Best Teams For Pokémon GO Battle League Season 23 - Delightful Days PvP Guide

Season 23 of the GO Battle League is officially underway in Pokémon GO and there are a ton of new meta changes that are dramatically impacting top lineups. Launching simultaneously with the Delightful Days Season, the 23rd season of the GO Battle League will be the update played by trainers at the 2025 Pokemon World Championships in August.

This means that the incentive to learn the new meta has never been higher. We are going to break down this meta, giving you the teams that the top players in the world are using, as well as some of the exclusive rewards you can earn by competing in the GO Battle League. 

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How Long Does Season 23 Last?

Season 23 of the GO Battle League will span from June 3 to September 2, 2025 (Running simultaneously with the Delightful Days Season). When opening the GO Battle League tab for the first time in Season 23, your End-of-Season Rewards will be available to collect. Your rank will be reset, and the rank-up requirements will stay the exact same as in Season 22. 

Full Season 23 GBL Schedule

Below is the full Great Battle League schedule for Season 23: 

June 3 - June 10:

• Great League
• Sunshine Cup: Great League Edition

June 10 - June 17: 

• Ultra League
• Fossil Cup: Great League Edition

June 17 - June 24:

• Master League*
• Summer Cup: Ultra League Edition*

June 24 - July 1: 

• Great League*
• Ultra League*
• Master League*

July 1 - July 8: 

• Great League
• Element Cup: Little Edition

July 8 - July 15: 

• Ultra League
• Hisui Cup: Great League Edition

July 15 - July 22: 

• Master League*
• Sunshine Cup: Great League Edition*

July 22 - July 29:

• Great League*
• Ultra League*
• Master League*

July 29 - August 5: 

• Great League
• Fossil Cup: Great League Edition

August 5 - August 12: 

• Ultra League
• Summer Cup: Ultra League Edition

August 12 - August 19

• Great League*
• Ultra League*
• Master League*

August 19 - August 26: 

• Master League*
• Catch Cup: Great League Edition*

August 26 - September 2: 

• Great League*
• Ultra League*
• Master League*

*4× Stardust from win rewards (this does not include end-of-set rewards)

Pokémon Move Changes in GBL Season 23

In the X post from @bulbavisual below, you can see the full array of Pokémon move availability changes for Season 23. Many of the Pokémon emerging in the new meta are a direct result of move buffs that have heavily benefitted Pokémon, such as Forretress, Golisopod, and Shadow Metang. 

For the full list of move tuning and availability changes, see the Pokémon GO update notes. 

GO Battle Weekend: Delightful Days

The Battle Weekend for Delightful Days will start on Friday, August 15, at 12:00 AM and last through Sunday, August 17, at 11:59 PM local time. Below are the bonuses listed on the official update notes that will be active during this weekend: 

• 4× Stardust from win rewards. (This does not include end-of-set rewards.)
• The maximum number of sets you can play per day will increase from five to 20—for a total of 100 battles—from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. local time
• Free battle-themed Timed Research will be available. Rewards include shoes for your avatar inspired by a powerful Battle Tower battler
• Pokémon encountered via GO Battle League rewards will have a wider variance of Attack, Defense, and HP

Best Teams for the Great League in Season 23

With all of the tuning and move changes made heading into GBL Season 23, the top trainers in the world have been preparing lineups for you to optimize your climb in Delightful Days. The best trainers in the world will compete in the Great League Format at the Pokémon World Championships in August, using this exact same meta. @Yonkoujean on X has compiled a list of teams featuring some of the world's best players. Here are some of those top teams:

Flexible Teams

These flexible teams feature diverse typings allowing you to adapt mid-match to whatever your opponent throws at you. 

ABC Flexible - Mosoclutch

• Lickilicky (lead)
• Drifblim
• Shadow Marowak (safe swap)

ABC Flexible - Josechilling

• Lokix (lead)
• Toxapex
• Diggersby (safe swap)

ABC Flexible - Sweetpian

• Shadow Metang (lead)
• Clodsire
• Samurott (safe swap)

ABC Flexible - Tzspenx

• Blastoise (lead)
• Galarian Corsola
• Forretress (safe swap)

ABC Flexible - Tontonbatteuse

• Galarian Corsola (lead)
• Diggersby
• Shadow Samurott/Dewott (safe swap)

ABC Flexible - Isevenyt

• Azumarill (lead)
• Shadow Metang
• Golisopod (safe swap)

ABB Weak to Mudboy - Cachton69

• Dusclops (lead)
• Dedenne
• Diggersby (safe swap)

Double-Typing Teams

The double-typing teams focus heavily on one typing that can exploit a large portion of high usage Pokémon. While they can quickly burn through multiple Pokémon, they also leave your team exposed to multiple weaknesses. 

ABB Double Water - Kenkenpa5678

• Forretress (lead)
• Lapras
• Blastoise (safe swap)

ABB Double Mud Slap - Ryotokyoama

• Talonflame (lead)
• Gastrodon
• Shadow Marowak (safe swap)

ABB Double Bug - Goyubinace

• Clodsire (lead)
• Forretress
• Golisopod (safe swap)

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Best Pokémon to Use in GBL Season 23

From the lineups top players are using, you can see a clear meta emerging for Season 23. Many of these Pokémon are featured in the top teams above. Below ,we are going to take a look at some of the top-ranked Pokémon in the Great League based on the PvPoke rankings and how you can equip them to optimize their performance in the GBL (Rank 1 IVs listed in parentheses).

1. Clodsire (0/14/13): Poison Sting, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake
2. Forretress (0/9/15): Bug Bite, Rock Tomb, Earthquake
3. Corviknight (0/13/14): Sand Attack, Sky Attack, Shadow Punch
4. Dusclops (0/11/15): Hex, Ice Punch, Shadow Punch
5. Golisopod (0/8/15): Fury Cutter, X-Scissor, Aqua Jet
6. Galarian Corsola (0/15/15): Astonish, Night Shade, Power Gem
7. Samurott (0/14/14): Fury Cutter, Hydro Cannon*, Megahorn

To see how your team stacks up with the most optimized lineups, check the PvPoke rankings and use their database to build the best team possible for the GBL. 

Rank Up Rewards for GBL Season 23

GBL Season 23 features exclusive encounters that you can earn when reaching a certain rating. Some of these rewards are incredibly exclusive and have some of the rarest shinies in the game. Below are the encounters you can earn once this season when hitting the required ranking: 

• Rank 1: Mienfoo*
• Rank 6: Vullaby*
• Ace Rank: Morpeko
• Veteran Rank: Frigibax
• Expert Rank: Dreepy
• Legend Rank: Pikachu Libre*

*Can be shiny

Pikachu Libre is one of the rarest shinies in the entire game. Collecting this Pokémon will boost the value of your account exponentially. For the full list of possible encounters available at each rank, visit the full update notes to see each Pokémon you can encounter at every rank. 

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