Pokémon GO Spotlight Hour Litleo Guide: Feb. 1, 2022

Here’s our weekly Pokemon GO Spotlight Hour Guide featuring this week’s Pokemon, Litleo!

In lieu of a tiger Pokemon, Niantic Labs has put the spotlight on the fiery lion cub, Litleo, for this week’s Spotlight Hour—also marking the first day of the new lunar year: the Year of the Tiger. Today’s spotlight is also kicking off Niantic’s 2022 Lunar New Year event.

Also known as the “Lion Cub” Pokemon for obvious reasons, Litleo is a fearless creature. To take on stronger opponents, it musters more heat and power to surge through its body from its tiny tuft of mane. Its evolved form, Pyroar, the “Royal” Pokemon, is best known for its mane. The largest mane tends to lead the pride and adult Pyroar will protect their pride with no regard for their own safety. These Pokémon can breath fire with heat measuring up to 10,000 degrees Farenheit (~5538 degrees Celsius) and prefer a diet of raw meat.

Litleo and Pyroar’s PokeDex numbers are #667 and #668, respectively.

Can Litleo be Shiny in Pokemon GO?

As of today—yes! Litleo can officially be shiny in Pokemon GO thanks to the 2022 Lunar New Year event celebrating the Year of the Tiger.

Shiny Litleo are much paler than their normal-palette counterparts. Their mane, nose, and other similar accents remain the same color while their body, paws, ears, muzzle, underbelly, and so on become brighter and less saturated.

In contrast, Shiny Pyroar turn almost entirely gold and the red in their mane becomes more crimson. Its eyes also turn a similar shade of red from their usual sky blue.

Best Stats/IV for Litleo in Pokemon GO

Litleo has the following stats:

• Maximum CP: 1611
• Maximum HP: 145
• Attack: 139
• Defense: 112
• Stamina: 158

As with most pre-evolved Pokemon, Litleo’s stats and IV can be tracked by measuring its CP total with its current level. We’ve listed the optimal totals below in 10-level increments:

Trainers can evolve their Litleo into a Pyroar using 50 candies.

• Level 1: 20
• Level 10: 407
• Level 20: 814
• Level 30: 1222
• Level 40: 1425
• Level 50: 1611

Best Moveset for Pyroar in Pokemon GO

The best moveset for Pyroar contains the quick move Fire Fang and charged move Overheat. Both of these moves benefit from the 20% damage buff offered through the Same-Type Attack Bonus (STAB) condition.

Of the two moves in Pyroar’s quick move pool, Fire Fang is the far superior choice. There really is no competition here. It does nearly double the damage and generates more energy than Take Down—though, not by much.

Pyroar’s best charged moves are Flame Charge and Overheat which, again, creates a “no contest” environment. Overheat does nearly double the damage of Flame Charge.

However, the energy disparity between the two could call this into question, as Flame Charge only requires 9 energy per second as opposed to Overheat’s 25 point requirement. This sounds bad, sure, without the knowledge that Flame Charge’s full energy cost is 33.

Is Pyroar Good in Pokemon GO?

Pyroar has the following stats in Pokemon GO:

• Maximum CP: 3129
• Maximum HP: 180
• Attack: 221
• Defense: 149
• Stamina: 200

While these stats may look good on paper, Pyroar isn’t exactly the best fire-type to stick with in Pokemon GO. It has decent, middle-road stats with a high CP threshold, but is outclassed by stronger species of its type like Darmanitan, Reshiram, Blaziken, and Chandelure.

Still, this Pokemon does have its uses. Its dual-typing with normal makes it a decent pick against ghost-types and, as such, a foil to strong DPS titans like Gengar and, potentially, a ghost-heavy Giratina.

Trainers who participate in Spotlight Hour today, Tuesday, Feb. 1 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. will benefit from double the experience when evolving Pokemon. Why not take the opportunity to grow you own pride of Pyroar?