Season 6 of “Pokemon Go’s” Go Battle League kicks into high gear as it nears the end in February.

The final month of the season will run back the previous formats that came out a few months ago, but this time around, it includes move updates that were announced in the new year. That makes the experiences slightly different as the tweaks make select Pokemon more viable this time around. That should make February an interesting month for competition. Here’s a look at the schedule:

Ultra League and its Premiere Cup runs from 1 p.m. Jan. 25 to 1 p.m. Feb. 8.

Master League, its Premiere Cup and Master League Classic (Pokemon under level 40) runs from 1 p.m. Feb. 8 to 1 p.m. Feb. 15.

All three leagues and Ultra League Premiere Cup runs from 1 p.m. Feb. 15 to 1 p.m. Feb. 22.

The two special cups for February will be the Love Cup and the Kanto Cup. Here’s a quick overview of both:

The Love Cup runs from 1 p.m. Feb. 8 to 1 p.m. Feb. 14. It comes just in time for Valentime’s Day and as the name and theme suggests, it features pocket monsters with 1,500 CP or less that are red or pink. Niantic has a wide interpretation of those colors and they include Pokemon with divergent shades that veer on orange and hot pink such as Krookodile, Scrafty, Solrock, Seaking, Krabby, Bisharp and Lickilicky. One thing to note is that Galarian forms of Mr. Mime, Darumaka and Darmanintan are not eligible. The limited options should create an interesting meta. Pokemon such as Charizard, Scolipede, Scizor, Alomomola, Milotic, Lickilicky and Crustle will be strong candidates for teams, according to Go Stadium.

The Kanto Cup runs from 1 p.m. Feb. 22 to 1 p.m. March 1. It comes right after the flagship event for the season — Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto. That gives players an opportunity to get some pocket monsters with ideal stats for the cup that only includes pocket monsters from 001 to 151 and with 1,500 CP limit. According to PvPoke.com, some of the strongest picks for this competition include Lickitung boosted with XL candy, Snorlax (regular and shadow), Hypno, Mew, Wigglytuff, Lapras and AlolanSandshrew with an XL candy boost.

Move changes that were introduced earlier in the year have an impact on these cups. Fire-type Weather Ball and Ice-type Weather Ball make Vulpix and Ninetales in both forms more attractive. Ice Punch on Primeape could make it a surprise counter for dragon- and grass-type Pokemon. Porygon-2 gets Tri Attack, which makes it more usable in Love Cup.

Other changes that alter the meta include the following:
Claydol’s ability to learn Ice Beam and Shadow Ball could make it more viable in certain formats.
Excadrill’s ability to learn Mud Shot makes it more powerful in Master and Ultra leagues.

Niantic constantly tweaks moves to prevent the Go Battle League meta from going stale and these moves are impacted negatively: Shadow Bone, Rock Slide, Sky Attack Razor Leaf and Bubble. Some of these changes try to make pocket monsters such as Azumaril, Skarmary and Alolan Marowak less powerful, but despite the nerf, they are still being used in many teams. Ember, Karate Chop and Crabhammer improve with more damage or in Karate Chop’s case more energy generation, but they aren’t game-changing like the inclusion of Incinerate in November.

Lastly, making a strong push during the Season 6 finale will be worth it because of the rewards. Players who reach rank 19 will get an Elite Charged TM and an Elite Fast TM at the end of the season. For collectors, those who reach rank 20 will get a guaranteed encounter for Frillish, the floating Pokemon makes its debut there. Those who reach rank 20 will also have a chance to encounter a Legendary Pokemon that is available in raids at the time.

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