Pokemon

Pokemon Go Love Cup: Best teams, restrictions & dates

Ezequiel Leis
two pokemon in the water with the pokemon go logo

The Pokemon Go Love Cup is live around the world but its specific rules might make it hard for some trainers to build powerful teams. We’ll give you some recommendations to make the most out of this limited-time event-related competition.

Love is in the air and in Pokemon Go with its Valentine’s Day event and related activities. Aside from the Great League, Ultra League, and Master League competitions, players can challenge other trainers in the Love Cup, a limited-time event cup.

These special competitions come with some specific restrictions and rules, so here’s everything you need to know about the Pokemon Go Love Cup, including the best Pokemon to set on your team, the specific rules of the competition, and the start and end dates, so you don’t miss it.

Pokemon Go Mega GardevoirPokemon Go’s Valentine’s Day event also features a new Mega Raid and a Timed Research.

Pokemon Go Love Cup restrictions

Even though Pokemon Go’s Love Cup is a limited-time competition, it’s pretty accessible to most players. Pokemon fighting in these battles must be below the 1,500 CP limit to qualify.

The Love Cup is one of the most peculiar challenges of the game since only red or pink Pokemon are allowed to take part in it. While that reduces the possibilities, it’s also worth noting that Pokemon like Charizard, which only have red in their flames, also qualify as eligible.

Best Pokemon for the Love Cup

Below you’ll find the Pokemon best fitted to engage in battle in the Love Cup, but keep in mind that no team is invincible since everything depends on your opponent’s team, which you won’t know until the battle starts. With that in mind, here are the best Pokemon to choose for this competition:

Charizard

Charizard in a pokemon battle background
  • Fast Move: Wing Attack
  • Charged Moves: Dragon Claw and Blast Burn
  • Resistances: Bug, Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Grass, Ground, and Steel
  • Weaknesses: Electric, Rock, and Water

Charizard remains a top choice in this year’s edition of the Love Cup, but it’s also one of the easiest Pokemon to get on this list.

The best possible moveset includes the Community Day’s exclusive fast move Wing Attack, which will allow you to generate energy faster than other attacks. Once your charge is full, you could either go with Dragon Claw to force your opponent to use shields, or Blast Burn to deal massive damage.

Alomomola

Alomomola in a pokemon battle background
  • Fast Move: Waterfall
  • Charged Moves: Psychic and Hydro Pump
  • Resistances: Fire, Ice, Steel, and Water
  • Weaknesses: Electric and Grass

What could be better than a heart-shaped Pokemon for the Love Cup? Alomomola it’s a very interesting option since it has an impressive bulk and is resistant to most eligible Pokemon. You just gotta make sure you keep it away from Grass-type Pokemon.

Waterfall should be your choice for Fast Move since it deals considerable damage and benefits from STAB. Same as with Charizard, your two best options for Charged Moves depend on your approach: Psychic is ideal for shield-baiting while Hydro Pump deals more damage thanks to the STAB.

Medicham

Medicham in a pokemon battle background
  • Fast Move: Counter
  • Charged Moves: Power-Up Punch and Psychic
  • Resistances: Fighting and Rock
  • Weaknesses: Fairy, Flying, and Ghost

Medicham is a formidable option as long as you keep its limitations in mind. It needs XL Candy to be viable in the Love Cup and can be in trouble facing a Fairy-type Pokemon.Electric and GrassMedicham is a formidable option as long as you keep its limitations in mind. It needs XL Candy to be viable in the Love Cup and can be in trouble facing a Fairy-type Pokemon.

Counter is one of the best Fast Moves available in Pokemon Go thanks to the STAB and energy generation. Charged moves won’t be as useful as with previous Pokemon in this list, but they provide good coverage.

Lickitung

pokemon go great league lickitung featureNiantic
  • Fast Move: Lick
  • Charged Moves: Body Slam and Power Whip
  • Resistances: Ghost
  • Weaknesses: Fighting

Lickitung remains a top-tier option across all Battle Leagues, so naturally, it’s a great option for the Pokemon Go Love Cup. You’ll need XL Candy and a Legacy Move/Elite Charged TM to make the cut.

You’ll need Lick as your Fast Move since any other option seems ineffective for this particular competition. For the Charged Moves, Body Slam (Legacy Move) provides great damage for a low energy cost, while Power Whip is ideal to counter Water-types.

Wigglytuff

Wigglytuff in a pokemon battle background
  • Fast Move: Charm
  • Charged Moves: Play Rough and Ice Beam
  • Resistances: Bug, Dark, Dragon, and Ghost
  • Weaknesses: Poison and Steel

Wigglytuff isn’t as great as it used to be, but it’s a great contender for the Pokemon Go Love Cup since it’s one of the few eligible Pokemon that can resist Lickitung’s attacks.

Charm should always be your Fast Move option, but keep in mind that it doesn’t offer much energy generation, so you might not be able to use many Charged Moves. Either way, Play Rough benefits from STAB, while Ice Beam provides extra coverage.

Aromatisse

Aromatisse in a pokemon battle background
  • Fast Move: Charm
  • Charged Moves: Psychic and Thunderbolt
  • Resistances: Bug, Dark, Dragon, and Fighting
  • Weaknesses: Poison and Steel

Aromatisse has great bulk and is very effective in countering some of the most powerful eligible Pokemon for the Love Cup.

Charm should be your only option for Fast Move, with Psychic and Thunderbolt as Charged Moves. The former will help you deal with Poison-types, while the latter is ideal to counter Water-types.

Clefable

Clefable in a pokemon battle background
  • Fast Move: Charm
  • Charged Moves: Meteor Mash and Psychic
  • Resistances: Dragon, Bug, Dark, and Fighting
  • Weaknesses: Poison and Steel

Clefable doesn’t sound like a powerful option at first, but it’s actually great at countering other Pokemon listed above.

As with Wigglytuff and Aromatisse, Charm should be the selected Fast Move. While Psychic is good for shield-baiting, Meteor Mash is great to deal with other Pokemon equipped with Charm, like the powerful Wigglytuf.

There are more than 100 eligible Pokemon for the Love Cup, so make sure you build a balanced team that can cover different resistances in case you have to face a counter you were not expecting. Keep in mind that there are a lot of Fire, Fairy, and Water-types that fill the requirements to participate.

Pokemon Go Love Cup start and end dates

The Pokemon Go Love Cup begins on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET / 9 PM GMT and runs until Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 1 PM PT. Make sure you try your luck before the Valentine’s Day event ends and good luck!

For more Pokemon, be sure to check out other guides:

Pokemon Go Raid schedule for February 2023 | How to heal Pokemon in Pokemon Go | How many Pokemon are there? | Best Pokemon for PvP battles in Pokemon Go | How to get revives in Pokemon Go | Pokemon Go best attackers ranked | How to get Master Ball in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet | Are Pokemon Scarlet & Violet getting DLC? | How many Pokemon types are in Scarlet & Violet?

Image Credits: Niantic / The Pokemon Company

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