Pokemon GO Battle League (GBL in short) is the online competitive PvP arena of Pokemon GO. It was introduced to the game on January 20, 2020. There are three main formats of combat in GBL—Great, Ultra, and Master League—which rotate in and out one after the other. Along with these, GBL also hosts a theme-based cup for the first three weeks of every month. These rotations take place at 1 pm PT on every Friday.
Pokemon GO Battle League can be accessed by all players as long as they are at least level 10. Top 500 players make it to the global leaderboard, which was introduced in April 2020. Each player gets five battle sets every day. Until the restrictions for COVID-19 set in, this number could be increased by one for every 5 kilometers walked by the trainer.
How to play Pokemon GO Battle League
GO Battle League can be accessed by turning on Pokemon GO and clicking the Battle button in the Main Menu. There, you can select between the free track and the premium track, where the latter costs a Premium Battle Pass. Both allow you to take part in five battles and the only difference is the quantity and quality of the rewards. This brings the maximum number of trainer battles you can participate in daily to 25. This is increased for special events like GO Battle Days.
Rewards
You can get the following rewards from GBL:
Stardust
Rare Candy
Pokemon encounters
Fast TM
Charged TM
Sinnoh Stone
Silver Pinap Berry
The amount of Stardust and potential encounters vary as you climb the rank ladder. The latter is also determined by the ongoing season. There are 24 ranks starting from 1 to 20, followed by Ace, Veteran, Expert, and Legend.
At the end of the season, players receive a bonus, which includes Stardust, and if their level is high enough, avatar items and poses, as well as Elite Fast and/or Charged TMs.
All formats
Standard leagues
| League | Minimum requirements | CP cap |
| Great League | No Minimum Requirement | Max CP per Pokémon: 1,500 |
| Ultra League | 3 Pokémon with 1,500 CP or Higher | Max CP per Pokémon: 2,500 |
| Master League | 3 Pokémon with 2,500 CP or Higher | No limit |
Variants
| Name | Rules |
| Premier | Legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, and Ultra Beasts are banned |
| Remix | Ban list decided by official announcement |
Regional Cups
| Name | Rules |
| Kanto Cup | Only Pokémon with a Pokédex number between #001 and #151 allowed |
| Johto Cup | Only Pokémon with a Pokédex number between #152 and #251 allowed |
| Hoenn Cup | Only Pokémon with a Pokédex number between #252 and #386 allowed |
| Sinnoh Cup | Only Pokémon with a Pokédex number between #387 and #493 allowed |
| Hisui Cup | Only Pokémon originally discovered in the Hisui region or Pokémon with a Pokédex number between #387 and #493 allowed |
Seasonal Cups
| Electric Cup | Only Electric-type Pokémon allowed |
| Fighting Cup | Only Fighting-type Pokémon allowed; Psychic-type Pokémon banned |
| Flying Cup | Only Flying-type Pokémon allowed |
| Psychic Cup | Only Psychic-type Pokémon allowed; Mew banned |
| Catch Cup | Only Pokémon caught during a specified timeframe allowed, excluding Mythical Pokémon |
| Choose Bidoof! | Only Bidoof allowed; Max CP per Pokémon: 500 |
| Color Cup | Only Fire-, Water-, Grass- and Electric-type Pokémon allowed |
| Element Cup | Only Fire-, Water- and Grass-type Pokémon that are able to evolve and have not evolved even once allowed |
| Evolution Cup | Only Pokémon that have evolved at least once and can evolve again allowed |
| Fantasy Cup | Only Dragon-, Steel- and Fairy-type Pokémon allowed |
| Fossil Cup | Only Water-, Rock- and Steel-types Pokémon allowed |
| Halloween Cup | Only Poison-, Ghost-, Bug-, Dark- and Fairy-type Pokémon allowed, excluding Legendary and Mythical Pokémon |
| Holiday Cup | Only Normal-, Grass-, Electric-, Ice-, Flying- and Ghost-type Pokémon allowed |
| Jungle Cup | Only Normal-, Grass-, Electric-, Poison-, Ground-, Flying-, Bug- and Dark-type Pokémon allowed; Max CP per Pokémon: 1500 |
| Little Cup | Only Pokémon that are able to evolve and have not evolved even once allowed; Max CP per Pokémon: 500 |
| Little Jungle Cup | Only Normal-, Grass-, Electric-, Poison-, Ground-, Flying-, Bug- and Dark-type Pokémon allowed; Max CP per Pokémon: 500 |
| Love Cup | Only red and pink Pokémon allowed |
| Mountain Cup | Only Ground-, Rock-, Ice- and Steel-type Pokémon allowed |
| Retro Cup | Dark-, Steel- and Fairy-type Pokémon banned |
| Single-type Cup | Only single-typed Pokémon allowed |
| Spring Cup | Only Water-, Grass- and Fairy-type Pokémon allowed |
| Summer Cup | Only Normal-, Fire-, Water-, Grass-, Electric- and Bug-type Pokémon allowed |
| Sunshine Cup | Only Normal-, Fire-, Grass- and Ground-type Pokémon allowed |
| Weather Cup | Only Fire-, Water-, Ice- and Rock-type Pokémon allowed |
| Willpower Cup | Only Fighting-, Psychic- and Dark-type Pokémon allowed |
