good bulk and the ability to counter pretty much any Grass-type opponent like Cottonee or Chikorita.

Vulpix’s best Fast Move is Ember, paired with the Charged Move Weather Ball (Fire) for maximum Fire-type damage. If you can afford a second Charged Move, go with the Normal-type Body Slam which can be spammed for neutral coverage.

Chinchou

• Fast Move: Spark
• Charged Move: Thunderbolt and Bubble Beam
• Strengths: Water, Fire, Ice, Flying, and Steel
• Weaknesses: Grass and Ground

While it may not have much general use in the Element Cup, the Water/Electric-type Chinchou serves one major purpose in the Element Cup: to wipe out Ducklett (although it can also beat some Fire-types like Vulpix).

As a result, you’ll want to focus on Electric-type moves, with Spark as its Fast Move and Thunderbolt as its Charged Move. If you have the resources to teach it a second Charged Move, go with the Water-type Bubble Beam for some extra coverage.

Chikorita

• Fast Move: Vine Whip
• Charged Move: Body Slam and Grass Knot
• Strengths: Water, Grass, Ground, and Electric
• Weaknesses: Fire, Ice, Bug, Flying, and Poison

Chikorita is another Grass-type that comes out near the top of the ranks in the Element Cup. It has one major advantage over Bulbasaur: It can easily take down Slowpoke. This is important, as you’ll likely see a lot of thanks to the recent A Very Slow Discovery event.

One final thing that’s worth pointing out is that stat distribution and CP will play an important role in the Element Cup. With such a small max CP restriction, it could be the difference between winning and losing.

Pokemon Go Element Cup start date & time

The Pokemon Go Battle League’s new Element Cup will kick off on Monday, June 28, 2021, at 1pm PDT and run until Monday, July 12, 2021, at 1pm PDT.

This means you’ll have two weeks to master this new Go Battle League cup and work your way to the top!

That’s it for our Element Cup best team recommendations. It will be interesting to see which Pokemon trainers choose and which ones reign supreme when the new cup goes live on June 28, 2021.

You can check out the current and upcoming schedule for the Go Battle League Season 8 right here.