Go Fest Finale 2022 Event Guide

All good things come to an end and that is very true for this year’s GoFest season. Between the original global GoFest and the imperial experiences in Seattle Berlin and Sapporo there have been so many mons and memories made. But make no mistake, this season is going out with a bang. There are a lot of solid PvP Pokémon to catch, new and recently released shinies to hunt, opportunities to grind hard to get XL and of course a lot of fun to be had. So much to do. So little time. 

Notes/disclaimers: You have to be at least level 31 to collect XL candy and unless otherwise 

noted the IVs I list as target/ideal will be assuming a level 50 cap and the requisite XL candy. For a quick explanation on how PvP IVs work refer to this article. I would recommend using the rank checker of your choice, such as GOStadium, to see how good the IVs on your mons are. IVs matter but aren't everything. I would rather run a poor PvP IV Skarmory than a perfect PvP IV Fearow

There is so much to go over, so let’s just jump into it. 

All good things come to an end and that is very true for this year’s GoFest season. Between the original global GoFest and the imperial experiences in Seattle Berlin and Sapporo there have been so many mons and memories made. But make no mistake, this season is going out with a bang. There are a lot of solid PvP Pokémon to catch, new and recently released shinies to hunt, opportunities to grind hard to get XL and of course a lot of fun to be had. So much to do. So little time. 

Notes/disclaimers: You have to be at least level 31 to collect XL candy and unless otherwise 

noted the IVs I list as target/ideal will be assuming a level 50 cap and the requisite XL candy. For a quick explanation on how PvP IVs work refer to this article. I would recommend using the rank checker of your choice, such as GOStadium, to see how good the IVs on your mons are. IVs matter but aren't everything. I would rather run a poor PvP IV Skarmory than a perfect PvP IV Fearow

There is so much to go over, so let’s just jump into it. 

Global GoFest takes place on Saturday August 27 from 10 AM to 6 PM local time. There will be 4 Habitats, each representing one of four different Ultra Beasts and lasting two hours. The ticketed experience includes incense bonuses, exclusive research stories, bonus XP, half hatch distance and up to 9 free orange raid passes from gyms. A very cute and debut costume Pikachu, Shaymin scarf edition will be spawning in each habitat. 

I think the ticket was worth the price overall and while I will try to note what is ticket only, not that I will for the most part be writing this guide from the perspective of a ticket holder.

Ticketed Incense Spawns

In addition to Unown, which will be spawning on Incense through the entire event, each habitat will have a couple special incense only mons that will appear in addition to getting regular spawns from incense. 

Habitats

• Pheromosa: Galarian Mr Mime & Pansage
• Buzzwole: Axew & Pansear
• Xurkitree: Klink & Panpour
• Nihilego: Frillish & Tropius

Nothing TOO special other than another chance at the elemental monkey trio shinies. Tropius is a nice spawn for people who missed out on it before and Frillish is good for XL Candy grinding. Still it’s definitely worth it to pop incense. Remember, ticketed players get two hours per incense.

Pheromosa Habitat

This habitat centers around Bugs and Fighters. Meditite leads the way in terms of PvP usefulness but we did just have them spawn in an event. 

Mega of Choice: Lopunny

Spawn Thoughts:

If you somehow didn’t get a good PvP IV Meditite or enough Medi XL candy during the Worlds event, here is yet another event for you to do so…Hitmontop is mostly a meme and sim hero for PvP but is a newer shiny at least. Try to get a good one for Great League…Sudowoodo isn’t as good as it’s moveset would indicate, but it is still solid in limited Great League Metas…Scizor sees some play in Ultra and in limited Great League metas (though often as a shadow in Great League). It recently got its mega evolution so hunt for PvP IVs and the hundo…Karrablast’s evolution Escavalier has long seen play in Ultra League formats and has been seeing more play in Open Great League in addition to its place as a solid pick in limited metas. Worth hunting for the PvP IVs and hope for a shiny!…Anorith, Kricketot, and Woobat are all shiny checklist mons and not worth stressing about…Pinsir is also not a big deal BUT it does get a mega evolution someday so getting a hundo to stash would be nice. 

Buzzwole Habitat

The star of this habitat is undoubtedly the returning shiny Axew. Some XL grinding opportunities but not a ton going on. 

Mega of Choice: Aerodactyl for Cranidos XL or any mega Dragon for Axew

Spawn Thoughts:

Another shot at shiny Axew, as wild spawn even! Its final evolution Haxorus sees play in Master Prem and its middle evolution Fraxure isn’t completely useless in the Great League. This is mostly a shiny hunt but it’s worth checking for PvP IVs. Haxorus sees some play in Master Prem, but it’s not like you were trashing your hundo Axew anyways…Numel’s evolved form Camerupt isn’t very useful in PvP (sorry Mason) but it’s a newer shiny that will be able to mega evolve someday…Cranidos evolves into Rampardos, a premier Rock type attacker. Useless in PvP so worry about the hundo and worry about XL candy…Drilbur evolves into Excadrill, a very useful Master League Pokémon. Has some play in Great and Ultra but the hundo is what you want most here…Hitmonchan sees some play in limited Great League formats, but even then it’s usually the shadow…Same goes for Machop’s final evo Machamp but in Ultra Prem and limited Great League formats such as Kanto Cup. Useful for the XL candy grind as a level 50 Shadow Machamp will be one of the most useful things you will ever have for raids, Rockets, and gyms…Hitmonlee, Geodude and Magmar are just shiny chases.

Xurkitree Habitat

Solid if unspectacular habitat for PvP. A few more recent shinies to hunt and Stunfisk for XL grinding. 

Mega of Choice: Ampharos or Manetric covers both Stunfisk and Joltik

Spawn Thoughts:

Stunfisk may not be as powerful as it’s Galarian cousin but it is still a solid PvP mon in it’s own right. Can shine in limited Great League formats like Remix and Summer Cup…Lileep’s evolution Cradily is more suited for GBL cups like Fossil and Summer cup than it is for open Great League, but is still a pretty solid tool in the PvP toolbox. Sees some limited play in Ultra…Female Sandy Burmy evolves into Sandy Wormadam. It isn’t as good as the Trash (pink) version but is on the rarer side, so if you get a female with good PvP IVs it’s absolutely worth the stash…Joltik’s evolution, Galvantula was once a key player in Open Great as an Azu counter. Now it’s a fringe Open Great League pick that’s often really good in limited Great League formats. Technically the hundo is viable in Ultra formats, but it’s never been considered that good…Shinx just had a Community Day and even with the exclusive move Psychic Fangs, it’s a fringe cup Pokémon at best…Electrike’s evolution Manectric is pretty useless overall, but mega evolves so hunt for the hundo…Combee is pretty useless overall but another chance to hunt a new shiny is always welcome!…Shelmet is pretty decent in Little League formats and has a newer shiny…Electabuzz is a former Community Day Mon. Its evolution, Electivire, is just good enough to warrant mention but not good enough worry about…Foongus is just a shiny hunt, but it’s a newer shiny at least. 

Nihilego Habitat

Probably the deepest and most diverse spawn habitat PvP wise, with many spawns for your Great and Ultra League rosters. Also has two new/newer chase shinies. The most important grind hour in my opinion. 

Mega of Choice: Any Water type covers Skrelp and Frillish (as would Mega Gengar with its Ghost/Poison combo). Any normal type covers Chansey. I’ll personally be using Pidegeot. 

Spawn Thoughts:

Bulbasaur and Chikorita’s final evolutions  Venusaur and Meganium are both good PvP Pokémon, but need to have the Community Day exclusive move Frenzy Plant to be viable…Clefairy evolves into Clefable. Clefable is no longer a premium Charmer but can work in a pinch, especially in Ultra League…Tangela’s evolution Tangrowth is solid in Ultra Prem but that’s about it…Skrelp evolves into Dragalge, a unique Poison/Dragon with lots of play in Ultra Prem and Great League limited metas. The Ultra League Dragalge requires a lot of XL Candy, so this is a great opportunity to grind for that…The female Plant (Green) Burmy evolves into Plant Wormadam. It’s not very good and not very rare…Speaking of not very good and not that rare, hi Omanyte 👋…Frillish on the other hand is an incredibly solid PvP mon and relatively rare outside of events. Worth grinding for good PvP IVs and the hard to get XL Candy needed for Ultra League Jellicent…Swirlix’s shiny debuted at GoFest Sapporo. This will be many trainers' first good opportunity to hunt this shiny…The Chansey family are notorious gym defenders with a seemingly endless amount of HP. At times Chansey can put this immense bulk to great use in Great League and Little League. Great League Chansey needs to be level 50 which requires 296 XL Candy, so this is a good opportunity for work on that project…Munna may not be a very interesting Pokémon for PvP or PvE but it is a very interesting new shiny! Get the shiny and put it in gyms to torment less lucky locals…Tentacool’s evolution sees some play in limited metas such as Summer and Kanto Cup, but will probably need a move update to ever make any waves beyond that…I almost forgot Turtwig. That’s all that needs to be said about Turtwig. 

Raids

Leaving out Pokémon already covered in the habitats. 

Rockruff’s only viable PvP evolution is the Midnight form of Lycanroc and even then it’s only fringe viable in limited metas…Snorlax sees some play in Master League Premier…Druddigon is not a great Dragon Tail user but does see some play in limited metas like Love Cup…leave the starters Datrix, Torracat and Brionne alone this weekend…it’s hard to say exactly how the Ultra Beasts will perform without exact movesets (see: Nihilego) but TForge gave us some top notch speculation. I’ll do my best to tweet out the analysis as we know more this weekend.

Some checklists to help keep everything straight

XL Candy Projects

Things you will want XL candy for (including utilizing the Season of Go XL trading bonus)

Little Cup Hoarder Meter

Once upon a time, life with Little Cup was simple. We knew it could only be the first stage of mons that evolved. Now it seems like basically all mons are fair game. Until we have more little cups like Little Jungle, stashing evolved forms under 500 CP is still INCREDIBLY speculative but such is life. Anyways, in order of how much people will judge you for keeping these mons for Little Cup

• Smart: Skrelp, Chikorita, Bulbasaur, Shelmet, Tentacool
• Reasonable: Chansey, Turtwig, Frillish
• Super Speculative: Sudowoodo, Hitmonchan, Stunfisk, and any evolution 
• Full on Hoarder Alert: Drillbur, Tangela, Meditite

Leaving a checklist of things to have built/ready to be built by the end of the event based on how hardcore you are into PvP. Maybe you already have some or most of this done already. Awesome! But I’m betting there will be at least a couple things you can still build or improve.

Listing as the final/target mon you will be evolving to

As is often the case with events, there is nothing new or groundbreaking for battlers in this event. A lot of veteran battlers will have most or all of these mons prepped or built. The GoFest finale is about fun and community and, of course, shiny chasing. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t opptournites, especially for newer battlers, to solidify their PvP collection this weekend. Specifically there are golden opportunities to work on your XL projects for Medicham, Dragalge, and Jellicent. Also, increased shiny rates mean better chances at a shiny with good PvP IVs and who doesn’t love a chance to flex on their opponents in GBL? Have fun, catch all the mons, grind out all the XL and get the new shinies. Oh, and don’t forget to save Professor Willow!