Pokémon GO: GO Battle League Season 2 changes announced

The inaugural season of Pokémon GO‘s GO Battle League is coming to a close, and Niantic just announced that the second season will begin on May 1. Season 2 will feature various changes to rewards and battling. Here’s what you need to know.

Preseason and Season 1

Both the preseason and the first season of Pokémon GO‘s GO Battle League were split into four different formats. The first format was the Great League, the second was the Ultra League, the third was the Master League, and after that players could choose which format to play. Season 2 will follow this format as well.

Players earn rewards by winning battles. Each series of battles consists of five fights. The number won for each entry determines which rewards players earn. When Season 2 begins on Friday, players can claim their end-of-Season 1 rewards by opening the Battle menu.

Season 2 changes

In Season 2, there will be some slight changes to rewards. In Season 1, players earned a Pokémon encounter after winning four battles (or two with a Premium Battle Pass entry). This will be different in Season 2, and players will earn an encounter after winning 3 battles (or one with a Premium Battle Pass entry).

New Pokémon will be available as rewards in Season 2 as well. Stunfisk will appear at rank 4, Rufflet at rank 8, and Scraggy at rank 9. Players who reach rank 10 will earn a new avatar pose for free.

Pokémon GO is also changing how many wins players need to climb. You’ll need to win more battles to reach ranks four, five, six, and seven. This should help even out matchmaking in these ranks.

Players will continue to be able to see the leaderboard introduced in Season 1. All the coming changes will go live on May 1 at 1:00 p.m. PT. Get your Great League team ready to go to earn those new rewards!