Best team for the Catch Cup: Adventures Abound in Pokemon GO
If you're struggling to put together a team for the Catch Cup in Pokemon GO, we've got some recommendations of the best Pokemon you can use.
The Catch Cup: Adventures Abound Edition has finally arrived in the Pokemon GO Battle League, providing another challenging twist as Trainers scramble to put their best team together.
Similar to previous Catch Cups, this time around you'll only be able to enter Pokemon under 1500 CP that have been caught during the Adventures Abound season, so your potential pool of fighters is going to be much smaller than usual.
This also makes things tricky because even if you have a top-tier Pokemon, you won't have had much time to power them up and teach them their best attacks. To try and help you out, we've got some team recommendations below.
Best team for the Catch Cup: Adventures Abound Edition
One of the best teams you can use for this edition of the Catch Cup is Clodsire, Medicham, and Jellicent.
I'm expecting Clodsire to be the one to watch this time around, as many Trainers will have evolved one following the recent Wooper Community Day. It's got incredible bulk, a great Poison/Ground-typing, and is already putting in a great performance in the Great League.
The Fighting/Psychic-type Medicham has long been a standout in the GO Battle League, and because its pre-evolution Meditite was available during the Psychic Spectacular event, you might have one in your collection. The downside is that it's relatively expensive to power up to the 1500 CP limit.
Rounding out this team is the Water/Ghost-type Jellicent. You can catch its pre-evolution Frillish right now, as it's a common spawn in the Fashion Week event. It's got eight resistances, impressive bulk, and a decent moveset to boot, making it a great addition to your Catch Cup team.
Another great team composition would be Carbink, Sableye, and Azumarill. Like the previous team, these three Pokemon are standouts in the regular Great League format and have all been available to obtain one way or another during the Adventures Abound season.
Best Pokemon for the Catch Cup: Adventures Abound Edition
Here are some of the best Pokemon to use in this edition of the Catch Cup as well as their optimal movesets:
| Pokemon | Fast Move | Charged Moves | Sprite |
| Clodsire | Poison Sting | Earthquake & Sludge Bomb |  |
| Carbink | Rock Throw | Rock Slide & Moonblast |  |
| Medicham | Counter | Ice Punch & Psychic |  |
| Scrafty | Counter | Foul Play & Power-Up Punch |  |
| Jellicent | Hex | Surf & Shadow Ball |  |
| Lickitung | Lick | Body Slam & Power Whip |  |
| Sableye | Shadow Claw | Foul Play & Power Gem |  |
| Steelix | Dragon Tail | Breaking Swipe & Earthquake |  |
| Azumarill | Bubble | Ice Beam & Play Rough |  |
| Charjabug | Volt Switch | X-Scissor & Discharge |  |
All of these Pokemon were available to catch or evolve at some point during the Adventures Abound season (September 1 to November 30), so have a look for them in your collection!
General advice for the Catch Cup
As with any league or cup, your team's potential to win will always depend on the Pokemon your opponent uses. For example, Clodsire might be one of the top choices in this Catch Cup, but it will pretty much always lose to a strong Galarian Stunfisk.
This is why it's so important to put together a team with varied typings, strengths, and weaknesses, so you've always got an alternative Pokemon to switch out to if your opponent is super-effective against your current fighter.
Finally, remember that Catch Cups are always unpredictable (and often a little frustrating). It's pretty much impossible to predict what team you'll come up against, and chances are you won't have been able to catch all of the top-performing Pokemon.
For this reason, I would always recommend that you approach the Catch Cup as a bit of fun. Do your best to put together a decent team, but don't waste loads of resources on this limited-time cup; save those for when the regular leagues come back into rotation.
When does the Catch Cup start and end?
The Catch Cup: Adventures Abound Edition begins on Friday, November 17, 2023, at 1PM PT / 4PM ET / 9PM GMT, and runs until Friday, November 24, 2023.
This is the only cup that will appear during this time, so you won't be able to enter the Great League, Ultra League, or Master League like you usually can.
That's everything you need to know about the Catch Cup! Visit our Pokemon homepage for more guides like the latest Raid Bosses, upcoming Spotlight Hours, and how to redeem promo codes.
About The Author
Daniel Megarry
Daniel is GGRecon’s Deputy Guides Editor. He graduated from university with a degree in Journalism & English Language before covering video games and LGBTQ+ culture at publications including Gay Times and Dexerto. His favourite games include Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, and anything Nintendo. You can reach him on [email protected].
