List of all NPC Challengers in Pokemon GO World Championships 2022

Pokemon GO is collaborating with the Pokemon World Championships, featuring several NPC trainers available to fight. The trainer battles are similar to the Team GO Rocket ones, and players can travel to PokeStops to find NPC Challengers waiting for someone to take them on.

Overall, there are six NPC Challengers to face. A couple of them have a set team of Pokemon, while others have two options for each slot, making it hard to predict what they'll use in battle.

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All six Pokemon GO World Championships NPC Challengers

There's nothing different about how these trainer battles work mechanically. Players will choose three Pokemon to use against the NPC Challengers and their teams of three Pokemon.

The random factor associated with some of the NPC challengers having two options for each slot means players should choose their most powerful and diverse team of Poke. Knowing what they might face beforehand can help with team creation before battling, however.

Here are the six NPC challengers:

1) Ambitious Challenger

The Ambitious Challenger will have:

• Greedent or Talonflame
• Nidoqueen or Registeel
• Obstagoon or Swampert

Players will notice a pattern with the different NPC Challengers. Many of them have a combination of the same Pokemon, featuring some of the best Pokemon that have taken over the GO Battle League meta.

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2) Confident Challenger

Players can expect these from the Confident Challenger:

• Lickitung or Deoxys (Defense)
• Trevenant or Mandibuzz
• Walrein or Swampert

A powerful Electric-type will work great against Walrein or Mandibuzz. It can also deal solid damage to the first choice, either Lickitung or Deoxys. Going in with a good Grass-type and Fire-type makes sense as well.

The Pokemon World Championships event has many challenges for Pokemon GO players (Image via Niantic)

3) Eager Challenger

The Eager Challenger has a set team of three Pokemon:

• Nidoqueen
• Sableye
• Swampert

Trainers have no randomization to worry about here. An Ice-type will be able to help against all of the Pokemon in this list. Venusaur will also make for a good option against Swampert.

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4) Eccentric Challenger

When taking on the Eccentric Challenger, Pokemon GO trainers should be prepared for:

• Sirfetch'd or Sableye
• Talonflame or Registeel
• Walrein or Lickitung

This is perhaps the hardest team to prepare for, with a potential Registeel in the mix. Players should use a combination of Electric attacks and Fighting attacks. Using a Dragon-type Pokemon is also a good idea since it can add to the basic strength of the team.

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5) Novice Challenger

The Novice Challenger has some brutal options for battle:

• Azumarill or Alolan Ninetales
• Obstagoon or Galarian Stunfisk
• Sableye or Trevenant

Most of the teams are tough to prep for since there are multiple options that the opposition can use. This Pokemon GO NPC Challenger isn't too bad, though. A Flying-type, a Ground-type, and a Steel-type will work wonders here.

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6) Slick Challenger

The Slick Challenger features a set team of three, making them easier to battle against:

• Azumarill
• Medicham
• Trevenant

Zapdos is a wonderful choice when going against the Slick Challenger. It can deal supereffective damage with Thunder Shock to Azumarill and Drill Peck to both Medicham and Trevenant. Choosing what the remaining Pokemon will be is up to the player; they just have to keep coverage in mind.

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Trainers can battle the NPC Challengers as part of the Pokemon World Championships 2022 Research Mission. The rewards for this mission are:

• Battle a Challenger: x10 Poke Balls
• Battle 2 Challengers: x1 Fast TM (Techincal Machine)
• Battle 3 Challengers: x10 Great Balls
• Battle 4 Challengers: x1 Charged TM
• Battle 5 Challengers: x10 Ultra Balls

After all of the challenges are completed, players will receive a Pokemon encounter, x1 Elite Fast TM, and x1 Elite Charged TM.