Labyrinthine Expectations

In the structure of things for SLA as I've discussed last month, there was no monthly themed cup in favor of a bit of a break and a different kind of action. But of course, the season has to continue, and it does so with a themed cup this month. Now, PvP battling in Pokémon Go is as simple as it is complicated, and that may perhaps be the spirit that the SLA themed cup for this month tries to capture. It's almost as if one is present in a labyrinth, and one can come out on top if one is able to find the way out. Appropriately enough, this month's themed cup is named "Labyrinth".

For this month, the restrictions are somewhat different. As always, the themed cup necessitates battling in the Great League, which should go without saying at this point; Mega Evolution is also absent thusly. There are theme restrictions, but they are not of specific types for a team, rather in a team: a team can have only one Pokémon for a specific type - for example, if one has Venusaur on a team, no other Pokémon may have either the Grass or Poison type. There is also a multitude of species restrictions or "bans", which includes among others Azumarill, G-Stunfisk, and Machamp, and the full listing (16 species total) can be seen on the page for the themed cup. Other than that, all viable species remain fair game.

This themed cup bears a certain resemblance to the Fusion Cup of last year, except that dual types are not absolutely required, and they may in fact make things harder to build a team as they may block off useful slots for other Pokémon of their type. Barring the team type restrictions and the species "bans", it can also be considered a slightly modified open Great League format. Because of the way this theme is structured, it prevents Pokémon popular across different themes as "meta" from coming out, as well as teams made up of an assortment of species with one type being the same (monotype), though the latter may be of least concern as monotype teams in practice rarely make a well-formed team.

Even so, it is possible for some species to make it well in this themed cup. A-Marowak is not on the "ban" list and can continue to stand up to Ice types and deal with "titans" of the Steel type. The latter may provide backup against the former and certain Pokémon in the Dark realm. the "fighter" realm is also another backup against both as well as Ground types. Ice types themselves can deal with the Dark realm and Ground types, and Ground types go back to A-Marowak. These species and more may be selected through a selector chart to make teambuilding easy, but on the whole, many species from these realms are likely going to become top picks of many Trainers.

After a break from the action last month, it's time for Trainers to get back into the SLA action, and it couldn't be better than something simple enough to follow and yet complicated enough to have its own dynamics. Without some of the backbones of earlier themes, this could be construed as a "proving ground" for both Trainers and Pokémon, old and new alike. The elements have been placed in the labyrinth, and they all have to find their way out. Once that is done, it may very well be that the actions to be made in this "labyrinth" and the next will be completely different.

One year ago: Editing PokéStops

Two years ago: Under a Truck

Three years ago: Formality of Ownership

Four years ago: The Sweetest Days - Ash and Pikachu