The Kanto cup is making a return for you in Pokémon Go. In this competition, you’ll need to use Pokémon from the Kanto region against your opponent, limiting your pool of opponents and the options you can select. In this guide, we’re going to cover some of the better teams you can use for the Kanto Cup in Pokémon Go.
The Kanto Cup will be available from June 29 to July 6.
Best Pokémon teams for the Kanto Cup
Hypno, Clefable, and Snorlax
Hypno is among one of the tankiest Pokémon you can use in this league. It’s exceptionally good to withstand quite a bit of damage, and it has various moves it can use in combat to target multiple Pokémon-types. However, it doesn’t have a quick moveset, meaning it has low shield pressure. You want to counter this with Clefable, a Pokémon with an incredibly fast moveset that can destroy an opponent’s shields, and it’s able to counter Dragon, Fighting, Dark, and Bug-types. The last Pokémon you want to use is Snorlax, also another tanky Pokémon that is exceptionally strong and hard to defeat, making it a perfect final Pokémon to hold the line.
- Hypno: Confusion (fast move), thunder punch, and shadow ball
- Clefable: Charm (fast move), meteor mash, and moonblast
- Snorlax: Lick (fast move), body slam, and superpower
Lickitung, Mewtwo (shadow), and Pidgeot
For the next team, we have Lickitung, a robust Normal-type Pokémon capable of withstanding a lot of punishment for a variety of Pokémon in the Kanto cup. But you want to be careful of Fighting-types, so we recommend having the shadow version of Mewtwo, and Pidgeot, as the backup. You’ll want to place Lickitung as the Lead Pokémon, Mewtwo (shadow) as the Closer, and Pidgeot can be the Switch option.
- Licktung: Lick (fast move), body slam, and power whip
- Mewtwo (shadow): Psycho cut (fast move), psystrike, and shadow ball
- Pidgeot: Gust (fast move), brave bird, and feather dance.
Nidoqueen, Chansey, and Dragonair
Nidoqueen has been bumped through the Great League ranks following its diverse use of Poison-type moves. We recommend using this as your Lead Pokémon, followed by Chansey as your Closer. For a spicy Switch Pokémon to swap out and help with your team, we recommend tossing in Dragonair to take on Fire, Electric, and Rock-type Pokémon that could appear as opponents.
- Nidoqueen: Poison jab (fast move), poison fang, and earth power
- Chansey: Zen headbutt (fast move), psychic, and hyper beam
- Dragonair: Dragon breath (fast move), aqua tail, and dragon pulse.
Dragonair, Ninetales, and Alolan Sandshrew
Dragonair, while not a fully evolved Pokémon, is superb for the Kanto Cup. Dragonite, Dragonair’s fully evolved form, is much better suited for the Ultra or Master League. It has a worthwhile fast move that can put some heavy pressure on the opponent, along with a Water-type and another Dragon-type charged move capable of being spammed quite a bit. For backup, we’re going to recommend Ninetales to protect against Ice-types, and then Alolan Sandshrew for your last choice, given its good defenses.
- Dragonair: Dragon breath (fast move), aqua tail, and dragon pulse
- Ninetales: Fire spin (fast move), weather ball (Fire-type), and psyshock
- Alolan Sandshrew: Powder snow (fast move), ice punch, and bulldoze
Electrode, Blastoise, and Venusaur
On the final team, we’re going to recommend Electrode, an Electric-type Pokémon, that we believe serves as a better switch Pokémon than as the lead. For your lead, try using Blastoise, a bulky Water-type Pokémon capable of withstanding plenty of damage. You can swap in Electrode or Venusaur to protect against any of its weaknesses. Both Blastoise and Venusaur have superb fast attacks that they can spam, increasing their overall charged move consistency, and both have a reliable moveset.
- Electrode: Volt switch (fast move), discharge, and foul play
- Blastoise: Water gun (fast move), hydro cannon, and ice beam
- Venusaur: Vine whip (fast move), frenzy plant, and sludge bomb
