But the thing I love is Pikachu libre 
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that is pikachu pop starā¦ lol
Not sure where I sit with my participation / involvement with this yet.
Not a real fan of PvP so leaning towards lose interest real quick after a dabble.
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I give it the chance that it has changed, and I hope itās not only in the rewards.
I will try it, too, although I have never had the ambition to do PvPā¦ I only want the Pikachu at the moment 
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If itās too much work or tedious to get the worthwhile reward Iāll pack it in fairly quickly.
Missing out on getting so many PokƩmon from zoning or Paywalls bad RNG has made me care less and less about trying hard to get a full Dex.
It will be just one more on the list and it wonāt matter.
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OMG 
I won my first battle just by accident - in next 4 my ass has been kicked big time!
Once I didnāt even see the third pokemon.
Well - this is what I expected really:
it was first time ever when I was doing real pvp - all previous battles were āI win now, then we switchā,
also I played with random pokemon - as I care only about my top CP - those below 1500 are just rubbish I keep to have one of each pokemon or weak legendaries I just cannot force myself to delete 
But overall - very nice experience! 
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You will need to. For now itās the only option to get Scraggyā¦
Yeah, Iām swearing here as well.
For years weāve been told to power-up certain pokemon with certain moves for gym and raid battlesā¦ and now itās a whole different set required for PvP match-ups.
I simply do not have the dust or the TMs, or indeed the inclination, to put the considerable effort in which seems to be required to be anything more than cannon fodder.
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There are rewards for participation - not only for winning - so who cares
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Encouraged by @BestBeast comments I took the plunge and battled for the first time (free entry - difficult route).
Won the first 4 battles (2 were close) then lost the last (to a blumminā chatot, by a tiny sliver of life). Got the snorlax encounter.
Didnāt really enjoy it. Wonāt be competing once Iāve got Scraggy and wonāt be wasting any dust or raid passes. Iām definitely a collector rather than a battler.
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Like I said - you got rewards for participation.
You can set up a team of 3 Magicarp with 10CP and always use them.
At some point (when reaching 5km) next 5 rounds will be open - so why not?
So it is pure gain - nothing to lose.
Any wins - will be the bonus.
In regards to Raid Passes - I do try to do one raid solo every day - but it does not work always.
So, instead of wasting it - I can use it for battles - another gain with nothing to lose.
Paying pokecoins for extra battles is an insane idea - but this is just for me
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No, Free Raid Passes do not workā¦ well there will be no premium rewards then 
Today I did 10 - winning 5 - for me it is fantastic result 
Apart from stardust I got 3 Fast TM and 1 Charge TM from win rewards.
(still fighting with 3 random mon)
@celery In order to get Scraggy you would be wise to re-think you not using a Premium Pass to do Teir 3 or 4.
Reason for this is.
On free play you will need to win 4/5 in Teir 3-4 to get your Scraggy encounter which by all reports should be a given now that you have already got Snorlax.
You wont get so lucky winning 4 in Teir 3-4 against poorly set up opponents on free play unless youāve spent a ton of Candy/Dust and have the optimum Battlers with double moves.
Use a Premium Pass and you only have to win 2 battles. Much better odds of that.
All reports Iāve read say your virtually guaranteed that Scraggy will be given if you have already got Snorlax.
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My interest in this PvP is about getting Scraggy then walking away.
I donāt have the optimal PokĆ©mon for it and Iām not interested in spending Dust to get them or give them the second move.
Iāve completed Tier 1&2 going 3/5 in each and come up against more battles against the top rated PokĆ©mon than random stuff.
I lost my last battle on Tier 2 when I had to put my ph down mid battle as some one came into the office. I donāt have Snorlax yet and now onto Tier 3 so what I was hoping would be my chance for Scraggy will now be Snorlax.
I have to go the Premium Pass route now and hope I can win 2 battles in in both Tier 3 & 4 as I have no hope of winning 4/5 as it just gets tougher.
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Same - I just want the exclusive PokĆ©monā¦ But Iām sooo bad in PvP Iāll never get themā¦ 
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@NotanotherKangaskhan Thanks for the suggestion 
and - yep, I was thinking of using a Raid Pass on level 4
A thought: As the level-attained barrier for PvP is decreased the battles should become easier. Lower level = Less hardcore players = less well-informed PokƩmon choices.
Indeed, I watched my cat (level 34) battle last night. He won 3 from 5 with a team consisting of an unimproved clefable and 2 gyarados he just picked up off the street - needless to say none had the extra charge-move.
Another thought:
If Niantic want to encourage the widest possible participation in PvP they need to reduce the stardust cost of the second charge move. Itās not viable to compete without it at anything but the most basic level.
3 solutions:
Make every PokƩmon captured have 2 charged moves as standard.
Or - keep the candy requirement, but reduce stardust cost to zero.
Or - reduce the stardust cost to a similar level as it is for purifying a shadow.
I see they have recognised the annoyance of āTM rouletteā with the upcoming introduction of Elite TMs. So there is hope they could do something about the extortionate stardust costsā¦
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Donāt get me wrong - I am constantly at the zero level of stardust - but I would say current stardust balance is very well (perfectly?) designed.
Depending on how much you play (from 4h a week - to 4h a day) you can afford to max-out (including second charge) 1 to 7 pokemons each month.
This is correct balance for a game designed to be played for several years.
If you would be able to max-out everything within a year - the game will become boring after few months.
Maxing out is 1, but when a 2nd charge on itself allready costs 75k in a lot of the cases your dust is runnning hard.