I was curious to see people's thoughts on this season 1 month in. The new system, the move updates, the meta, what's working for you, what isn't, etc.

I never thought I would say it, but this is the least engaged I have ever felt with the Go Battle League, and that hurts as someone who loves to theorycraft around it.

The new system is far from perfect and feels janky, as I'm sure most would say. There ARE improvements within it, but many would agree that it feels poor in areas. New issues AND old issues.

And the meta... Man it feels stale imo. Energy Ball buff was honestly the only major buff this season that (in my opinion) was a positive. I need to play more Ultra and Master, but Great feels abysmal to me, in both the new format and competitors cup.

What is your experience/thoughts?

Seems like it should go without saying, but if you fight Giovanni and he is still using Landorus, you're going to get Landorus as an encounter, not Reshiram. Same with any other time he switches over. In some months when he gets Shadow Zekrom, if you fight him before the takeover starts and he still uses Shadow Reshiram, that's who you will get!

But just as important:

YOU CAN BACK OUT OF A GIOVANNI BATTLE AND NOT LOSE YOUR SUPER ROCKET RADAR!

Some people worry that once you're fighting him, you're locked in, but you aren't. It only eats your Super Rocket Radar once you actually defeat Giovanni, so if you're fighting him and he has the Legendary you're not trying to get, you can run from the battle and keep your radar.

All of this should go without saying, but I see people make the mistake and get confused why they got the wrong Legendary every takeover. Now you know though!

(plus Great Buddy)

I've been thinking about Grass and Electric types in the lower leagues and how they typically get the short end of the stick, while Water and Ground typically see far more bias from the devs. Charjabug, Stunfisk, and nerfed Bellibolt are around, but that's about it.

I thought back to Parabolic Charge, a time when it felt like Electric actually got some time to shine, specifically Dedenne in the GL and Bellibolt in the UL. That said, anything being able to artificially inflate its bulk with constant Defense boosts can be seen as... questionable. Dedenne was spammy, but I don't think it was as much of a problem and did at least have the neat trait of being able to threaten Water and Dragon together. Bellibolt though, it grew to be a pain fast with it already having good bulk and being able to inflate that more and more. So much so that it had the capability to just out-bulk things and beat them with shields like Steelix.

Despite being tired of Water buffs, I am hesitant to say Parabolic Charge should just go back to how it was, but what about reworking Parabolic Charge?

My proposal would be making it more usable move without being reliant on a guaranteed defense buff. Allow Dedenne to throw stronger Electric damage with decent pacing perhaps with a chance to buff Defenses but not anything super consistent. Bellibolt, on paper as a bulky Electric type doesn't sound bad. It's just that being able to keep increasing its already good Defenses made it a nuisance. But just having solidly good moves instead? I like the idea.

My head was either:

45 energy, 75-80 power, 0-20% chance to increase Defense 1 stage

40 energy, 65-70 power, 0-10% chance to increase Defense 1 stage

I personally like having some chance to increase bulk, but I'd be fine making it a plain move without boosts. It's less in-line with the move's Main Series roots, but there are plenty of moves like that. Oblivion Wing only recently got the Defense Buff added to it, and plenty of Charged Attacks like Shadow Ball lack secondary effects present in the MSG.

Would you be for this kind of rework? Would you rather it stay as-is? Go back to how it was at 45 energy and the guaranteed buff?

Where are we? - Waters, Normals, and Wiggly

Memories in Motion is nearly over, and there are a lot of move updates I'd love to see. In seeing what issues people have with the meta currently, it seems like the primary annoyances are the plethora of Water types, bulky normals with wide coverage, and Wigglytuff able to Charm down non-Poison/Steel types with solid pacing.

While there are going to be some unrelated ideas presented here, a lot of them will be in an effort to counter/nerf those three categories.

Move Stat Changes

Fast Moves

• Charm: 13 damage -> 12 damage (former Waterfall/Smack Down clone)
• Counter: 8 damage -> 7 damage, 6 energy -> 7 energy (Poison Jab/Bullet Punch clone)
• Infestation: 6 damage -> 7 damage, 12 energy -> 13 energy (Hex/Rollout clone)
• Magical Leaf: 10 damage -> 12 damage (Astonish clone)
• Razor Leaf: 9 damage -> 8 damage, 4 energy -> 7 energy (Sucker Punch clone)

Charged Moves

• Energy Ball: 90 damage -> 70 damage, 55 energy -> 45 energy (Crunch clone with 10% debuff chance instead of 20%)
• High Jump-Kick: 110 damage -> 90 damage, 55 energy -> 40 energy
• Magnet Bomb: 45 energy -> 40 energy (Sludge, Twister clone)
• Shadow Ball: 100 damage -> 90 damage (Power Whip/Grass Knot clone)

New Moves

Charged Moves

• Grassy Glide: 70 damage, 40 energy - Vileplume, Hisuian Electrode, Exeggutor (both forms), Sunflora, Celebi, Cacturne, Cherrim (both forms), Tangrowth, Whimsicott, Lilligant, Maractus, Tsareena, Dhelmise, Rillaboom, Eldegoss, Flapple, Appletun, Zarude, Dipplin, Hydrapple
• Shock Wave: 55 damage, 35 energy - Nidoking, Alakazam, Magneton, Raikou, Exploud, Aggron, Volbeat, Illumise, Manectric, Banette, Luxray, Rotom (all forms), Zebstrika, Reuniclus, Vikavolt, Celesteela, Toxtricity

Move Distribution

Fast Moves

• Charm: Tapu Lele
• Gust: Tropius
• Leafage: Meganium**,** Sceptile, Cherrim (both forms), Tapu Bulu, Eldegoss
• Shadow Claw: Ursaluna
• Sucker Punch: Shiftry

Charged Moves

• Air Cutter: Shiftry, Noivern
• Brick Break: Tapu Bulu
• Chilling Water: Masquerain, Glalie, Meowscarada
• Fire Punch: Garganacl
• Foul Play: Honchkrow, Salazzle,
• High Horsepower: Tapu Bulu
• High Jump-Kick: Hitmonlee, Hitmontop, Lopunny, Mienshao, Pheromosa, Cinderace
• Magnet Bomb: Magnezone, Aggron, Chimecho, Metang, Porygon-Z, Rotom (all forms), Garbodor, Klefki, Toxtricity
• Night Slash: Skuntank, Duraludon
• Rock Slide: Sceptile, Shiftry, Eelektross,
• Rock Tomb: Torterra
• Thunder Punch: Tapu Koko
• Trailblaze: Pachirisu
• Twister: Dragonair, Serperior, Drampa, Flapple, Enamorus (both forms)
• Upper Hand: Shiftry
• Weather Ball (Fire): Vileplume, Weepinbell, Victreebel, Bayleef, Meganium, Bellossom, Sunflora, Shiftry, Lilligant (both forms), Heliolisk, Dolliv, Arboliva
• Weather Ball (Water): Kilowattrel

There are a lot of changes here, but it is still in line with the amount that we typically receive in larger move updates. Not to mention some fillery additions like Night Slash Duraludon or Weather Ball Sunflora. There are plenty of other move updates I want to see outside of these, buffs, nerfs, additions, and new moves, but I wanted to keep this as a somewhat more concentrated post.

My single reservation amongst all these is Gust on Tropius. While I have no issues buffing a regional, especially when it is made globally available (Tropius will be on Incense in Go Fest 2026), this would likely prevent Gust from being buffed further in the future. I think buffing Gust to the level of Confusion is a great idea, but doing so on a bulky regional with two strong 35 energy Charged Moves seems questionable...

Do you agree with these? Any you think are trash ideas? Anything you'd do differently?