Pokemon Go Little Jungle Cup - best teams and movesets for new format

Pokemon go little jungle cup
(Image credit: Niantic)

The Pokemon Go Little Jungle Cup is a brand new format introduced in Season 9 for trainers to test their skills. The Little Jungle Cup bring the frenetic battles of the Little Cup but with a different twist - like the Little Cup in past, the CP limit is 500 or below and the Pokemon used don’t have to be evolved. However, the jungle aspect of the format comes into play for the next couple of weeks limiting the Pokemon choices to just Normal, Grass, Electric, Poison, Ground, Flying, Bug and Dark types. Now, some of the best Pokemon in the game are these types - especially Ground and Flying types - but the CP restrictions does make things a bit more interesting. Also, Shuckle and Smeargle are not allowed in this format. 

From now until October 11, trainers will be able to take Pokemon under the above restrictions into battle against others around the world. With all of that in mind, here are the best Pokemon to use in the Little Jungle Cup.

The Best Pokemon Go Little Jungle Cup Pokemon

Skarmory

Pokemon go little jungle cup

(Image credit: Niantic)

Type: Steel/Flying
Weakness: Electric, Fire

Skarmory is one of the best Pokemon to use in the Great and Ultra League so you know it’s great in the Little Jungle Cup format. Its typing makes it resist or neutral to every type allowed in the format, aside from Electric, and can take care of any Grass, Poison and Bug types you may come across.

For its Fast Move, Air Slash is optimal as it hits Grass and Bug types super effectively. It is also stronger than Steel Wing and gains energy faster. The only downside to it is that it’s slower than Steel Wing, but the difference doesn’t outweigh the benefits of the move. 

For its Charged Move, Sky Attack is the best one to use. It may be the weakest of Skarmory’s three options but it fills up the fastest and doesn’t have any drawbacks. If you have a second slot available, Flash Cannon is the way to go as it can give Skarmory coverage against Ice, Fairy and Rock types. 

Wigglytuff

Pokemon go little jungle cup

(Image credit: Niantic)

Type: Normal/Fairy
Weakness: Poison, Steel

That’s right, Wigglytuff could be a great option to take into battle in the Little Jungle Cup. The reason for this is because of its Fairy typing. Fairy type is one of the strongest types in all of Pokemon so whenever you can sneak one onto your team would benefit you greatly. 

Charm is one of the best Fast Moves in all of Pokemon Go because of its Fairy typing and power and Wigglytuff can use it. This is the optimal Fast Move to use for Wigglytuff as it takes care of any Dark types that the opposing trainer uses and hits neutrally on just about any Pokemon that’s not a Poison, Fire or Steel type.

As for its Charged Move, Play Rough or Dazzling Gleam are great Fairy-type STAB attacks. The only difference is the power and time it takes to charge. Dazzling Gleam is more powerful but takes longer to use. Which one you use is totally up to the trainer. If you have a second slot available, Hyper Beam is a powerful STAB attack that will hit just about any Pokemon neutrally. However, we suggest Ice Beam as a Charged Move as it hits Grass and Flying types super effectively. Also, Poison types are oftentimes part Grass-type so Ice Beam can give the Fairy-type Wigglytuff some coverage. 

Cottonee

Pokemon go little jungle cup

(Image credit: Niantic)

Type: Grass/Fairy
Weakness: Poison, Fire, Flying, Steel

Cottonee is great in this format for many of the same reasons as Wigglytuff. Its Fairy typing can give it plenty of resistances and having access to Charm is amazing to battle other Pokemon. Any Pokemon in this format won’t have the best IVs and their overall HP stat will be low so Fast Moves will be crucial to knocking out opponents. So yes, Charm is the optimal Fast Move to use for Cottonee in the Little Jungle Cup. 

If you are looking for a Charged Move this Pokemon doesn’t have many options. Energy Ball and Seed Bomb do similar damage and take about the same amount of energy to use. The big difference is Energy Ball has a chance to lower the opponent’s defense stat. 

Galarian Stunfisk

Pokemon go little jungle cup

(Image credit: Niantic)

Type: Ground/Steel
Weakness: Water, Fighting, Ground, Fire

The regional form of the Ground and Electric-type Pokemon, Galarian Stunfisk gives a bulky and powerful option for any team looking to make waves in the Little Jungle Cup. Its Steel typing makes it resistant to many types in the format and its Ground typing gives it powerful STAB against many other Pokemon you’ll see in the Little Jungle Cup.

Mud Shot is the optimal Fast Move for Galarian Stunfisk as it hits Steel, Electric, Poison, Fire and Rock types super effectively and is the quicker energy gainer of the Pokemon’s Fast attacks. 

For its Charged Move, Muddy Water is a must-have. The Water-type attack gives Galarian Stunfisk coverage against Ground and Fire types and has a chance to lower the target’s attack stat. If you have a second slot, Earthquake is a great move to have as its power can easily knock out Pokemon that are weak to it and deal heavy damage against any that is neutral to it. 

Pyroar

Pokemon go little jungle cup

(Image credit: Niantic)

Type: Fire/Normal
Weakness: Water, Ground, Rock, Fighting

Another surprise pick, Pyroar is the best Fire-type in the format. Trainers will want to try and get a Fire-type to deal with Steel types like Skarmory and Galarian Stunfisk and any Cottonee you’ll run into. Pyroar’s Fire typing also makes it resistant to Fairy-type attacks that you may run into against Wigglytuff. 

Fire Fang is the optimal Fast Move as its the most powerful and quickest option. As for Pyroar’s Charged Move trainers should really invest in getting it a second slot. The first should be Flame Charge as it hits Grass and Steel types super effectively and doesn’t take a lot of energy to pull off. Also, it increases Pyroar’s attack by one stage after use. 

The second slot could be one of two options. The first is Solarbeam, which gives Pyroar some coverage against Ground, Rock and Water-type Pokemon. However, Solarbeam does take a lot of energy to pull off but if you are patient enough you can one-shot just about any Pokemon. 

Dark Pulse is also a great option as it doesn’t take a lot of energy to use and gives Pyroar coverage against Psychic and Ghost types. 

And there you have it. Those are our picks for the best Pokemon to use in the Little Jungle Cup. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section and give us your team down below. 

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Phillip Martinez

I'm currently a GamesRadar guide contributor with a specialty in everything Pokemon GO. If you've wanted to know the best way to take down a Rayquaza, there's a good chance you read one of my guides. I previously have written for IBT Media, Newsweek and Screen Rant. I'm a huge fighting game fan and everything Pokemon, but I've grown to love RPGs.