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Niantic has announced the details of the Pokémon GO Battle League Season 2 which begins on Friday, May 1st, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT.

GO Battle League Season 2 begins Friday, May 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)

Trainers, As April comes to a close, so does Season 1 of the GO Battle League. A lot has happened these past few weeks!

GO Battle League Season 1 recap
We kicked off the season with a celebration event that helped Trainers prepare for the GO Battle League, where they had the opportunity to catch powerful Pokémon—like Skarmory, Registeel, and Altered Forme Giratina—to add to their battle parties. As Season 1 continued, Legendary and Mythical Pokémon, such as Lugia and Darkrai, became available as GO Battle League reward encounters for the first time.

On Friday, April 10, 2020, the GO Battle League leaderboard was released, showing the top 500 Trainers in the GO Battle League. In celebration of the leaderboard launch, the GO Battle Day event debuted, this time featuring Marill. Trainers earned reward encounters with Marill in the GO Battle League, enjoyed event bonuses, and gained access to 20 sets of GO Battle League battles for a total of 100 battles on the event day.

The Pokémon GO team congratulates everyone who appeared on the leaderboard this season—what a truly remarkable achievement! Good luck to everyone aiming for the leaderboard in Season 2.

Season 1 rewards, Season 2 timeline, and what’s staying the same
When Season 2 begins on Friday, May 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7), be sure to check out the Battle screen to receive your end-of-season rewards, including an Elite Charged TM if you reached rank 7 or higher! Season 2 will rotate through leagues, as noted in the schedule below. Season 3 is planned to begin in early July. Please note that all these dates are tentative. Stay tuned—we’ll update you if anything changes.

• The Great League will run from Friday, May 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, May 25, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).
• The Ultra League will run from Monday, May 25, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, June 15, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).
• The Master League will run from Monday, June 15, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, June 29, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).
• Additionally, the first-ever GO Battle League Cup—the Premier Cup—will run concurrently with the Master League! Like the Master League, the Premier Cup won’t have a limit on Combat Power. However, Legendary and Mythical Pokémon won’t be eligible to participate. Otherwise, everything else about the format will stay the same, including the way ranks and ratings are determined. We hope the Premier Cup will add a fun flavor to Season 2!
• All three leagues and the Premier Cup will be available from Monday, June 29, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, July 6, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).
• Season 3 will begin Monday, July 6, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).

For Season 2, the following will be the same as during Season 1.

• The walking and PokéCoin requirements to unlock sets of battles in the GO Battle League will still be removed. If you’re currently in the middle of walking to earn a set, this will take effect starting with your next set.
• The avatar items inspired by Pikachu Libre will continue to be rank 7 rewards.
• Metagross and Pikachu Libre will continue to be guaranteed reward encounters when you reach rank 1 and rank 10 respectively.
• The avatar items inspired by Steven Stone, a Pokémon League Champion of the Hoenn region, will continue to be rank 10 rewards.

What’s new, Season 2?
There’ll be a few changes coming to the GO Battle League and Trainer Battles for Season 2.

• The GO Battle League reward system has been changed slightly. You can now earn a Pokémon reward encounter after your third win on the basic rewards track or after your first win on the premium rewards track.
• The ranking system has been adjusted. More wins are now required to get to ranks 4, 5, 6, and 7.
• Some of your guaranteed reward encounters will be different for Season 2. You’ll encounter these Pokémon at each listed rank:
• Stunfisk starting at rank 4
• Rufflet starting at rank 8
• Scraggy starting at rank 9.
• If you reach rank 10, you’ll earn a new avatar pose!
• Trainers who finish Season 2 at rank 7 or higher will receive an Elite Fast TM rather than an Elite Charged TM. Other than that, end-of-season rewards will stay the same as in Season 1.

Updates to Trainer Battles
We’re excited to announce some additional updates to Trainer Battles.

• Trainers will be able to initiate Trainer Battles via QR Code from anywhere, regardless of the Trainers’ Friendship level or distance.
• For Trainer Battles with friends, the Friendship level requirement will remain lowered so you can send battle invites to Good Friends and Great Friends. Originally, you could send battle invites only to Ultra Friends and Best Friends.

The following existing attacks have been updated in Trainer Battles.

• Drill Run: Its energy requirement has been reduced.
• Moonblast: Its energy requirement and damage have both been reduced, and it now has a chance to lower the opponent’s Attack stat.
• Wild Charge: Its energy requirement has been reduced, its damage has been increased, and it will sharply lower the user’s Defense stat.

Along with these updates to existing attacks, the following Pokémon will be able to learn an attack it couldn’t before.

• Palkia and Aqua Tail: Aqua Tail gives Palkia a powerful Water-type Charged Attack that charges quickly, helping Palkia stand out from the other Legendary Dragon types in the Master League and making Protect Shield decisions tougher for opponents.

Please be aware of your surroundings when playing Pokémon GO. Upcoming events are subject to change.

Source: https://pokemongolive.com/post/gobattleleague-season2