Best team for The Catch Cup in Pokemon GO

Team building for The Catch Cup in Pokemon GO is going to give a lot of people headaches.

While many trainers already have some op threats for Great League PvP, they are now all useless since The Catch Cup only allows Pokemon caught during GO Fest 2022. That doesn’t offer too much time to spend on things like Stardust and XP, so trainers must plan who they are leveling up.

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Which Pokemon have best matchups in The Catch Cup?

In terms of team building for The Catch Cup, trainers will want to specifically look at what threats will be common on teams. Some typical threats like Trevenant might not be as common as Walrein since Sealeo and Spheal were available during GO Fest.

Since trainers can find out what spawned during the event, they can figure out what teams will most likely be running and plan accordingly. This means teams for the Catch Cup might look slightly different from the Great League teams, but there are still some common threats in both metas.

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Lead: Medicham

Medicham counters many common options in The Catch Cup (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Looking at the rankings on PvPoke for The Catch Cup, it’s clear why Medicham will be so valued. In the top ten, trainers can see Sableye, Zweilous, Mandibuzz, Scrafty, and Umbreon is only at number 11.

What do they all have in common? The Dark typing, meaning that leading with Medicham can automatically get the user switch advantage off the bat.

Forgetting about the Dark-types, threats like Magnezone and even the feared Walrein have to respect Medicham.

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Safe swap: Forretress

Considering that there aren’t too many Ghost-types in the meta that aren’t named Sableye, the bigger concern for Medicham will be opposing Fairies and Flying types. This makes pairing Medicham with a Steel-type very effective.

Forretress can serve as an excellent safe swap due to its gigantic 146 Defense stat. It can easily take attacks from the likes of Gardevoir and Alolan Ninetales, two threats that might be seen quite often in The Catch Cup.

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Cover: Swampert

Swampert has only one weakness: Grass (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Trainers who know their type matchup chart can attest that Forretress only has one significant weakness: Fire. This makes Swampert an optimal partner to this duo of Forretress and Medicham.

Swampert also really has one weakness in Grass, which Forretress perfectly covers. Swampert also gives the team a considerable boost in offense thanks to Hydro Cannon, a nuke of a move with a reasonable energy cost. The low amount of viable Dragon-type Pokemon in this competition makes Hydro Cannon even more powerful.

One potential change trainers can make is swapping out Forretress for Magnezone if they have it. Since Magnezone is part Electric-type, it can deal with Pelipper and Mantine, who both have strong matchups against Medicham and Swampert.

Another edit players could make is changing out Swampert for Sableye. This is just in case trainers are scared of opposing Medicham. Many gamers say Medicham is the top threat in this meta, and most teams will be running it, so trainers will want a game plan for when they see it.