Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Little Edition: Best Pokémon

You know the drill: Pokémon Go likes to celebrate spooky season with all sorts of events and the formats in Battle League are no exception to this rule. In 2024, we begin with an appetizer in the form of Halloween Cup – Little Edition, which runs from October 15 to 22, 2024. In this period, the Stardust rewards for winning battles will be quadrupled.

There is a maximum limit on competition points (CP) your fielded Pokémon can possess in this format. In Halloween Cup – Little Edition, this is set at 500 CP, the traditional Little Edition limit. That also means that this competition is very easy on your Stardust and Candy XL budget, as you won’t have to power up your Pokémon all too much. In addition, you may only bring fighters of the types Poison, Bug, Ghost, Dark, and Fairy.

We’ve put together a list of the best Pokémon for Halloween Cup – Little Edition to get you started on your team building process. Our choices are based on statistics and simulations provided by PvPoke.com.

Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Little Edition: Best Leads

The Pokémon in this category are aggressors, able to apply pressure on your opponent right from the start of a battle. They can also drag out tough battles for a long time thanks to their bulk. This versatile effectiveness makes them perfectly suited to open a match up, enabling you to score an early knockout or set up a strong counter play.

1. Shuckle [S][XL] (Rock Throw, Stone Edge, Rock Blast)
2. Marill [XL] (Bubble, Aqua Tail, Body Slam)
3. Drapion (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Crunch)
4. Skorupi [S] (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Cross Poison)
5. Galarian Zigzagoon [XL] (Tackle, Swift, Dig)
6. Overqwil (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Dark Pulse)
7. Inkay (Psywave, Night Slash, Psybeam)
8. Purrloin (Sucker Punch, Night Slash, Play Rough)
9. Hisuian Qwilfish (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Dark Pulse)
10. Skrelp (Water Gun, Aqua Tail, Sludge Bomb)

Pokémon marked with [S] perform comparably well in both their regular and Shadow forms. Pokémon marked with [XL] require Candy XL to reach their best performance levels.

Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Little Edition: Best Safe Switches

If you’re not happy with the initial pairing, you should consider switching out your lead for another Pokémon. That’s the role of a Safe Switch. They are either strong leads themselves or are specialized in countering some of the most popular leads. Putting them in will let you score an elimination and disrupt your opponent’s game plan or at least preserve your lead for the later stage of the match.

1. Shuckle [S][XL] (Rock Throw, Stone Edge, Rock Blast)
2. Marill [XL] (Bubble, Aqua Tail, Body Slam)
3. Drapion (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Crunch)
4. Tentacool (Poison Sting, Water Pulse, Wrap)
5. Galarian Zigzagoon [S][XL] (Tackle, Swift, Dig)
6. Skorupi [S] (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Cross Poison)
7. Paldean Wooper (Poison Jab, Dig, Body Slam)
8. Clefable (Fairy Wind, Meteor Mash, Swift)
9. Skrelp (Water Gun, Aqua Tail, Sludge Bomb)
10. Qwilfish (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Ice Beam)

Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Little Edition: Best Closers

These Pokémon come in quite handy when there are no shields left in play on either side – they are incredibly tough thanks to their high bulk and many resistances or they can end battles quickly due to their access to powerful charge attacks that the opponent can't fend off anymore.

1. Shuckle [S][XL] (Rock Throw, Stone Edge, Rock Blast)
2. Marill [XL] (Bubble, Aqua Tail, Body Slam)
3. Greninja (Water Shuriken, Hydro Cannon, Night Slash)
4. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Stone Edge, Earthquake)
5. Malamar (Psywave, Foul Play, Superpower)
6. Qwilfish (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Ice Beam)
7. Inkay (Psywave, Night Slash, Psybeam)
8. Skrelp (Water Gun, Aqua Tail, Sludge Bomb)
9. Drapion (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Crunch)
10. Shadow Galarian Weezing (Fairy Wind, Brutal Swing, Overheat)

Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Little Edition: Best Attackers

This class is specialized in fighting an opponent who still has shields, while you no longer have any yourself. They combine strong resistances and potent fast attacks to compensate for this disadvantage. For that reason, you rarely see Shadow forms in this role – they take more damage than their regular counterparts, making them a risky card to pull out at this stage of a match. Sometimes, of course, that's exactly the wildcard you need.

1. Shuckle [S][XL] (Rock Throw, Stone Edge, Rock Blast)
2. Marill [XL] (Bubble, Aqua Tail, Body Slam)
3. Carbink (Rock Throw, Power Gem, Rock Slide)
4. Cottonee (Charm, Grass Knot, Seed Bomb)
5. Wigglytuff (Charm, Swift, Icy Wind)
6. Duskull [S] (Astonish, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak)
7. Galarian Yamask (Astonish, Night Shade, Rock Tomb)
8. Shadow Golett (Mud Slap, Shadow Punch, Night Shade)
9. Spritzee (Charm, Thunderbolt, Draining Kiss)
10. Gholdengo (Astonish, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast)

Halloween Cup – Little Edition actually has quite a bit in common with the most recent Little Edition format, Galar Cup. This will keep your preparation costs even lower, since powerful entries like Shuckle reign supreme here as well.

For more Pokémon Go, check our overviews for the weekly Spotlight Hours and 5-Star Raids.