Gold Bottle Cap best use in 2026, and how to get one in Pokémon Go

The Gold Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go is a rare, unique item which allows you to completely max out a chosen Pokémon’s stats.

This guide explains how to get a Gold Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go, restrictions of its use, and how to make the all-important decision on what to use it on.

Update (12th July): Updated the guide for 2026's version of the Gold Bottle Cap, including the additions of new images and video,

What is a Gold Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go?

First introduced in the main series with Gen 7’s Pokémon Sun and Moon, the Gold Bottle Cap debuted in Pokémon Go as part of 2025's Go Fest Global, and returned again in 2026's version of the event.

It's highly sought after because it can turn almost any Pokémon into a hundo or a shundo without having to rely on a lucky catch. The process takes some effort, however: you have to complete a series of Hyper Training tasks to reach max stats.

How to get a Gold Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go

The Gold Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go is a rare item that, to date, only appears during the week leading up to a Go Fest: Global event.

• In 2025, this was part of Go Fest Global 2025’s 'Ancients Recovered' Deluxe battle pass which cost £19.99 / $19.99.
• In 2026, this was part of the 'Road of Legends' Go Pass Deluxe, which also cost £19.99 / $19.99.

In other words, like the Lucky Trinket and Timed Incubator, Bottle Caps are a class of item which will only likely appear in paid-for Go Pass Deluxe tracks - so don't expect to get one for free!

The Silver Bottle Cap - which can max out just a single stat - has rolled out in a similar way, arriving as part of November 2025's Go Wild Area Deluxe battle pass, selling for the slightly cheaper cost of £14.99 / $14.99.

How to use a Gold Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go

Once obtained, to use a Gold Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go, select it in your item inventory. Your collection of Pokémon will then appear, and you can browse and search for your desired creature to level up (barring any restrictions - see the next section for a list of these). Once confirmed, you’ll then undergo a process named Hyper Training, which has to be completed within a year.

As with Lucky Trinkets, you only have a set period of time to use the Gold Bottle Cap in your inventory - in the case of its debut during Go Fest Global 2025, this was 11:59pm the following Sunday after the event ended (so seven days). Thankfully, the game will give you a reminder each time you log in, as well as a note of how many days remain in your inventory.

If you don’t use it in time, then you get 50,000 Stardust automatically with it expires (thanks to AznSW on reddit for sharing this outcome).

As to why Pokémon Go asks players to use the Gold Bottle Cap within a set period of time, our best guess is it’s to stop people hoarding them in their inventory (my collection of Master Balls says hello!) and to guarantee their use by the next time a Gold Bottle Cap rolls around.

Gold Bottle Cap restrictions

There are certain Pokémon you cannot use a Gold Bottle Cap on, including:

• Shadow Pokémon
• Pokémon with max stats already

This means you can say goodbye to your dreams of a shundo Shadow Mewtwo, which absolutely wasn’t my plan when Gold Battle Caps were first announced, and have been quietly bitter about it ever since.

Also, know your chosen Pokémon also needs to be a Good Buddy to undergo Hyper Training tasks - but you can improve its Friendship to this level after you’ve used the item, so it's a not restriction per se.

Considerations for which Pokémon to use a Gold Bottle Cap on

With the potential to give (almost) any Pokémon max stats, and the rarity and cost in acquiring one, deciding what to use a Gold Bottle Cap on is a difficult decision. Let’s weigh up the main considerations, then offer some specific suggestions.

First, do you go for something rare, or meta relevant? Rarity can mean a few things; it could be a mythical that you only have one or two of in your inventory. If you’re like me, your mythicals probably have poor to decent stats - and since you cannot catch more to improve your odds (outside of shinies in Masterwork research such as shiny Keledo's 'Pony Tales'), these are a strong candidate to consider for Hyper Training.

That said, most mythicals aren’t that relevant in the meta*, so do you then focus your attention on a powerful legendary or Gigantamax, which though more readily available, can have a greater impact in raids and Max Battles respectively? Or perhaps you opt for something that can help with Master League battles in Go Battle League? A snag with this line of thinking is the meta can shift, so leaning on something for raids and Max Battles could be wiser.

(*Darkrai and Meltan are exceptions here - and though having either with maxed out stats is well worth considering, since you can catch an infinite number of them in raids and the Mystery Box respectively, it's better to source one with strong stats that way instead of spending a Gold Bottle Cap.)

Other forms of rarity include shiny Pokémon, those with Adventure Effects, and / or with a unique Background. Often, catches at in-person Go Fest events have these traits, with Backgrounds that you won't be able to acquire after the fact.

Another consideration is its existing stats. Going with something that has low IVs means you get more bang for your buck, however, the lower the stats, the longer it will take to train. Though you have 365 days, you have to seriously consider whether you have the time or energy to get through the process (our dedicated Hyper Training tasks list can help you make this call). On the flipside, choosing a Pokémon with higher stats feels like a waste of an item, especially as it’ll already perform well in battle, so the ideal is something in the middle.

Whatever you pick, know you must have your choice as a Buddy for the vast majority of the Hyper Training tasks. Though you can swap your Buddy 20 times a day, with the lengthy nature of the challenges ahead, you’d want them with you as much as possible - so choose something you’d want by your side for the long haul.

One final note is any Pokémon who have undergone Hyper Training cannot be sent to Pokémon Home - so know your choice will be locked to Pokémon Go for ever.

Gold Bottle Cap best use: What is the best Pokémon to use a Gold Bottle Cap on?

As mentioned above, ideally your choice will factor in something rare, be useful in battle, has the potential to grow stats-wise, but also is something you’ll treasure.

With this in mind, our suggestions for best Gold Bottle Cap uses in Pokémon Go are:

• Mewtwo (which has enough Mewtwo Mega Energy to evolve, or you plan to Mega Evolve eventually)
• Fusion Legendaries Black Kyurem, White Kyurem, Dusk Mane Necrozma, or Dawn Wings Necrozma
• Crowned Sword Zacian or Crowned Shield Zamazenta
• Primal Groudon or Primal Kyogre
• Mega Rayquaza
• Eternatus
• Zeraora
• Zygarde
• A rare ‘costume’ Pokémon

The above are amongst the most powerful Pokémon in the game, appearing briefly in special events after using specific energy or items to evolve or transform. After such investment to get their necessary resources, a Gold Bottle Cap can then make them as strong as possible, especially if they have poor stats. Zygarde, meanwhile, is a mythical with some meta potential, and though it isn't tied to a global event, similarly requires a specific resource (Zygarde Cells) to grind and evolve.

Costume Pokémon, meanwhile, are more nice keepsakes than anything else, especially as many of them only appear in the game for a limited amount of time. Good candidates that are meta relevant here include Armored Mewtwo and Clone Venusaur, Blastoise, or Charizard. These have also never reappeared in Pokémon Go since their debut, ticking the 'rarity' box in our criteria of what makes a fitting use of a Gold Bottle Cap.

What have I used a Gold Bottle Cap on?

As for what I chose for my first Gold Bottle Cap, I went with a shiny Zamazenta with a Go Fest Paris background. As well as being rare version of that specific Pokémon, the unique nature of Zamazenta’s Crowned Shield form being able to battle in both raids and Max Battles felt like a solid investment. Also, though it already strong out of the gate - 15/10/10 - it meant I sidestepped the Attack training track (skipping the Team Go Rocket and 40 raid encounters grind entirely) and was well on my way with maxing out the other stats.

For the second Gold Bottle Cap in 2026, I went with a shiny background Mewtwo which I caught out in Go Fest: Copenhagen, which I've since Mega Evolved as of Go Fest Global 2026.

As for future uses? I may go for a Zygarde or Zeraora, but I will likely wait for a shiny version and / or how to see they get their potential Mega Evolves before committing a Gold Bottle Cap (and in the case of the former, the Zygarde Cells required).

Travel, accommodation, and access to Go Fest Paris 2025 and Go Fest Copenhagen 2026 were provided by Niantic.

Sign up to the newsletter mailing list for a FREE guide to the week ahead in Pokémon Go - plus original reporting and features straight to your inbox.

Sign up here