You may already have hundreds of fights under your belt, but Pokémon Go’s Battle League was only in its preseason. The official start to the Battle League kicks off on Friday, March 13 at 1 p.m. PDT. This first season of play allows you to complete seven sets of battles a day (meaning you can fight 35 times if you have the time on your hands). If you win all five battles in a set, you receive a Premium Battle Pass. Raising your rank also brings different rewards like increased Stardust, various Charged and Fast TMs, as well as the Pokémon you can catch at specific tiers.
The first reward encounter will be against Metagross. At rank 4, Beldum is thrown into the mix. Rank 7 brings the chance of a Rufflet encounter (who will later be available at the Safari Zone Philadelphia event). If you win enough fights to reach rank 10, you will earn a guaranteed encounter against Pikachu Libre. Scraggy will also appear more often as a random encounter in the battle tier.
At the end of Battle League’s first season (which concludes on May 1), if you reach rank 7, you will earn an Elite Charged TM. If you hit rank 10, you also will receive avatar items and a pose inspired by Pokémon League Champion Steven.
As the season’s start approaches, trainers will have a chance to catch more powerful, battle-savvy Pokémon. Between March 6 and 9, Darkrai will be offered as a Battle League reward (complete with a shiny chance). From March 10 to 12, five-star raids will feature Registeel and Cresselia. Other raids will feature Swampert, Shieldon, Skarmony, and more. Lastly, from March 13 to 16, Altered Forme Giratina will be a Battle League reward (again with a shiny chance).