Strong teams for Pokemon GO Little Holiday Cup and optimal strategies

Tiny tremors run through the Holiday Cup arena as a scrappy, micro-team tests the limits of luck, skill, and perfect type matchups.

You can compete in the Holiday Cup: Little Edition from Dec. 17 to Dec. 24, 2024. It will then return from Dec. 31, 2024, to Jan. 7, 2025. With a total of two weeks to take part, it’s worth investing some resources into creating a solid team. We’ve rounded up some of the best options below.

Holiday Cup: Little Edition restrictions

The Holiday Cup: Little Edition restricts the roster to Pokémon under 1,500 CP and limits the use of Legendary and Mythical creatures, encouraging creative team-building with readily available, well-rounded picks.

Like most themed cups, there are quite a few restrictions to be aware of when entering the Holiday Cup: Little Edition. Only electric, flying, grass, ice, normal, and ghost-type Pokémon are eligible, while the ‘little’ part means there’s a 500 CP limit on all Pokémon.

In terms of types, there are six to choose from, which is quite generous when compared to other limited-time cups that only allow a few types of Pokémon to enter. Remember that you can also use dual-type Pokémon, which makes the team-building process a little easier.

The 500 CP limit can be a benefit or a hindrance, depending on the state of your current Pokémon collection. Generally, having a low CP limit makes a cup more accessible, as you won’t need as many resources or high-level Pokémon to be in with a chance of winning.

On the other hand, many Pokémon are caught above the 500 CP limit, or you might have previously powered up the perfect Pokémon too high for it to compete. With these themed cups, it’s often a case of making the best of what you’ve already got in your collection.

Holiday Cup: Little Edition best team

Lanturn stands out as the best team leader for the Holiday Cup: Little Edition, offering excellent bulk and strong resistance to common threats like Water and Flying types. Pairing it with Vigoroth and Alolan Sandslash provides reliable coverage against top meta picks, handling Fairy and Grass counters with ease. This trio balances offense and defense, allowing flexible playstyles and consistent performance throughout the competition.

Here’s one of the best teams you can use for the Holiday Cup: Little Edition in Pokémon Go:

• Pachirisu
• Litwick
• Alolan Vulpix

Together, these three Pokémon will give you a wide range of coverage options to tackle most opponents you’ll come across – including Smeargle, which has the potential to be a massive threat in the Holiday Cup: Little Edition meta this time around.

They’re also fairly easy to obtain under 500 CP, and none of them require XL Candy to reach that limit. There are some potentially stronger Pokémon that you could use in the Holiday Cup: Little Edition, but the chances of getting them under 500 CP are very slim. We’ve decided to focus on Pokémon that are accessible while still putting in a good performance.

Beyond that, other Pokémon we can recommend are Pikachu Libre, Flying Pikachu, Joltik, Alolan Sandslash, Fletchling, and Wigglytuff. There’s also the matter of Smeargle – but there’s a good explanation as to why we haven’t included it in our best team.

What about Smeargle?

Smeargle might seem like a wild card, but it struggles in the Holiday Cup: Little Edition. Because it can only learn moves by copying another Pokémon’s moveset, its performance depends entirely on what those moves happen to be. Even with creative setups, Smeargle’s low stats and unpredictable move access make it too unreliable for serious competition. It’s fun for novelty battles, but not a practical pick for climbing the leaderboard.

Update (Dec. 18): Smeargle, which would’ve been terrific in this cup, was banned from the Holiday Cup: Little Edition. See below for our original analysis.

A quick look at PvPoke’s rankings shows that Smeargle has the potential to be an absolute menace in the Holiday Cup: Little Edition. However, the conditions required to get this specific Smeargle build are incredibly difficult to achieve, which is why we’ve chosen not to include it in our best team recommendation.

Smeargle’s unique quirk in Pokémon Go is that its moveset is decided by the Pokémon it photobombs when taking snapshots. To get the optimal moveset for this cup – Incinerate and Flying Press – you’ll need Smeargle to photobomb a Pokémon that knows Incinerate as well as a Charged Move that Smeargle cannot learn, such as Frustration. At that point, it’s up to fate whether the random Charged Move it will learn is Flying Press.

As you can imagine, the chances of this happening – especially on a Smeargle that has good IVs – are incredibly slim. For this reason, it’s hard to predict how much of a presence Smeargle will actually have in the Holiday Cup: Little Edition. You might face Smeargle with Lock-On and Flying Press, as this has been a popular build in previous cups, but we’d imagine even that will be few and far between.

One good thing about Smeargle is that you can catch one at any time by taking snapshots of your Pokémon, although there is a limit of one encounter per day. It’s worth trying to get a Smeargle that knows the recommended moveset for this cup, but don’t get your hopes up too high. Think of it as a nice bonus rather than a must-have Pokémon.

Holiday Cup: Little Edition best Pokémon moves and IVs

For the Holiday Cup: Little Edition, focus on fast, shield-busting attackers with solid bulk and sub-typing coverage. Prioritize Pokémon that hit hard on resisted targets and maintain consistent DPS with reliable charge moves. IVs should aim for high attack and good bulk to survive key matchups, while movesets should maximize neutral and super effective damage without being over-reliant on RNG.

Here are some of the top Pokémon you can use in the Holiday Cup: Little Edition as well as their best movesets and IVs:

What are the optimal movesets for Smeargle Alolan Marowak and Amaura

Optimal Movesets Overview
Optimal movesets for Smeargle, Alolan Marowak, and Amaura in Pokémon Go’s Holiday Cup: Little Edition prioritize fast energy generation, shield pressure, and type coverage against meta threats like Grass, Electric, and Flying types. These builds are tailored for Great League (500 CP cap) with XL candy where needed, based on prior recommendations from PvP analyses. Shadow variants excel for higher damage output.

Smeargle Moveset
Smeargle leads or safe-swaps effectively with Incinerate (Fast) for quick energy and neutral damage, paired with Flying Press (Charged) to bait shields and hit versatile coverage against Fighting-weak foes. Lock-On serves as an alternative Fast Move for accuracy boosts in specific matchups. Ideal for its bulk and unique moves in the Normal/Flying-heavy meta.​

Alolan Marowak Moveset
Fire Spin (Fast) generates energy rapidly on Shadow Alolan Marowak, enabling Shadow Bone (lowers Defense) and Bone Club for spammy Ghost STAB and baiting. This setup farms Grass and Flying types while pressuring Ice leads; non-Shadow uses standard Fire Spin for consistency. Prioritize low-attack IVs for bulk under 500 CP.​

Amaura Moveset
Powder Snow (Fast) provides Ice STAB for fast farming against Ground/Dragon/Flying, with Weather Ball (Ice) and Ancient Power as Charged moves for shield advantage and coverage. Weather Ball hits neutrally on many resists, making it a strong closer against Normal and Electric spam. High-defense IVs enhance its role.​

What are the optimal EVs and natures for Alolan Marowak in Trick Room teams

Trick Room Role for Alolan Marowak
Alolan Marowak excels in Trick Room teams due to its low base Speed (45), allowing it to move last under reversed speed conditions, paired with Thick Club doubling its Attack for devastating STAB hits from Shadow Bone and Flare Blitz. It functions as a bulky physical sweeper, immune to Electric moves via Lightning Rod or recoil-free via Rock Head. These setups shine in main series competitive formats like VGC or Smogon tiers, not Pokémon Go PvP.​

Optimal EV Spreads
Common EV distributions maximize bulk and power while minimizing Speed:

Recommended Natures and IVs

• Brave (+Atk, -Spe) or Quiet (+Atk, -Spe): Essential for Trick Room to ensure 0 Speed IVs and outslow foes without wasting EVs.​

• Adamant for pure physical sets if minimal Speed investment needed.
  IVs prioritize 0 Speed, max HP/Atk; abilities like Rock Head prevent Flare Blitz recoil.​