Battling · Field Almanac
Go Battle League
Caps, mechanics, and the living meta — Hazel's competitive notebook. New to battling? Start with the basics below, then dig as deep as you like.
The Chapters
Cup Formats
limited-timeWhatever's live now — restrictions, eligible types, and picks.
The Instruments
New to battling? Start here
PvP is a three-Pokémon duel. Your builds , your spends it, and each player gets two s to block the scary hits. That's the whole game — the rest is practice.
Fast moves
The quick attack you tap over and over. It chips damage and builds the energy you need for the big one.
Charged moves
The big attack. It spends the energy your fast moves built — and your opponent can shield it.
Shields
You get two per battle. A shield fully blocks one charged move, so spend them on the hits that really hurt.
Baiting
Players sometimes throw a cheap charged move to trick you into shielding — saving the scary one for later.
Building a team
A battle team is three Pokémon with three jobs. You don't need perfect picks — just one for each job.
The one you send out first
Pick something safe and well-rounded that doesn't lose hard to common openers. A good lead rarely puts you behind early.
Your answer to trouble
When your lead is in a bad spot, switch to a Pokémon that covers what it fears. Good switches flip a losing matchup into a winning one.
Cleans up at the end
Hold one for late, when shields are down and energy is banked. Closers turn a small lead into the win.
One more trick: a — switching to a Pokémon that resists what's coming — lets you answer threats without taking much damage on the way in.
Move reference
| Move | Type | Turns | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Razor Leaf | Grass | 1 | 9 | 4 |
 Counter | Fighting | 1 | 8 | 6 |
 Fire Fang | Fire | 1 | 8 | 6 |
 Ice Fang | Ice | 1 | 8 | 6 |
 Rock Throw | Rock | 1 | 8 | 5 |
 Sucker Punch | Dark | 1 | 8 | 7 |
 Thunder Fang | Electric | 1 | 8 | 6 |
 Bullet Punch | Steel | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Frost Breath | Ice | 1 | 7 | 5 |
 Poison Jab | Poison | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Steel Wing | Steel | 1 | 7 | 5 |
| Force Palm | Fighting | 2 | 6.5 | 5 |
| Acid | Poison | 1 | 6 | 8 |
 Astonish | Ghost | 2 | 6 | 5 |
 Charm | Fairy | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Feint Attack | Dark | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Leafage | Grass | 1 | 6 | 8 |
 Peck | Flying | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Powder Snow | Ice | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Shadow Claw | Ghost | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| Fire Spin | Fire | 2 | 5.5 | 5 |
 Mud-Slap | Ground | 2 | 5.5 | 5 |
| Smack Down | Rock | 2 | 5.5 | 4 |
 Waterfall | Water | 2 | 5.5 | 5 |
 Confusion | Psychic | 3 | 5.33 | 4.67 |
| Gust | Flying | 3 | 5.33 | 4.67 |
| Incinerate | Fire | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Iron Tail | Steel | 2 | 5 | 3.5 |
| Karate Chop | Fighting | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| Low Kick | Fighting | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Magical Leaf | Grass | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Metal Claw | Steel | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Metal Sound | Steel | 1 | 5 | 8 |
 Quick Attack | Normal | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Spark | Electric | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Vine Whip | Grass | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Wing Attack | Flying | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Volt Switch | Electric | 3 | 4.67 | 5.33 |
| Air Slash | Flying | 2 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
 Dragon Tail | Dragon | 2 | 4.5 | 6 |
| Hidden Power | Normal | 2 | 4.5 | 4 |
| Ice Shard | Ice | 2 | 4.5 | 5 |
| Rock Smash | Fighting | 2 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
 Struggle Bug | Bug | 2 | 4.5 | 4 |
| Bubble | Water | 2 | 4 | 5.5 |
| Double Kick | Fighting | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Ember | Fire | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Extrasensory | Psychic | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Fairy Wind | Fairy | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Geomancy | Fairy | 2 | 4 | 6.5 |
| Poison Sting | Poison | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Pound | Normal | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Psycho Cut | Psychic | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Thunder Shock | Electric | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Zen Headbutt | Psychic | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Hex | Ghost | 2 | 3.5 | 6.5 |
| Rollout | Rock | 2 | 3.5 | 6.5 |
| Infestation | Bug | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Mud Shot | Ground | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Water Shuriken | Water | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Bullet Seed | Grass | 2 | 2.5 | 6.5 |
| Charge Beam | Electric | 2 | 2.5 | 5.5 |
| Snarl | Dark | 2 | 2.5 | 6.5 |
| Take Down | Normal | 2 | 2.5 | 4 |
| Present | Normal | 2 | 1.5 | 6 |
Meta rankings, movesets, and matchup data from PvPoke (open source, MIT licensed). Hazel's Lab is a fan project and is not affiliated with PvPoke or Niantic.