GO Battle League: Precious Paths

Trainers, the GO Battle League: Precious Paths is here, closing out the 2025 competitive year with a fresh rotation of leagues, returning fan favorite cups, and a continuation of the faster 45-second switch timer.

This season also appears to be an interlude season, with Rank 20 acting as the final milestone, and no mention of Legend rank or Elo progression. Precious Paths focuses on league rotations, themed cups, and a refreshed set of attack updates to keep the format active during the break between competitive seasons. 

Let’s dive into the full schedule, rewards, cups, and updates and explore how this season may shape the battles ahead.

Season Start, Rank Reset & Early Details

GO Battle League: Precious Paths begins Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8).

At the start of the season:

• End-of-season rewards become available
• Your GBL rank fully resets
• Rank-up requirements remain unchanged

GO Battle League: Precious Paths Schedule

The following leagues will begin and end at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8) on the dates listed below.

(*) 4× Stardust from win rewards (this does not include end-of-set rewards)

This schedule offers a solid mix of open leagues and popular limited formats, giving battlers plenty of variety. The 2026 Championship Series Cup getting two separate weeks is a strong hint toward its competitive importance, making it a key format for anyone preparing for next year’s circuit.

Precious Paths GO Battle League Events

GO Battle Week: Precious Paths

This event is an excellent chance to grind Stardust, build Shadow Pokémon, and push early in the leaderboards. Being able to remove Frustration is always valuable, especially for anyone preparing Shadows for future limited formats.

Guaranteed Rank-Up Encounters

You can encounter the following Pokémon once per Season at the designated ranks.

Standard Encounter Pool

You can encounter the following Pokémon in reward encounters throughout the Season at the ranks shown below.

Rank 1+

Rank 6+

Rank 11+

Rank 16+

Rank 20+

Active 5★ Raid Boss encounter becomes available.

Free GO Battle League Timed Research Pass

Once GO Battle League: Precious Paths kicks off, Trainers can grab a free, battle-themed Timed Research pass directly from the in-game shop.

This research will track your victories throughout the entire Season, with each page requiring 100 battles and 50 wins to complete. Progressing through the pages will reward these items:

• Stardust
• Rare Candy XL
• Elite Fast TM
• Elite Charged TM

This research encourages consistent play over the full season. Anyone aiming to finish all pages will walk away with highly valuable upgrade items that are essential for building top-tier Pokémon.

Avatar Rewards

Trainers can look forward to earning new avatar items inspired by Grusha, the cool and composed Gym Leader of Glaseado Mountain from Pokémon Scarlet & Violet!

Precious Paths Cups

Here’s the full lineup of themed Cups featured during the GO Battle League: Precious Paths Season! Each Cup has its own CP limit and type restrictions, so plan your teams carefully.

Scroll Cup: Great League Edition

• Max 1500 CP
• Water, Fighting, Dark
• Primarina banned

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Holiday Cup: Great League Edition

• Max 1500 CP
• Normal, Grass, Electric, Ice, Flying, Ghost

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Holiday Cup: Ultra League Edition

• Max 2500 CP
• Normal, Grass, Electric, Ice, Flying, Ghost

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Sunshine Cup: Great League Edition

• Max 1500 CP
• Normal, Fire, Grass, Ground
• Charizard banned

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Retro Cup: Great League Edition

• Max 1500 CP
• Banned: Dark, Steel, Fairy

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Ultra Premier

• Max 2500 CP
• Banned: Legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, Ultra Beasts

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2026 Championship Series Cup

• Max 1500 CP
• Bug, Dark, Normal, Dragon
• Banned: Fighting, Flying, Steel, Legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, Mega Pokémon, Ultra Beasts
• Allowed: Seaking, Politoed, Milotic, Froslass
• Banned: Wigglytuff, Chansey, Crustle, Diggersby, Ribombee, Araquanid, Turtonator, Morgrem, Morpeko

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Love Cup: Great League Edition

• Max 1500 CP
• Red and Pink coloured Pokémon only

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Master League: Mega Edition

• No CP limit
• Mega Pokémon allowed

This season’s cups offer a wide mix of restricted formats. Championship Series Cup in particular stands out due to its heavy ban list and unusual type combination, creating a specialised environment that rewards strong planning and practice.

Combat System Update

The 45-second switch timer will stay in effect for:

• GBL
• Friend Battles
• Team GO Rocket
• Team Leader Battles

The faster switch timer maintains a high-tempo environment, rewarding battlers who can manage alignment and pivot efficiently. Safe swaps and counterplay strategies remain more valuable than ever.

Attack Changes

• Powder Snow: 5 → 6 power
• Icicle Spear: 65 → 70 power
• Geomancy: 4 → 8 power
• Shadow Ball: Energy cost decreased
• Shadow Sneak: Energy cost increased
• Foul Play: 60 → 65
• Oblivion Wing: Guaranteed +1 Defense
• Brick Break: 40 → 50
• Meteor Mash: Energy cost decreased
• Vice Grip: 40 → 70
• Dragon Energy: 100 → 90
• Spacial Rend: Energy cost increased
• Parabolic Charge: Energy cost increased

These buffs and nerfs shift power in subtle, but meaningful ways. Ice-types benefit significantly, while Oblivion Wing’s guaranteed buff strengthens Yveltal’s role as a bulky Master League threat. Meteor Mash becoming cheaper also suggests interesting developments for certain Steel-types.

Attack Availability Updates

The following Pokémon gain access to new moves:

Pokémon like Doublade, Cetitan, Ludicolo, and Blaziken all gain tools that dramatically change their roles across multiple leagues. The presence of Avalanche on Kyogre also opens new Master League team compositions that will likely see experimentation early in the season.

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