Season 2 of Pokémon GO Battle League is starting this Friday, May 1 for trainers that are dying to show off their skills.
Think you’ve got what it takes to be the very best like no one ever was? Prove it. In season 2 of Pokémon GO Battle League. Everything kicks off at 1PM Pacific Standard Time, starting with the Great League.
There will be a handful of changes to the mode with this season. But there will be a number of things that are also staying the same.
Season 2 of the Pokémon GO Battle League will still remove unlocking requirements
Though Niantic plans to introduce a bunch of new stuff with season 2, there are also a number of things that are staying the same.
The company is still removing the requirements to unlock sets of battles by walking or using PokéCoins. Niantic says this begins for everyone immediately with the start of the season. Save for anyone already in the middle of their current set.
For those individuals it will begin with their next set. Whenever that happens to be. Also staying the same this season are the Pikachu Libre-inspired avatar items. These are currently a rank 7 reward and they will continue to stay a reward for reaching rank 7.
The same goes for other avatar items, like the ones inspired by Steven Stone, which will continue to be rewards for reaching rank 10.
In season 2 it will require more wins to progress to some higher ranks
There are some changes being made to the ranking system for battle league. Some of these are more minor but there is one in particular that could prove to make things more challenging. The rank progression requirements.
With this upcoming new season (and potentially following seasons), players will be required to win more matches to progress to some higher ranks. Specifically it will require more wins to get to ranks 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Ranks 1 through 3 and 8 onward should require the same amount of wins as they currently do in season 1. Niantic doesn’t mention any changes to the number of wins needed for these ranks. So there are probably no changes here.
One of the more exciting changes coming to the game is the ability to start a trainer battle via QR codes. This will work from anywhere and it doesn’t matter what your friendship level is or what the distance is from the other trainer.
Imagine, for a moment, that you’re walking down the street in your local downtown area, and you see a light post with a QR code sticker on it. You scan this code wondering what it might be. Boom. Next thing you know you’re engaged in a trainer battle.
You can view the full list of changes coming in battle league season 2 in the patch notes from Niantic.