Pokemon Go Love Cup best team

(Image credit: Niantic)

If you're looking for the best Pokemon Go Love Cup team to use then we got you. Fairy-type Pokemon with access to the Fast Move, Charm, is highly desirable in the Love Cup. While Wigglytuff has been one of the best options in the past, this year brings a couple of other Fairy types who can help Pokemon Go trainers take out their opponents with ease.

Aromatisse is one such Fairy-type with access to Charm. Draining Kiss is preferred over Moonblast as it doesn’t take as much energy to use. Trainers using Aromatisse should splurge for a second Charged Attack to bring Psychic into battles as it’ll give the Pokemon an option against Poison types.

What Pokemon are eligible for the Love Cup

Again, Pokemon that are red or pink in color can be used in the Love Cup. Also, there are some species that have CP that are naturally too high to be used - like Groudon - but there are still plenty of options. Here’s a breakdown of which Pokemon can participate in the Love Cup.

Red Pokemon: Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Vileplume, Paras, Parasect, Krabby, Kingler, Voltorb, Electrode, Goldeen, Seaking, Jynx, Magmar, Magikarp, Flareon, Ledyba, Ledian, Ariados, Yanma, Scizor, Slugma, Magcargo, Octillery, Delibird, Porygon2, Magby, Torchic, Combusken, Blaziken, Wurmple, Medicham, Carvanha, Camerupt, Solrock, Corphish, Crawdaunt, Sunny Form Castform, Kricketot, Kricketune, Trash Cloak Burmy, Trash Cloak Wormadam, Magmortar, Porygon-Z, Rotom, Tepig, Pignite, Emboar, Pansear, Simisear, Throh, Venipede, Scolipede, Krookodile, Darumaka, Darmanitan, Dwebble, Crustle, Scrafty, Autumn Form Deerling, Shelmet, Accelgor, Druddigon, Pawniard, Bisharp, Braviary, Heatmor, Fennekin, Braixen, Delphox, Fletchling, Fletchinder, Talonflame

Pink Pokemon: Clefairy, Clefable, Jigglypuff, Wigglytuff, Slowpoke, Galarian Slowpoke, Slowbro, Galarian Slowbro, Exeggcute, Lickitung, Chansey, Mr. Mime, Porgyon, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Flaafy, Hoppip, Slowking, Galarian Slowking, Snubbull, Corsola, Smoochum, Miltank, Blissey, Whismur, Skitty, Milotic, Gorebyss, Luvdisc, Cherubi, Sunshine Form Cherrim, Mime Jr., Happiny, Lickilicky, Mesprit, Munna, Musharna, Audino, Spring Form Deerling, Alomomola, Spritzee, Aromatisse, Sylveon

Best Pokemon Go Love Cup Pokemon

Here are our top picks to use in the Pokemon Go Love Cup meta. Power these Pokemon as close to 1500 CP as you can get to maximise their effectiveness in the event.

Aromatisse

Type: Fairy
Weaknesses: Steel, Poison
Best moves: Charm, Draining Kiss/Psychic

Fairy-type Pokemon with access to the Fast Move, Charm, is highly desirable in the Love Cup. While Wigglytuff has been one of the best options in the past, this year brings a couple of other Fairy types who can help trainers take out their opponents with ease.

Scolipede

Type: Bug/Poison
Weaknesses: Rock, Fire, Flying, Psychic
Best moves: Poison Jab, X-Scissor, Sludge Bomb

Trainers should expect plenty of Fairy types when battling in the Love Cup and because there aren’t many Steel types to use, Poison types are the way to go and not many are better than Scolipede.

Scolipede has access to Poison Jab to deal with Fairy types, and the stray Grass-type you’ll encounter. X-Scissor gives Scolipede a way to deal with Psychic types, while Sludge Bomb is a more powerful upgrade to Poison Jab. As long as you stray away from Flying or Fire types, Scolipede can do some major damage.

Talonflame

Type: Fire/Flying
Weaknesses: Water, Electric, Rock
Best moves: Incinerate, Flame Charge/Brave Bird

Talonflame is a better Charizard in the Love Cup. Incinerate is the superior option for a Fast Attack, but is only available if you’ve participated in its Community Day event -- or used an Elite Fast TM -- while Flame Charge is a quick way to get rid of your opponent’s shields while also increasing Talonflame’s Attack strength.

Brave Bird is the Flying-type option trainers should use to take on Fighting and Grass types. Talonflame can take out other Love Cup stalwarts like Scrafty, Scolipede as well as resist Fairy-type moves.

Alomomola

Pokemon Go Love Cup best Pokemon — (Image credit: Niantic)

Type: Water
Weaknesses: Grass, Electric
Best moves: Waterfall/Hydro Pump

Alomomola, the friendly looking fifth gen fish Pokemon, tops this list. Thanks to the Love Cup restrictions, there aren't many Pokemon that counter Alomomola – Vileplume is the biggest concern, but also isn't a popular choice. Go for the Waterfall/Hydro Pump move combo to deal the most damage, then pick Psychic if you have two charged moves.

Charizard

Type: Fire/Flying
Weaknesses: Water, Electric, Rock
Best moves: Wing Attack/Blast Burn

Next up is everyone's favourite, Charizard. It gets seriously countered by Rock-type moves so switch out if you come up against Magcargo or Crustle – or any Water-types of course – but otherwise, it's a solid pick. Any of the fast moves available are more than valid here depending on your preference, but our favourite is Wing Attack. Blast Burn is definitely the best charged move though, followed by Dragon Claw if you have a second.

Electrode

Type: Electric
Weaknesses: Ground
Best moves: Volt Switch/Discharge

Electrode is limited by its best moves being Electric-type only, but the fact there aren't many Ground-type Pokemon eligible for the Love Cup means it's a very good pick. Volt Switch should be your fast move of choice – you can use Spark if absolutely necessary – while Discharge takes a slight preference over Foul Play.

Clefable

Type: Fairy
Weaknesses: Poison, Steel
Best moves: Charm/Meteor Mash

Clefable is a Pokemon with great defensive abilities, which is especially useful in the Love Cup because there are not many Pokemon with a type advantage over Clefable at all. Scolipede and Vileplume, if they know Poison-type moves, are the two you'll need to watch out for the most. Pick Charm as the fast move, followed by Meteor Mash for the charged move. Psychic and Moonblast can also do a job here.

Wigglytuff

Type: Normal/Fairy
Weaknesses: Poison/Steel
Best moves: Charm/Play Rough

A very similar pick to Clefable here, so don't have both of them in your team at the same time. Wigglytuff is simply an alternative, but importantly, it also wins the matchup between Clefable and itself. Charm wins out here again most of the time, but Feint Attack is good if you need a Dark-type move. Play Rough, Hyper Beam, or Ice Beam are all valid charged moves depending on what type you need.

Scrafty

Type: Dark/Fighting
Weaknesses: Fighting, Flying, Fairy
Best moves: Counter/Foul Play

Scrafty is a prime contender for a differential in the Pokemon Go Love Cup, because it's strong against the top three picks here; Alomomola, Charizard, and Electrode. It does lose to both Clefable and Wigglytuff though, so be careful. Counter is usually the best move to pick here, but if you want a Dark-type fast move then go for Snarl, while you should always be using Foul Play as your charged move.

Lickilicky

Type: Normal
Weaknesses: Fighting
Best moves: Lick/Body Slam

Lickilicky is one of those unexpected picks, because Normal-type Pokemon rarely fare well in PvP. With that said, Lick is one of the best fast moves in the entire game, let alone in Lickilicky's move pool, so it's a must-include. Opt for Body Slam as the charged move, because of the sheer damage output.

Medicham

Type: Fighting/Psychic
Weaknesses: Flying, Fairy, Ghost
Best moves: Counter/Dynamic Punch

Don't use Medicham against Pokemon like Clefable or Charizard, but it is a brilliant counter for Alomomola, Scrafty, and Electrode. The best moveset on paper is Counter and Dynamic Punch, but since both are Fighting-type moves, you can switch one or both of them to Psycho Cut and Psychic for that Psychic-type advantage over other Fighting-types, and Poison-types.

Honorable mentions

These Pokemon (and their best movesets) are powerful in the Love Cup meta, but didn't quite make it into the list:

Milotic (Waterfall/Surf)
Crustle (Smack Down/Rock Slide)
Magcargo (Rock Throw/Stone Edge)
Seaking (Poison Jab/Icy Wind)
Slowking (Confusion/Psychic)

Experiment with different team compositions of the above Pokemon and you should stumble upon a winning formula before long. Good luck!