Pokémon Sun and Moon: new Battle Competition, new Global Mission, more PGL features now live

Today, there’s quite a lot of Pokémon Sun and Moon news, with a new Battle Competition announced, the new Global Mission now live, and more Pokémon Global Link features now being available!

Pokémon Sun and Moon – 3rd Global Mission

Today, the third Global Mission for Pokémon Sun and Moon went live. Called “Trade Pokémon at the GTS!”, it tasks players with trading as many Pokémon as possible (at least 1 million), using the Global Trade Station (GTS), before February 14th. The first two missions ended with a failure, but this time around, the goal seems much more easily reachable.

Here’s what you have to do for this third Global Mission:

1. Talk with the global mission receptionist in the Festival Plaza castle and enter the Global Mission.
2. Back at the Festival Plaza, select Trade and then GTS.
3. Trade as many Pokémon as possible at the GTS before February 14, 2017, at 00:00 UTC.
4. ​Check in with the Global Mission receptionist in Festival Plaza before February 14, 2017.

Here’s the rewards:

• Success with 1 million Pokémon: 2 000 Festival Coins (4 000 Festival Coins if you’ve linked Pokémon Sun / Moon to the Pokémon Global Link);
• Success with 2 million Pokémon: 2 000 Festival Coins (4 000 Festival Coins if you’ve linked Pokémon Sun / Moon to the Pokémon Global Link) + a Friend Ball;
• Failure: 200 Festival Coins (400 Festival Coins if you’ve linked Pokémon Sun / Moon to the Pokémon Global Link)
• If you trade at least 5 Pokémon via the GTS: 5 Rare Candies (only for players who have linked Pokémon Sun / Moon to the Pokémon Global Link).

Source: Pokémon Global Link

Pokémon Sun and Moon: 2017 International Challenge – February

Today, the third Battle Competition for Pokémon Sun and Moon was announced: it’s the 2017 International Challenge – February. Here’s the rules:

• Format: Double Battle, 3 Pokémon per battle;
• Rules: same rules and regulations as Pokémon Video Game Championship Series events;
• Pokémon restrictions: only Pokémon from the Alolan Pokédex, with the exception of Zygarde, Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, and Magearna;
• Item restrictions: all items allowed except Mega Stone. Two Pokémon cannot be holding the same Hold Item;
• Level: 1 to 100, but level capped to 50 during battles
• Registration: February 16th to February 23rd. Participant limit: 50 000
• Battles: February 24th to February 26th, with a limit of 15 battles/player and /day;
• Results: announced sometime in March;
• Participation gift (must complete at least 3 battles): Mawilite Mega Stone and a Beedrillite Mega Stone, Championship Points (that go towards an invitation to the 2017 Pokémon Video Game World Championships in August).

You can find more details over at the Pokémon Global Link.

QR Rental Teams

QR Rental Teams are teams designed by other players, that you can battle with in the Battle Tree and with friends. By scanning a special QR code, you can get the exact same team as the player who shared it. That way, you can try out teams and strategies that would otherwise take a long time to put together, or help a friend battle against a variety of team (to prepare for official competitions, for example).

Basically, QR Code Teams allow you to practice extremely easily, without having to spend hours to put together the right team (only to find out the team or strategy you had in mind wasn’t all that great). Naturally, you will not be able to use a Rental Team in formal tournaments!

On this page, you will be able to find:

• Frequently Used QR Rental Teams
• Trainers Whose QR Rental Teams Are Frequently Used
• QR Rental Teams of Trainers with High Ratings

On the Pokémon Global Link, you can search for QR Teams, with filters letting you find teams with specific Pokémon, moves, items, and abilities.

Depending on your Builder Rank, you can upload a certain number of QR Teams. Naturally, the higher your rank, the more teams you can upload. Your rank increases when lots of people use your team: for example, to reach Level 2, 20 players need to use your QR Rental team.

Unfortunately, there are some limitations: the Pokémon’s Happiness value is not carried over, so be careful if you’re planning to use moves such as Return and Frustration.

NB: the QR Codes for QR Rental teams cannot be used with the regular QR Scanner.

Source: Pokémon Global Link / Serebii

Friendly Competitions

Friendly Competitions are small tournaments you can enjoy with your friends. You’re free to customise the format and regulations (but also name, and whether it’s public or private), allowing you to battle any way you want. Using the Pokémon Global Link, you can host either:

• Online Competitions
• Live Competitions (local multiplayer)

If you head to the Pokémon Global Link, you can view other players’ Friendly Competitions, and join them if you want.

NB: you need at least 20 players for a Friendly Competition to be held. Competitions can only last 24h, and they need to be shared via the Pokémon Global Link url (so that players can obtain the QR code). Speaking of QR Codes, those cannot be used with the regular QR Scanner.

Here’s the various regulations you can customise:

• battle format
• timer (Your Time or Match Time)
• items allowed (Z-Crystals, Mega Stones)

Source: Pokémon Global Link / Serebii