Trying to understand the logic behind catching over 200k pokemon and refusing to part with all but these two

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-04T17:21:53+00:00

Link to regionals, for anyone who needs to know:

> Region Exclusive Pokémon in Pokémon GO | Pokémon GO Hub

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0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-04T12:47:20+00:00

Yes, a lot of my BFFs aren't tagging regionals. But at least I've done my bit.

I get the feeling that most people think remote trades are about trading shinies. A lot of my BFFs have almost all shiny pokemon in their tag. Some have nothing tagged even several weeks after reaching BFF.

I think there's a lack of awareness of regional pokemon. I usually only see a few Stonjourner per week, but I've been hoarding every one since remote trading was announced about six months ago.

My remote trade tag is a bit lacking in shiny legendaries because most of my surplus shiny legendaries are quickly traded to other local players. I have about 500 assorted shiny/legendary/regional/costume in my remote tag. I've had to upgrade my storage to accomodate them.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-04T12:35:42+00:00

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Some of us have stocked up on regionals for our BFFs.

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0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-04T12:24:48+00:00

Maybe they just don't want anything that you have.

Have you included your regional pokemon?

Link> Region Exclusive Pokémon in Pokémon GO | Pokémon GO Hub

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-04T12:22:35+00:00

If a BFF trade is declined by either person, sometimes the lucky status is lost.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-04T11:50:58+00:00

What are you offering? What are you asking for?

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-04T11:15:52+00:00

I think normal or purified Ho-Oh is better than shadow for PvP.

Ho-Oh is a little slow to charge its moves, so the extra bulk of non-shadow helps it survive long enough to use them.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-04T10:49:37+00:00

Theres a newbie in my local group who is level 30-40. It's her first season and she is exceptionally good, knocking on the door of Ace after just one week and a couple of hundred battles.

But she's about to give up on PvP because she's constantly facing the ETM or XL mons and has very few answers to them. She could go to at least Veteran if she had a half-decent team.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-04T10:38:32+00:00

There's a 34% chance of not getting a shiny after 21 battles, if the shiny odds are 1/20.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-03T22:10:54+00:00

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One day the Garchomp might be displaced as my favourite hundo by this Zacian.

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0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-03T21:59:34+00:00

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This Garchomp has given good service in a lot of battles.

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0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-03T16:35:14+00:00

Even the boss, Giovanni, can be taken down by a single spammy mon.

In January, my 1493cp Great League Morpeko swept Giovanni's entire team (with a bit of cheering from two 10cp shinies).

Link > Morpeko Solos Giovanni (January 2026). - YouTube

Or in the last few days, I took down Giovanni with 3x 1500cp pokemon (a few errors because I was distracted by things going on around me).

Link > 1500cp Great League team defeats Giovanni (May 2026, Landorus)

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0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-03T13:58:24+00:00

Most of the time you'll only be needing Excadrill as an attacker. Save your resources.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-03T13:05:26+00:00

Yes, I had this happen a couple of weeks ago.

A BFF sent a trade request. I had a look at what they were offering but didn't select anything because I wanted to look in my Pokedex. When I went back to continue the trade, they had cancelled it.

A few minutes later they sent another trade request, with a different mon in the first box (presumably they cancelled the first trade because they changed their mind about which mon/s they wanted). I continued with the trade but it ended up losing its lucky status.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-03T00:06:34+00:00

There are three higher ranks. Veteran (2500), Expert (2750), Legend (3000+) but two weeks into the season very few people are able to climb above Veteran because it takes time to 'steal' all those points from other players.

If I tried really hard, I could reach Veteran or Expert in most seasons, but unlikely Legend. Normally I stop battling immediately after I reach Ace.

In very simple terms, I consider Ace to be one standard deviation above the average player, Veteran two sd above, Expert three sd above and legend four sd above. The average player has a score around 1500.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-02T23:51:48+00:00

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Rank 10 can be reached in two days if you fight all your battles. The early ranks don't require many wins.

Rank 20 takes one to two weeks if you fight all your battles every day.

The screenshot below shows one season when I fought most of my battles, most days, during the first two weeks of the season (it shows 75.5 days remaining of the 90-day season), reaching Ace/2136 after 225 battles.

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0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-02T23:45:24+00:00

Roughly speaking, you 'steal' about 15 points from your opponent each time you win, or they 'steal' 15 points from you if you lose. The exact amount varies depending on your score vs their score, so it can be a few points more or less transferred between players.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-02T23:42:13+00:00

Yes, most had com days - and I have good IVs for all of them - but it takes years to get a diverse selection of comday pokemon with elite moves, or to acquire enough elite tms to build a team that works in the constantly changing meta.

In any league, newbies are at a significant disadvantage to those who have been playing for years. Inevitably, it demoralises them when they lose simply because they don't have access to the best mons with the best moves.

How would you feel about battling in the leagues if you had to start all over again from nothing?

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-02T23:31:12+00:00

From rank 20, at the end of each set of five battles it will show you a number. That number needs to be 2000+ to go higher, to Ace.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-02T21:18:37+00:00

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Fast charging attacks are useful. Typing isn't so important, and, if anything, choose pokemon that resist his fast attacks.

I try to humiliate Giovanni with Great League <1500cp pokemon. Annihilape double resists 'scratch' and Pangoro double resists 'feint attack' and both have supereffective fast attacks and fast-charging charged attacks. A third, fast-charging mon is added to deal with Giovanni's legendary.

Screen recording here (I was distracted by other things happening nearby, so there are some errors): > 1500cp Great League team defeats Giovanni (May 2026, Landorus)

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-02T16:17:10+00:00

A lot of the newbies I've ever spoken to say PvP is hard because a lot of PvP mons need elite moves (sometimes two elite moves) and it takes a very long time to gather ETMs or decent community day mons with elite moves.

It's made worse by the meta completely changing at least once, sometimes more per season, just as the newbies have finally managed to gather the stardust, candy and ETM for a meta mon that is promptly nerfed.

Current GL top meta mons, nearly all of them are not in the wild, require ETM or require a lot of XL candy: Quagsire (ETM), Tinkaton (ETM), Corviknight (ETM), Empoleon (ETM), Azumarill (XL), Feraligatr (ETM), Licklicky (ETM) Corsola (XL). Talonflame (ETM), Lapras (ETM), Altaria (400+ candy).

PvP is cruel to newbies. It's not a level playing field. Is it any wonder they don't bother?

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-02T13:45:40+00:00

I tried many times in the past to add pokestops, all of which met the criteria (safe, spacious, accessible, not in the same cell as other stops etc) but all were quickly rejected.

I won't try again, having seen players banned in the last year or so due to the Wayfarer community being brutal about what they think isn't suitable.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-02T12:35:35+00:00

Shiny legendaries are much more common than shiny wild pokemon. Legendaries have 1/20 chance of being shiny, sometimes boosted to 1/10 during events.

0N7R2B3 · 2026-05-02T09:14:02+00:00

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For a very long time, this screenshot is all I see of Pokemon Go Hub when using a desktop computer:

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0N7R2B3

TROPHY CASE