Best Pokémon to Catch During Pokémon GO World Championships 2026

The best Pokémon to catch during Pokémon GO World Championships 2026 include Beldum, Mankey, Totodile, Alolan Sandshrew, Lickitung and several Pokémon appearing during the preceding PokémonXP event, particularly because many of their evolutions can obtain featured attacks before the celebration ends.

PokémonXP runs from August 25 at 10:00 a.m. until August 28 at 10:00 a.m. local time, followed immediately by the World Championships event from August 28 until August 30 at 8:00 p.m. local time.

The wild encounter pool changes between the two periods, meaning some of the best targets disappear when PokémonXP ends.

Best Pokémon to Catch During Pokémon GO World Championships 2026

The strongest priorities are Pokémon that either appear less frequently, lead to featured-move evolutions, or provide multiple useful evolution opportunities during the event.

Priority	Pokémon	Why to Catch It
Very High	Beldum	Evolves into Metagross with Meteor Mash
Very High	Mankey	Can lead to Rage Fist Primeape and Annihilape
Very High	Totodile	Evolves into Feraligatr with Hydro Cannon
Very High	Alolan Sandshrew	Evolves into Alolan Sandslash with Shadow Claw
High	Lickitung	Can obtain Body Slam and evolve into Body Slam Lickilicky
High	Togetic	Evolves into Togekiss with Aura Sphere
High	Froakie	Evolves into Greninja with Hydro Cannon
High	Wooper	Evolves into Quagsire with Aqua Tail
High	Litten	Evolves into Incineroar with Blast Burn

Beldum and Togetic deserve particular attention because they are listed as less common World Championships wild encounters rather than part of the main increased spawn pool.

Best Pokémon to Catch During Pokémon GO World Championships 2026 – Beldum

Beldum is one of the best Pokémon to catch during Pokémon GO World Championships 2026 because its final evolution, Metagross, can obtain Meteor Mash during the event.

Beldum will be one of the less common wild encounters from August 28 at 10:00 a.m. until August 30 at 8:00 p.m. local time.

That means Trainers should not expect Beldum to appear as frequently as Mankey, Totodile or Froakie.

Each encounter is useful for collecting Beldum Candy, searching for a suitable evolution candidate and potentially finding a Shiny Beldum.

Trainers who already have a strong Beldum or Metang stored can also prepare it for evolution during the event rather than relying entirely on finding a new one.

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Mankey

Mankey has unusually good value during the event because its evolution family has two Pokémon on the featured attack list.

Primeape can obtain Rage Fist, while Annihilape can also obtain Rage Fist.

Mankey itself will appear more frequently during the World Championships portion of the celebration.

That increased availability makes it easier to collect Candy and search for suitable Mankey before deciding whether to build Primeape, Annihilape or both.

The normal evolution requirements for Annihilape still apply. The event announcement does not state that its evolution requirement will be removed.

Mankey can also be Shiny.

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Best Pokémon to Catch During Pokémon GO World Championships 2026- Totodile

Totodile is another high-priority Pokémon to catch.

It can be evolved through Croconaw into Feraligatr, which can obtain Hydro Cannon during the event.

Totodile will appear more frequently in the wild between August 28 and August 30.

It is also one of the three Pokémon connected to the Team Building: Great League Bonus Timed Research available by watching the World Championships broadcast.

That makes Totodile one of the most heavily supported evolution families across the celebration.

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Alolan Sandshrew

Alolan Sandshrew should also be high on the list of the best Pokémon to catch during Pokémon GO World Championships 2026.

It will appear more frequently in the wild during the main World Championships event.

Alolan Sandshrew can be evolved into Alolan Sandslash, which will know Shadow Claw as its featured Fast Attack under the event conditions.

The increased spawns provide an opportunity to collect Candy and compare several Alolan Sandshrew before deciding which one to evolve.

Shiny Alolan Sandshrew is also available.

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Lickitung

Lickitung has two featured-move opportunities during the celebration.

Lickitung itself can obtain Body Slam, while its evolution Lickilicky can also obtain Body Slam.

It will appear more frequently during the World Championships portion from August 28 to August 30.

Lickitung also appears as one of the choices in the Team Building Great League Timed Research earned through the World Championships broadcast.

Trainers interested in both Lickitung and Lickilicky therefore have a good reason to collect additional Candy and compare several encounters during the event.

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Best Pokémon to Catch During Pokémon GO World Championships 2026- Togetic

Togetic is a less common encounter during the World Championships portion of the event.

It can be evolved into Togekiss, which will receive Aura Sphere as its featured Charged Attack.

Because Togetic is included in the rarer encounter group alongside Beldum, it is worth catching whenever one appears rather than assuming another will spawn shortly afterwards.

Togetic can also potentially be Shiny.

Froakie

Froakie will appear more frequently during the World Championships event and can eventually be evolved into Greninja.

Greninja can obtain Hydro Cannon during the event.

This makes Froakie useful for Trainers who still need Candy, a suitable Greninja candidate or another opportunity to obtain the featured move without using an Elite Charged TM later.

Froakie can also be Shiny.

Wooper

Standard Wooper will appear more frequently during the World Championships event.

Wooper can be evolved into Quagsire, which will obtain Aqua Tail under the event’s featured attack conditions.

It is important not to confuse the wild Wooper encounter with Paldean Wooper, which is separately associated with one branch of the Great League Team Building Timed Research.

The announced World Championships wild spawn is Wooper.

Litten

Litten is another featured wild encounter from August 28 to August 30.

Its final evolution, Incineroar, can obtain Blast Burn during the celebration.

Anyone who needs additional Litten Candy or a suitable Incineroar candidate can therefore use the increased spawn period before making the final evolution.

Litten can also potentially be Shiny.

Best Pokémon to Catch During PokémonXP 2026

Some of the best Pokémon to catch during Pokémon GO World Championships 2026 celebrations actually appear before the World Championships portion begins.

PokémonXP has its own wild pool from August 25 until August 28.

Priority	Pokémon	Why to Catch It
Very High	Deino	Evolves into Hydreigon with Brutal Swing
High	Spheal	Evolves into Walrein with Powder Snow and Icicle Spear
High	Ralts	Can become Gardevoir or Gallade with Synchronoise
High	Sobble	Evolves into Inteleon with Hydro Cannon
Standard	Pawmi	Shiny eligible event spawn
Standard	Drifloon	Shiny eligible event spawn
Standard	Elgyem	Shiny eligible event spawn
Standard	Numel	Shiny eligible event spawn

Deino deserves special attention because it is listed as a less common PokémonXP encounter.

Best Pokémon to Catch During Pokémon GO World Championships 2026- Deino

Deino is arguably the PokémonXP spawn most worth checking whenever it appears.

It can be evolved through Zweilous into Hydreigon, which can obtain Brutal Swing during the wider celebration.

Deino will not be part of the main increased spawn group. It is instead listed as a Pokémon that some Trainers may encounter.

It is also Shiny eligible.

Anyone wanting more Deino Candy should concentrate on PokémonXP before the spawn pool changes at 10:00 a.m. local time on August 28.

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Spheal

Spheal leads to one of the most interesting featured-move evolutions of the event.

Walrein receives two featured attacks rather than one.

It can obtain Powder Snow as its Fast Attack and Icicle Spear as its Charged Attack.

Spheal will appear more frequently throughout PokémonXP, making August 25 to August 28 the important period for collecting additional Spheal Candy and evolution candidates.

Ralts

Ralts provides two possible featured-move final evolutions.

Gardevoir can obtain Synchronoise, while Gallade can also obtain Synchronoise.

That makes each Ralts encounter potentially useful for more than one evolution path.

Ralts will appear more frequently during PokémonXP and can also potentially be Shiny.

Best Pokémon to Catch During Pokémon GO World Championships 2026- Sobble

Sobble appears more frequently during PokémonXP and can eventually evolve into Inteleon.

Inteleon can obtain Hydro Cannon during the celebration.

Sobble was also featured during July 2026 Community Day, so Trainers who already built up a large Candy supply may be able to focus more heavily on searching for a preferred evolution candidate during PokémonXP.

Best Rare Pokémon to Catch During the Event

Four Pokémon are specifically separated from the main wild encounter groups as less common appearances.

Pokémon	Event Period	Reason to Prioritise
Deino	PokémonXP	Brutal Swing Hydreigon
Beldum	World Championships	Meteor Mash Metagross
Togetic	World Championships	Aura Sphere Togekiss

These Pokémon should be checked whenever they appear because their announced event availability is less common than the standard featured wild encounters.

Beldum is particularly important for Trainers looking to prepare Metagross with Meteor Mash, while Deino provides the route to Brutal Swing Hydreigon.

Best Shiny Pokémon to Catch During Pokémon GO World Championships 2026

Every Pokémon in the announced PokémonXP and World Championships wild encounter pools can potentially be Shiny.

For collectors, the rarer Pokémon are naturally worth checking closely, but the event also rewards hunting Pokémon that combine Shiny availability with featured-move evolutions.

Strong targets include Beldum, Mankey, Totodile, Alolan Sandshrew, Deino, Spheal, Froakie and Togetic.

The official event announcement confirms Shiny availability but does not announce increased Shiny rates for the wild encounter pool.

Pokémon to Keep Before Evolving

Trainers do not need to evolve every promising Pokémon immediately after catching it.

With such a large featured attack list, it makes sense to compare several catches first, make sure enough Candy is available and then complete the relevant evolutions while the event conditions are active.

The most important evolution families to prepare from the announced wild spawns are:

Catch	Prepare For
Beldum	Metagross
Mankey	Primeape and Annihilape
Totodile	Feraligatr
Alolan Sandshrew	Alolan Sandslash
Lickitung	Lickitung or Lickilicky
Togetic	Togekiss
Froakie	Greninja
Wooper	Quagsire
Litten	Incineroar
Deino	Hydreigon
Spheal	Walrein
Ralts	Gardevoir or Gallade
Sobble	Inteleon

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