Pokémon GO Sunshine Cup – Great League Edition: Best Pokémon

It’s time to grab your shades, put on a generous layer of sunscreen, and head outside for the Sunshine Cup: Great League Edition in Pokémon GO.

This time-limited GO Battle League format runs from June 3 to 10, 2025, and comes with some special rules compared to the regular Great League ruleset. But let’s start with the similarities: Like in the Great League, the Competition Points (CP) limit for participating Pokémon is 1,500, so you can’t send in your super-heavy hitters. Additionally, you may only field Pokémon of the Normal-, Fire-, Grass-, and Ground-types aside from Charizard — the flying lizard has been banned from the competition. It’s simply too cool (and strong) of a monster for this format.

Deliver a truly flaming performance with the best Pokémon for Sunshine Cup – Great League Edition in Pokémon GO based on statistics and simulations provided by PvPoke.com.

Sunshine Cup – GL Edition: Best Leads

These Pokémon aggressively pressure your opponent right from the beginning of a bout and can survive even tough battles for quite a while. These qualities make them perfect to open a match up, enabling you to score an early knockout or set up a strong counter play.

1. Gligar [S] (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Dig)
2. Talonflame (Incinerate, Fly, Brave Bird)
3. Magcargo (Incinerate, Rock Tomb, Overheat)
4. Cradily (Acid, Rock Tomb, Grass Knot)
5. Shadow Jumpluff (Fairy Wind, Aerial Ace, Acrobatics)
6. Gliscor (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Earthquake)
7. Furret (Sucker Punch, Swift, Brick Break)
8. Shadow Ursaring (Shadow Claw, Swift, Close Combat)
9. Zangoose (Fury Cutter, Close Combat, Night Slash)
10. Shadow Ninetales (Ember, Weather Ball (Fire), Overheat)

Pokémon marked with [S] perform comparably in their regular and Shadow forms.

Sunshine Cup – GL Edition: Best Safe Switches

If the opening pairing is to your disadvantage, you should consider switching out your lead for another Pokémon. This is where Safe Switches come into play. They are either strong leads in their own right or are specialized in countering some of the most popular leads of the format. In any case, an early switch will preserve your original lead to rejoin the fight later on in the battle and perhaps force your opponent to adapt their strategy on the fly as well.

1. Cradily (Acid, Rock Tomb, Grass Knot)
2. Shadow Gligar (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Dig)
3. Shadow Cradily (Acid, Rock Tomb, Grass Knot)
4. Furret (Sucker Punch, Swift, Brick Break)
5. Gliscor (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Earthquake)
6. Armarouge (Incinerate, Psyshock, Flame Charge)
7. Gligar (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Dig)
8. Shadow Gliscor (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Earthquake)
9. Runerigus (Shadow Claw, Rock Tomb, Shadow Ball)
10. Spinda (Sucker Punch, Rock Tomb, Icy Wind)

Sunshine Cup – GL Edition: Best Closers

These Pokémon are particularly useful when there are no shields left in play on either side and things have come to an all-put brawl. Closers are either incredibly tough or end battles quickly thanks to powerful Charge Moves, which can’t be deflected without a shield.

1. Shadow Staraptor (Quick Attack, Fly, Close Combat)
2. Shadow Swampert (Mud Shot, Hydro Cannon, Sludge)
3. Cradily [S] (Acid, Rock Tomb, Grass Knot)
4. Staravia [S] (Quick Attack, Fly, Brave Bird)
5. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Earthquake, Stone Edge)
6. Gligar [S] (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Dig)
7. Shadow Mamoswine (Powder Snow, Icicle Spear, High Horsepower)
8. Lileep [S] (Acid, Ancient Power, Grass Knot)
9. Shadow Piloswine (Powder Snow, Icicle Spear, High Horsepower)
10. Swampert (Mud Shot, Hydro Cannon, Sludge)

Sunshine Cup – GL Edition: Best Attackers

These Pokémon perform best when fighting a trainer who still has shields, while you no longer have shields yourself — in essence, they’re your ace in case you need to make a comeback. Attackers combine important resistances and strong Fast Moves to compensate for the lack of shields. Shadow forms are much rarer in this category, as they take more damage than their regular counterparts and therefore are a risky card to put on the table.

1. Magcargo (Incinerate, Rock Tomb, Overheat)
2. Gligar (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Dig)
3. Diggersby (Quick Attack, Fire Punch, Scorching Sands)
4. Cradily (Acid, Rock Tomb, Grass Knot)
5. Quagsire (Mud Shot, Aqua Tail, Stone Edge)
6. Jumpluff (Fairy Wind, Aerial Ace, Acrobatics)
7. Alolan Marowak (Fire Spin, Bone Club, Shadow Bone)
8. Talonflame (Incinerate, Fly, Brave Bird)
9. Pidgeot (Gust, Air Cutter, Brave Bird)
10. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Earthquake, Stone Edge)

A lot has changed over the years for the Sunshine Cup meta — once upon a time, this was the prime hunting ground for Normal-type flyers like Pidgeot and Staraptor. Though they still play a role in today’s meta, they’ve been relegated to lower positions. Recent buffs to moves like Acid and Fury Cutter have further impacted the rankings.

If battling other players isn’t your thing and you’d rather beat up Team GO Rocket instead, check out our complete guides with the best counters to Giovanni, Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra.