Pokémon GO

I didn't even realise Salamence already got Draco Meteor, never used that thing before. Gonna take the opportunity to stock up on candy, but I'm back to about 1m Stardust so we'll see how far I can get powering up if the featured move is good.

Apparently people are seeing Ash or Ash Cap Pikachu pop up in photobombs after midnight local time, resulting in Ash Cap Pikachu encounters.
 
Last edited:
How was Lotad day for everyone?
I completed about 30 research tasks, and not a single shiny Lotad, the only reason I had to really participate in the first place... :-(
I did get 6 shiny Castform though, as well as a shiny Roselia, so maybe someone will trade me one.

To me, Bagon CD isn't going to be that exciting. I already have a full team of Dragonites and Rayquazas for Dragons, and a few good Sky Attack Moltres for Flying. So regardless of the move Bagon gets, I won't be in a hurry to catch as many as possible to get all the candy, like it was the case for Swinub or Beldum, since those were the absolute best of their type. Also the bonus is XP, so it's pretty useless to higher level players.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
I have yet to see Ash pop out on a footage though, hoping I will only get Pikachu

Im mostly going for a shiny on Bagon day, we'll see what will he get
 

Blitz

Mightiest of Cleaves
is a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Discord Leader
Ash Hat Pikachu is only available for users who are already on April 1st. It can be shiny (previously not available) and it’s 5 Photobombs a day.

Lotad Day was more like Castform Day. Didn’t really enjoy the low rates (3 shinies in 79 quests for me) and the spawns were pretty shit compared to Clamperl Day.
 
More events announced:

Pokémon GO Fest - Chicago, Illinois - June 13th - June 16th 2019
Pokémon GO Fest - Dortmund, Germany - July 4th - July 7th 2019
Pokémon GO Fest Asia - 2019 Summer
Future Community Days - May 19th, June 8th, July 21st, and August 3rd
 
More events announced:

Pokémon GO Fest - Chicago, Illinois - June 13th - June 16th 2019
Pokémon GO Fest - Dortmund, Germany - July 4th - July 7th 2019
Pokémon GO Fest Asia - 2019 Summer
Future Community Days - May 19th, June 8th, July 21st, and August 3rd
I wonder if they'll organize challenges, like last year, that resulted in the Ultra Bonus: Mewtwo being released as a regular Legendary Raid Boss.

Also:


The announcement picture features Hippopotas and Pachirisu.

We can presume the former will be introduced in the game soon. I'm not sure if that means that Pachirisu will be made available outside of northern regions. I guess we'll see!
 
Last edited:
Finally caught Giratina-O. It's not hard to land balls but man its catch rate is a bitch. I got Dragon Tail + Dragon Pulse iirc but I'm trying to get another with Shadow Claw + Shadow Ball since that's basically the best Ghost in the game now.
 

Blitz

Mightiest of Cleaves
is a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Discord Leader
Already have a team of 6 maxed out SC and Lick Gengar. I'd argue Giratina-O isn't the best Ghost-type or really a requirement to have if you have access to these types of Gengar, because they are cheaper and accomplish most of Giratina-O's role better (not in PvP though).

It's a bad investment in the long haul as well, as its only niche (TDO) is eclipsed by Dark-types such as Darkrai and Hydreigon with their resists to Ghost / Psychic; future Ghost-types will also invalidate it as they're less squishy than Gengar while also having its power. I think most people here don't have the resources to put it to good use as is (a team of them).
 
To be honest Giratina is much more cost-efficient than Gengar since you basically need a team to make it work
For people with not that quick stardust gain, Giratina is a much better option
 

Jibaku

Who let marco in here????
is a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
I think Giratina-O's a fantastic option to have even with maxed out Gengars. It is overall the most consistent Psychic counter in the game (which we will likely see a lot of before Darkrai gets released). Giratina-O's ability to facetank some tough charge moves when Gengar cannot bridges their dps gap, as Giratina-O can make use of the energy gained to fire off 2 Shadow Balls in quick succession while Gengar can only fire one before dying. Giratina-O's overall relative dps compared to Gengar is further increased when relobbies happen, which will happen frequently in shortmans due to Gengar's frailty. This post better illustrates what I mean by bridging the dps gap using survivability.

Darkrai's release will put it about neck and neck with Giratina-O (assuming Darkrai isn't a one-off release). Their DPSes are comparable, with Darkrai having approximately 2-5% more dps, but Giratina-O will last much longer in non Psychic matchups. While this potentially goes into "why not just use Gengar" territory, a vast majority of Psychic bosses will often have non-Psychic coverage that Gengar still struggles to tank (ie Azelf Fire Blast, Mewtwo's elemental charge moves, Deoxys Thunderbolt, etc). A lot of this will put Gengar, Darkrai, and Giratina-O within comparable TTWs to each other, except Giratina-O demands less potions and revives.

The future release of Chandelure (with Hex/SB), may be Giratina-O's biggest competitor. But that's still a while from now, and Chandelure is released in a generation where Ghost attacks aren't particularly relevant for taking down Tier 5s, so until then, Giratina-O will at least have gotten some value. It also hinges on Niantic not giving it a bad moveset. The same can apply to Darkrai and Arceus-Ghost. Hydreigon is unlikely to outclass Giratina-O as it does not learn Shadow Ball or Foul Play, and will probably just be an inferior Darkrai.

Giratina-O still possesses the dps needed to take down several tough challenges such as Claydol solo and Alolan Marowak duo. It is also the best Ghost investment if you're lacking the dust needed to power up an army of legacy Gengars. It's a safe bet to power up given the uncertainties behind Darkrai's release (when? how?) and is way easier to power up even if Darkrai is released as an Ex-Raid boss. It's also a Master League PvP god. Giratina-O will do a lot of things for you and it's probably one of the game's overall best investments.
 
Last edited:
I think Giratina-O's a fantastic option to have even with maxed out Gengars. It is overall the most consistent Psychic counter in the game (which we will likely see a lot of before Darkrai gets released). Giratina-O's ability to facetank some tough charge moves when Gengar cannot bridges their dps gap, as Giratina-O can make use of the energy gained to fire off 2 Shadow Balls in quick succession while Gengar can only fire one before dying. Giratina-O's overall relative dps compared to Gengar is further increased when relobbies happen, which will happen frequently in shortmans due to Gengar's frailty.

Darkrai's release will put it about neck and neck with Giratina-O (assuming Darkrai isn't a one-off release). Their DPSes are comparable, with Darkrai having approximately 2-5% more dps, but Giratina-O will last much longer in non Psychic matchups. While this potentially goes into "why not just use Gengar" territory, a vast majority of Psychic bosses will often have non-Psychic coverage that Gengar still struggles to tank (ie Azelf Fire Blast, Mewtwo's elemental charge moves, Deoxys Thunderbolt, etc). A lot of this will put Gengar, Darkrai, and Giratina-O within comparable TTWs to each other, except Giratina-O demands less potions and revives.

The future release of Chandelure (with Hex/SB), may be Giratina-O's biggest competitor. But that's still a while from now, and Chandelure is released in a generation where Ghost attacks aren't particularly relevant for taking down Tier 5s, so until then, Giratina-O will at least have gotten some value. It also hinges on Niantic not giving it a bad moveset. The same can apply to Darkrai and Arceus-Ghost. Hydreigon is unlikely to outclass Giratina-O as it does not learn Shadow Ball or Foul Play, and will probably just be an inferior Darkrai.

Giratina-O still possesses the dps needed to take down several tough challenges such as Claydol solo and Alolan Marowak duo. It is also the best Ghost investment if you're lacking the dust needed to power up an army of legacy Gengars. It's a safe bet to power up given the uncertainties behind Darkrai's release and is way easier to power up even if Darkrai is released as an Ex-Raid boss. It's also a Master League PvP god. Giratina-O will do a lot of things for you and it's probably one of the game's overall best investments.
nothing really competes with 6 lick gengars atm, but it is a nice option if you don't have any of those. giratina is easily the second best ghost type but imo it really isnt worth maxing unless you have a really good one. you should be able to have a team of 6 lick gengars because of the gengar day back in november
 

Jibaku

Who let marco in here????
is a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
6 Lick Gengars gives you the biggest per lobby/individual mon dps in situations where both Giratina-O and Gengar can take the enemy boss charge moves. In situations where Gengar cannot (or dies after a small chip), they have roughly the same dps bc Gengar can't double tap Shadow Ball. When the ~15s or so relobby+revives is accounted for, Gengar can fall behind in dps (god bless people with laggy phones).

If nothing else, Giratina-O anchors Gengar squads extremely well.
 
Last edited:
Right. Giratina-O is the best option for TDO so if the Gengar army is getting wiped out too fast then Giratina can just handle things because it's extra thicc. It will always be one of the best Ghost attackers and will have the highest TDO among Ghosts until we get Lunala, assuming Lunala gets Hex + Shadow Ball.

Edit: TIL Lunala gets Shadow Claw. Well yeah that's gonna be insane. Marshadow is a thing too.
 
Last edited:

Expert Evan

every battle has a smell!
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
My biggest thrill recently was catching a perfect weather boosted Giratina-O, since my 2 teams are solid against Giratina-O (2 rayquaza, 4 dragonite in first party all maxed) I only powered it up to level 37 to meet a certain breakpoint and intend to max it later on at least before the pixie trio comes out in coming months.

I'm not sure how lucky friends is going to work whether it's by doing random trades and/or gift exchanges as I've been holding onto the rayquazas I caught recently for them to work and hope they get at list 15 in attack and 91%+.

I've been successful in doing trios on Giratina-O even if the 3rd person was using crappy fairy and steel pokemon as I was making sure that at least one was on the field at all times and when the opportunity was right I'd max revive my first team to finish the job. I'm tempted to try a duo but only in windy weather boosted conditions and hopefully Giratina-O is using ominous wind in which case the 2nd person may have a few tyranitars in their party so that by the time they hit the lobby I'd already max revived my first team, that's going to require certain coordination.
 

Blitz

Mightiest of Cleaves
is a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Discord Leader
I've done duos for both Shadow Ball and Ominous Wind (boosted), as well as Ominous Wind (unboosted). Dragons are the winners here because their DPS is so good and they don't get immediately deleted by Giratina's Ghost moves. Darks / Mamoswine are B-tier attackers that work as backups but you basically need to field a Dragon team first before you use those (unless you do Snowy + Mamo team, or Foggy + Dark/Gengar/Giratina-O team). The beauty of the duo in boosted weather is that there's loads of options available. Unboosted is much tighter but, on the plus side, Giratina's Dragon Tails don't just annihilate your Dragons if you come across it.

I would stray away from Dragon Pulse at all costs. It's possible but Gengar is hella squishier and there's much more investment in that front that, unless you're striving to do that particular duo, I would just stick with Shadow Ball as a worst case scenario.
 
Same thing. :-(
I have only been able to complete 4 raids so far this week. GoldenRazzed them all, with most throws being Great/Excellent (once you get the hang of it)... all of them fled, like the COWARDS that they are!!! *shakes fist*
 

Expert Evan

every battle has a smell!
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Only thing that has kept me from catching a giratina is those pesky network errors that occur right after the time of the raid already expired. This has happened to me few times and once Niantic was generous enough to grant me an extra premier raid pass. I haven't had one flee on me yet though one other time I was down to my last ball when it finally stayed in. I usually take my time with these and always bring a best friend 2nd account to give me those extra 4 balls which helps.
 
Didn't see this get posted, but the next Legendary Lunch Hour, featuring Giratina-O, will be this coming Wednesday:

Legendary Lunch Hour experiment: Origin Forme Giratina

Trainers,

We had our first Legendary Lunch Hour together on March 13, and we thank you for your participation and feedback. More research is needed, and we need your help! On Wednesday, April 10, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in your local time zone, there will be an increased number of five-star raids featuring Origin Forme Giratina to test your battle skills alongside your friends, coworkers, and classmates.

Date + Time
  • Apr. 10, 2019, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in your local time zone
Features
  • There will be an increased number of five-star raids featuring Origin Forme Giratina during the event hour.
Thank you for your feedback as we create more ways for you to enjoy Pokémon GO—because of your input, we’re able to create new events like this one for your enjoyment. We are continuing to test this event to make it even better. We understand that not every Trainer can participate in every event, but these tests are the first step in creating more events focused on different play styles. As always, Trainers, be mindful of your surroundings and others around you while playing Pokémon GO. Stay tuned for more updates!

—The Pokémon GO team
 

Expert Evan

every battle has a smell!
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
I helped organized last month's Legendary Lunch Hour for my community and am looking forward to doing it again so long as I have no conflicts to attend to. Yes essentially it's planning which gyms to raid at and being flexible to skip gyms that were unable to spawn the desired legendary. Last month we were able to accomplish 6 gyms in an hour, I hope to raise that to up to 8 this time. Timing is of the essence, even crossing places with traffic lights could count towards the time to get from one raid to the next, and desirably get gyms within reasonable walking distance when possible. This time I hope to include an ex raid gym that has not yet been triggered unlike last month where it already had.
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
Blacephalon could also be a threat, surpassing Chandelure, Giratina-O, and Gengar in SpA

We should also pay attention to the 2nd Charge Move. Gengar will be a great Aid against the Tapus, and we should remember that Poison can give it a resistances to Fairy, Grass, Bug, Fighting, Poison which can let it break foes like Togekiss in gyms.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top