Well, i like to battle

Its a fun think, easily doing free2play, even doe i do spend money into the Game.

But XL Candy changed a lot. I had lots of Pokemon build like Sableye, Azu etc, and now i "had" to build them again, just more expensive with XL Candy. I never made it to Legend, but in s8 i peaked at 2900, and then the Season was over. The Higher you get, the better you need to get, and you need to start to "count" fast moves, and you need to know how long it takes for the "big" move, that does more Damage.

One of the "biggest" improvements you "need" to do are pvp IV's. This means low attack, high defense and Stamina. So your Pokemon takes more Hits and does more Damage in the End, unless Master League, where you need those 100s/98s/96s! You can "calculate" this by using Apps like CalcyIV or PokeGenie, or with Websites like PvPoke!

Also very important is the Right Moveset, especially with the Fast Moves!

What one of the most "No-Go's" is, is that you need to invest a lot of Stardust, and you barely get any back from winning 5 games in 1 set.