GO Battle League Season 2 begins Monday, May 11, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)

**UPDATE 2: Trainers, we’d like to apologize for the extended downtime. Please know the team worked fast over the past week to properly resolve the issue and thoroughly test our fix. In the meantime, please see below for the updated Season 2 schedule. We will also be making the following changes to GO Battle League:

• Increased daily sets—Daily sets will increase from 5 to 6. This change will be permanent for Season 2.
• A week of boosted GO Battle League rewards—From Tuesday, June 23, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Tuesday, June 30, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. PDT the GO Battle League win rewards will change for the basic and premium tracks:
• The Pokémon you encounter will change for the basic and premium reward tracks. Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott will no longer be available as GO Battle League encounters.
• For the premium track only, the Rare Candy reward will be available at the fourth slot instead of the fifth slot.
• The GO Battle League leaderboard will be temporarily disabled. We’ll keep the leaderboard disabled while we monitor the state of GO Battle League.

For more information, please see this article on our help center.**

UPDATE: Trainers, we've identified a technical issue that needs to be addressed before we transition to Season 2 of GO Battle League. Due to this, we are delaying the start of Season 2 until Monday, May 11, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7). Trainers will also be able to claim their end-of-season rewards then.

Trainers,

As April comes to a close, so does Season 1 of the GO Battle League. A lot has happened these past few weeks!

GO Battle League Season 1 recap

We kicked off the season with a celebration event that helped Trainers prepare for the GO Battle League, where they had the opportunity to catch powerful Pokémon—like Skarmory, Registeel, and Altered Forme Giratina—to add to their battle parties. As Season 1 continued, Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, such as Darkrai, became available as GO Battle League reward encounters for the first time.

On Friday, April 10, 2020, the GO Battle League leaderboard was released, showing the top 500 Trainers in the GO Battle League. In celebration of the leaderboard launch, the GO Battle Day event debuted, this time featuring Marill. Trainers earned reward encounters with Marill in the GO Battle League, enjoyed event bonuses, and gained access to 20 sets of GO Battle League battles for a total of 100 battles on the event day.

Season 1 rewards, Season 2 timeline, and what’s staying the same

When Season 2 begins on Monday, May 11, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7), be sure to check out the Battle screen to receive your end-of-season rewards, including an Elite Charged TM if you reached rank 7 or higher! Season 2 will rotate through leagues, as noted in the schedule below. Season 3 is planned to begin in early July. Please note that all these dates are tentative. Stay tuned—we’ll update you if anything changes.

• The Great League will run from Monday, May 11, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, June 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).
• The Ultra League will run from Monday, June 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, July 6, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).
• The Master League and the Premier Cup will run from Monday, July 6, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, July 20, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).
• All three leagues and the Premier Cup will be available from Monday, July 20, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, July 27, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).
• Season 3 will begin Monday, July 27, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).

For Season 2, the following will be the same as during Season 1.

• The walking and PokéCoin requirements to unlock sets of battles in the GO Battle League will still be removed. If you’re currently in the middle of walking to earn a set, this will take effect starting with your next set.
• The avatar items inspired by Pikachu Libre will continue to be rank 7 rewards.
• Metagross and Pikachu Libre will continue to be guaranteed reward encounters when you reach rank 1 and rank 10 respectively.
• The avatar items inspired by Steven Stone, a Pokémon League Champion of the Hoenn region, will continue to be rank 10 rewards.

What’s new, Season 2?

There’ll be a few changes coming to the GO Battle League and Trainer Battles for Season 2.

• The GO Battle League reward system has been changed slightly. You can now earn a Pokémon reward encounter after your third win on the basic rewards track or after your first win on the premium rewards track.
• The ranking system has been adjusted. More wins are now required to get to ranks 4, 5, 6, and 7.
• Some of your guaranteed reward encounters will be different for Season 2. You’ll encounter these Pokémon at each listed rank:
• Stunfisk starting at rank 4
• Rufflet starting at rank 8
• Scraggy starting at rank 9.
• If you reach rank 10, you’ll earn a new avatar pose!
• Trainers who finish Season 2 at rank 7 or higher will receive an Elite Fast TM rather than an Elite Charged TM. Other than that, end-of-season rewards will stay the same as in Season 1.

Updates to Trainer Battles

We’re excited to announce some additional updates to Trainer Battles.

• Trainers will be able to initiate Trainer Battles via QR Code from anywhere, regardless of the Trainers’ Friendship level or distance.
• For Trainer Battles with friends, the Friendship level requirement will remain lowered so you can send battle invites to Good Friends and Great Friends. Originally, you could send battle invites only to Ultra Friends and Best Friends.

The following existing attacks have been updated in Trainer Battles.

• Drill Run: Its energy requirement has been reduced.
• Moonblast: Its energy requirement and damage have both been reduced, and it now has a chance to lower the opponent’s Attack stat.
• Wild Charge: Its energy requirement has been reduced, its damage has been increased, and will now sharply lower the user’s Defense stat.

Along with these updates to existing attacks, the following Pokémon will be able to learn an attack it couldn’t before.

• Palkia and Aqua Tail: Aqua Tail gives Palkia a powerful Water-type Charged Attack that charges quickly, helping Palkia stand out from the other Legendary Dragon types in the Master League and making Protect Shield decisions tougher for opponents.

Please be aware of your surroundings when playing Pokémon GO. Upcoming events are subject to change. Be sure to follow us on social media, opt into receiving push notifications, and subscribe to our emails to stay updated. For the latest on in-game events and feature updates, be sure to check this help center article.

—The Pokémon GO team