By Sophtoph, Contributing Writer

The latest Season of Pokémon GO—Timeless Travels—has begun, and with it comes a flurry of new balance changes. In Pokémon GO, time passes in three-month Seasons; each Season brings a fresh rotation of wild Pokémon to encounter, in-game bonuses, and attack rebalances for Trainer Battles. In this article, we’ll break down the recent changes that will affect both the GO Battle League and the Championship Series circuit.

The new Season, Timeless Travels, began on December 1, 2023, and will continue through the March 1, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. local time. Updates to attacks like Incinerate and Scald have brought Pokémon like Talonflame, Whiscash, and Poliwrath into the spotlight. In addition, we may continue to see a more diversified set of Fighting-type Pokémon entering the meta, as several have gained a wider attack pool and flexibility at the expense of the ever-present Medicham. These changes have already begun making an impact in both the GO Battle League and the Championship Series Regional tournaments. Read on to see how you can make the most of the new metagame.

Pokémon with Added Power

One of the most impactful changes is the update to the Water-type Charged Attack Scald; Scald now deals more damage and has a higher probability (50%) of reducing the opposing Pokémon’s Attack by one stage. Whiscash in particular has benefitted so much that it now rivals Swampert as the best dual Water- and Ground-type Pokémon in the Great League. It deals Ground-type damage more consistently than Swampert due to the Ground-type Charged Attack Mud Bomb, allowing it to deal more effectively with threats like Lanturn. Combined with the enhanced version of Scald, Whiscash can quickly become a nuisance for opponents, especially if it is successful in debuffing the opponent’s Attack.

Several other Water-type Pokémon have also benefitted from this change to Scald. Poliwrath is now one of the top Fighting-type Pokémon in both the Great League and Ultra League. Like Whiscash, it has the bulk to reliably unleash multiple Charged Attacks each game. In addition to benefiting from the rebalance to Scald, Poliwrath can also now learn the Ice-type Charged Attack Icy Wind. With access to many viable Charged Attacks including Scald, Icy Wind, Dynamic Punch, and Power-Up Punch, Poliwrath has become one of the most versatile Fighting-type Pokémon. Poliwrath is also available in its Shadow form, where it deals and takes 20% more damage, adding even more options for Trainers who want to test out Poliwrath’s new capabilities.

Besides Poliwrath, two other Pokémon that fill the Fighting-type role also saw a widening of their Charged Attack pool. Notably, Vigoroth (which is actually a pure Normal-type Pokémon, but can cause Fighting-type damage with the Fast Attack Counter) has now received access to Rock Slide, giving it more play against Flying-type Pokémon like Talonflame and better coverage against Ghost-type Pokémon. Vigoroth is especially strong in restricted formats such as the Holiday Cup and Evolution Cup, which will be available during the GO Battle League later this Season. Toxicroak also received access to Shadow Ball, which may not always be a preferred attack but could act as a nice surprise for opposing Ghost-type Pokémon in blind formats like the GO Battle League.

Talonflame is one of the biggest winners of the Timeless Travels update. Although Talonflame received the Fire-type Fast Attack Incinerate during its Community Day in 2021, it has seen little competitive play in the Great League; Charizard has often been the Fire- and Flying-type Pokémon of choice instead. However, two big changes have benefitted Talonflame. First, Incinerate now deals slightly more damage than before; it now deals as much damage per second as meta-defining Fast Attacks like Counter and Dragon Breath. However, Incinerate also has higher energy gain than either, making it the best Fast Attack in the game on paper. Second, Talonflame gained access to the Flying-type Charged Attack Fly, which is generally an upgrade for it over Brave Bird. Fly requires less energy than Brave Bird and doesn’t debuff the user, allowing Talonflame to win more consistently against Fighting-type Pokémon like Medicham.

Besides Talonflame, Skeledirge—which was released last Season—also uses Incinerate and has found increased success. While it may still be an unconventional choice, Skeledirge has favorable matchups against Medicham and Skarmory, resists all of Lickitung’s Charged Attacks, and can even deal supereffective damage to Poliwrath with Disarming Voice.

A word of caution for Trainers using Talonflame, Skeledirge, and other Pokémon that rely on Incinerate (and perhaps a hopeful note for Trainers battling against it); while Incinerate is mathematically the best Fast Attack in the game, it also has a longer duration than any other Fast Attack (five turns). In other words, using Incinerate renders Talonflame unable to perform other actions—such as swapping out Pokémon or throwing Charged Attacks—for 2.5 seconds. This lack of flexibility is by far the biggest downside of Incinerate users like Talonflame and is the most difficult adjustment for Trainers planning to bring these Pokémon into battle.

Alongside Talonflame, another Flying-type Pokémon has also risen in the ranks. Skarmory, which was one of the strongest Pokémon in the GO Battle League’s earliest Seasons but has since dropped off, will soar once more. Skarmory’s primary Fast Attack is now the Steel-type Steel Wing, which generates more energy than before. Its strong defensive typing along with the faster energy gain mean it will be able to reach its powerful Charged Attacks like Brave Bird relatively often and may give Skarmory the edge in many neutral matchups. In addition, Skarmory is now one of the rare Pokémon that deals Steel-type damage with its Fast Attack, making it one of the most reliable Pokémon in dealing damage against Carbink.

The last major winner we’ll discuss is a Pokémon that has been a constant since the dawn of Trainer Battles in Pokémon GO—Azumarill. It has been as reliable as it is adorable, always having play against Pokémon in the central meta and carrying a fantastic defensive typing that helps it absorb damage. Its primary Fast Attack, Bubble, now deals more damage than it did before. (This happens to be a reversal of a change from 2021, when its damage was decreased.) While Bubble is not the highest-damage Fast Attack, it can help Azumarill do a little bit of extra important damage in certain matchups, or farm down opposing Pokémon who are at low HP just a little bit more quickly.

A couple of other Pokémon that received access to additional Charged Attacks are also worthy of mention. Tentacruel, like Whiscash and Poliwrath, has access to Scald and will see increased performance as a result of the change. Arctibax and Wigglytuff both received Icy Wind, which can help them debuff opposing Pokémon in matchups where Fast Attacks become the primary source of damage.

Pokémon Declining in Strength

We’ll also touch on a couple of changes that mean certain Pokémon that were common before might be used less often or serve different roles.

Steelix has taken a heavy hit with the Timeless Travels update; its primary Charged Attack, Breaking Swipe, now only has a 50% chance of reducing the opposing Pokémon’s Attack where it used to be a guaranteed effect. Steelix enjoyed a brief period of popularity during the Adventures Abound Season—notably appearing on three of the Top 8 teams in the Gdańsk, Regional Championships in November—but unfortunately will now likely slink back into the shadows until another major set of changes. The change to Breaking Swipe also has implications for certain Pokémon that are primarily used in the Master League, as Pokémon such as Rayquaza, Rhyperior, and Haxorus will also likely see a drop in usage there.

Medicham has become the defining Pokémon in the Great League, often appearing on over 80% of Trainers’ teams of six in recent tournaments of the Championship Series. Its deep arsenal of Charged Attacks—including Power-Up Punch, Ice Punch, Psychic, and Dynamic Punch—made it a very flexible Pokémon. However, as of Timeless Travels, the Psychic-type Charged Attack Psychic now deals significantly less damage to the point that choosing it over other Charged Attacks would be ill-advised. However, Medicham has always been viable with Dynamic Punch as an alternative; indeed, it wins against Pokémon like Lickitung, Umbreon, Registeel more convincingly than before. However, there is no doubt that fewer options make it less flexible. Gone are the days of Trainers freely swapping Medicham against teams with Azumarill. We may see a diversification of Fighting-type Pokémon in general this Season, as this slight hit to Medicham arrives simultaneously with increased flexibility for other Pokémon with Fighting-type attacks like Poliwrath and Vigoroth.

Downstream Consequences

While we discussed Pokémon that directly benefited or suffered as a result of the updates, there are also downstream consequences for Pokémon that indirectly benefit from other Pokémon rising or dropping in relevance. For example, the rise of Talonflame and Skarmory as two strong Pokémon that share a Flying typing means that Electric-type Pokémon like Lanturn and Charjabug may rise in usage as well. The duo core of Talonflame and Whiscash could become a strong one, as Talonflame covers Whiscash’s weakness to Grass-type attacks very well. Depending on how popular elemental cores like this become, Trainers may gravitate toward Dragon-type Pokémon like Guzzlord, Arctibax, Dragonair, or even Altaria that have favorable matchups against both. Toxapex, which is a strong Pokémon in neutral matchups but doesn’t often see play in the open Great League, could also find some more success as it has extremely strong matchups against both Azumarill and Talonflame. Galarian Stunfisk, as the Steel type with the best matchup against Talonflame due to its access to Rock Slide, could also see a resurgence.

There are also Pokémon that may indirectly suffer from these rebalances, despite not having their own Attacks affected. Serperior in particular saw a heyday during Adventures Abound, appearing on six out of nine Regional Champions’ teams during this period. However, with the rise of Flying-type Pokémon like Talonflame and Skarmory, it may not be as safe of an option as before. Trainers may look toward alternative Grass-type Pokémon that have more counterplay against these Flying types, such as Trevenant. Alolan Sandslash may also see less usage; previously, its main threat was only Medicham, but with Talonflame on the rise, it has a second matchup to be afraid of. In fact, a single Incinerate from Talonflame takes more than a third of Shadow Alolan Sandslash’s total health.

We have already seen some of these changes taking effect in the Play! Pokémon Championship Series. In Stuttgart, the first Regional Championships to take place during Timeless Travels, Medicham’s usage dropped to 41% when it was consistently appearing on upwards of 70% of teams in the previous months. Serperior, which had also been one of the three most commonly used Pokémon for most of the previous Season, was not even one of the 12 most used Pokémon. Rising in usage were Skarmory and Whiscash, both appearing on more than 30% of teams when they were previously nearly unseen, and Poliwrath, appearing on six of the Top 8 teams. Even more strikingly, Charjabug appeared on more than one-third of teams; even though none of its own Attacks were updated, many Trainers were already anticipating that it might do well against the newly forming central meta. As the 2024 Championship Series continues, the Trainers that succeed will be those who are able to see one step ahead of where the metagame is headed.

For more Pokémon GO strategy and analysis, visit Pokemon.co.uk/Strategy.