Does Scrafty learn Upper Hand in Pokemon GO?

The Pokemon GO Sparring Partners event introduces the Fighting-type Charged Attack Upper Hand. The blog post for the event mentioned that Scraggy, the creature featured in one-star raids, would learn the new move but failed to mention anything about its evolved form.

Sparring Partner in Pokemon GO lasts from 2 - 5 pm local time on April 13, 2025. After the event starts in your region, all Scrafty will be able to learn Upper Hand. This article covers the nitty-gritty around this topic.

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How to get Upper Hand Scrafty in Pokemon GO

You can get Scrafty that knows Upper Hand in the following ways:

• Evolve a Scraggy that knows Upper Hand during Sparring Partners.
• Teach Scrafty the move using a regular Charged TM.

Scrafty can learn Upper Hand in Pokemon GO (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming / TPC)

How to evolve Scraggy into Scrafty in Pokemon GO

You can feed Scraggy 50 Candy to evolve it in Pokemon GO. If you do so during the event, the evolved creature will know the move Upper Hand. After the event is over, the move will get rerolled and may or may not land on Upper Hand.

If you don't get a Scrafty with Upper Hand via evolution, you can easily teach it the move using a regular Charged TM. This might take a couple of turns of usage as Scrafty has quite a few Charged Move options — Thunder Punch, Foul Play, Power-Up Punch, and Acid Spray.

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Is Upper Hand Scrafty good in Pokemon GO?

Upper Hand is a 70-damage move (84 with STAB) that consumes only 40 energy. This makes it an excellent offensive option for Scrafty, whose best STAB attack was Foul Play — 72 damage for 40 energy.

Upper Hand can be considered an improvement for Scrafty when it comes to dealing damage. However, in terms of coverage into Fairy types — Scrafty's biggest threat — it loses out by letting go of Thunder Punch. Giving up Foul Play leaves it more vulnerable to Ghosts.

Upper Hand sees significant improvement in simulation results only in the 0-0 shield situation. Combined with the lost coverage potential, it is best to run with the previous best moveset for Scrafty — Counter + Foul Play and Thunder Punch.

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In other news, the details of the Pokemon GO Fest 2025 have been announced.

Check out our other Pokemon GO guides:

• Ditto disguises
• Buddy Evolution Adventure Together guide
• Best Fast Attacks in Pokemon GO
• Sierra counters
• Cliff counters
• Arlo counters
• Giovanni counters
• Team GO Rocket Grunts