February is right around the corner and love is in the air in Pokemon GO. In addition to any surprise PvE/world in-game Valentine's Day events that arrive in early to mid-February, it seems like Niantic has some big PvP plans to help celebrate the holiday, as well. The player versus player crowd will have a chance to partake in the Love Cup and build a creative themed roster to battle for a limited time.
The Pokemon GO Love Cup is the next major themed PvP cup and will run from February 8 through February 15. The event tasks players with building a roster of red or pink fighters who have a CP of 1,500 or less. That may sound pretty restrictive, but the list of eligible Pokemon is actually longer than some trainers might expect.
Before diving into the event on February 8, it's important for players to understand the rules. One of the big ones for special cups like this is that Legendary and Mythical Pokemon are off the table. Players who manage to stick to the established rules have the chance to battle over the course of a week and earn the usual collection of PvP battle rewards. There are usually some pretty good items up for grabs, so it's definitely worth taking the time to put together a strong line up for the event...
Rules
The Love Cup is an official in-game PvP format. It’s free to participate and all regular Trainer Battle rules apply.
Only red and pink Pokémon with 1,500 CP or less are allowed
Please note that Galarian Mr. Mime, Galarian Darumaka, and Galarian Darmanitan are not eligible
Eligible 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
Kricketot
Kricketune
Burmy (Trash)
Wormadam (Trash)
Magmortar
Porygon-Z
Rotom (Wash)
Tepig
Pignite
Emboar
Pansear
Simisear
Throh
Venipede
Scolipede
Krookodile
Darumaka
Darmanitan
Dwebble
Crustle
Deerling (Autumn)
Deerling (Spring)
Shelmet
Accelgor
Pawniard
Bisharp
Braviary
Heatmor
Fennekin
Braixen
Delphox
Fletchling
Fletchinder
Talonflame
Clefairy
Clefable
Jigglypuff
Wigglytuff
Slowpoke
Slowbro
Exeggcute
Lickitung
Happiny
Chansey
Mr. Mime
Mime Jr.
Porygon
Cleffa
Igglybuff
Flaaffy
Hoppip
Slowking
Snubbull
Corsola
Smoochum
Miltank
Blissey
Whismur
Skitty
Milotic
Gorebyss
Luvdisc
Cherubi
Cherrim (Sunny)
Lickilicky
Audino
Alomomola
Scrafty
As mentioned before, that's a very long list of Pokemon to consider. Luckily, players don't need to stress too much heading into a special themed event like this. In the past, themed events are actually a great time for beginners to jump into the PvP scene and get a feel for the matches. The strict rules tend to eliminate most of the established metagame strategies which opens the doors for players to get creative, silly, and do a whole lot less min-maxing throughout the whole event. Don't worry about memorizing the best Ultra League rosters and counters or anything like that and just focus on having a good time with this one.
Over the next week or so players should begin to learn a lot more about what other events are on the way in February. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Pokemon GO strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.
Source: Pokemon GO Hub