The Silver Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go is a rare, unique item which allows you to fully increase a single stat on a Pokémon.
First introduced in the main series with Gen 7’s Pokémon Sun and Moon, it debuted in Pokémon Go as part of 2025's Wild Area event, and is perfect if you have a Pokémon with just a single stat that is lagging behind the others. (And, if they're 15/15 elsewhere, the chance to make them a hundo or a shundo.)
As with the Gold Bottle Cap, this item isn't free - not only is it tied behind a time-limited purchase, but increasing this stat then requires a series of challenges as part of a process named Hyper Training.
This guide explains how to get a Silver Bottle Cap, restrictions of its use, and how to decide what Pokémon it should be used on by using Silver Bottle Cap search strings.
How to get a Silver Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go
To date, the Silver Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go has only been made available once, appearing as the end reward for completing Wild Area Global 2025’s Into the Wild Deluxe battle pass, which cost £14.99 / $14.99.
Similar to the Gold Bottle Cap before it - which was released during Go Fest as part of a pricier £19.99 / $19.99 Deluxe Pass - it's assumed the next Silver Bottle Cap will appear at a similar global event.
In other words, as with 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.
How to use a Silver Bottle Cap in Pokémon Go
When you have a Silver Bottle Cap in your possession, select it in your item inventory to use it. Your collection of Pokémon will then appear, and you can browse and search for your desired creature to level up (restricted Pokémon aside - see the next section for details). Once your selection has been made, you’ll then undergo 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 Silver Bottle Cap in your inventory. In the case of its debut during Wild Area Global 2025, this was 11:59pm the following Sunday after the event ended (so seven days). You'll get regular reminders until then, including a prominent feature at the top of your item inventory to let you know it's waiting to be used.
The same time limit also applies to the Gold Bottle Cap, and our best guess as to why there's a time limit at all is it's to force people not to save them for a rainy day - and means it'll be definitely consumed by the time the next Silver Bottle Cap becomes available.
Silver Bottle Cap restrictions
There are certain Pokémon you cannot use a Silver Bottle Cap on, including:
- Shadow Pokémon
- Pokémon with completely max stats already
These restrictions are the same as the Gold Bottle Cap before it - meaning finding Shadow Pokémon with high IVs from raids or encounters are still worth their weight in gold.
Considerations for the best Pokémon to use a Silver Bottle Cap on
Unlike the Gold Bottle Cap, which allows you to give (almost) any Pokémon 15/15/15 IVs - an overwhelming decision for many - the Silver Bottle Cap's more limited use of maxing out just a single stat means you have a narrower pool to work from, meaning a list of fitting candidates are just a few taps away.
The best way to spend your Silver Bottle Cap is on an already powerful Pokémon lacking in either Attack, Defense, or HP, and there's a few ways to do this:
- Sort your Pokémon by Combat Power (CP) first, then with the Appraisal screen open, and swipe through to see which individual stats are low
- Do the same with your available Mega Evolution Pokémon, Gigantamax, and Dynamax Pokémon
- Using Silver Bottle Cap search strings (see next section) to see which Pokémon have two 15/15 stats already
As with a Gold Bottle Cap, you should also weigh your choice in favour of what's useful in the meta, its rarity (perhaps it's legendary or mythical), whether it's shiny or has a unique Background, and / or has some sentimental value attached.
You should also consider how close to the max it already is, as you'll get better 'value' out of a Silver Bottle Cap by improving a low stat over one that's already 13 or 14. (And, if a stat is already quite high, it's worth consulting this list of fundos / functional hundos on Github to make sure it's actually going to make any impact.)
Whatever you pick, know your choice has to be your Buddy to complete the respective Hyper Training tasks, so pick something you'll want with you for a while.
Finally, know that the chosen Pokémon cannot then be sent to Pokémon Home - so don't opt for something you might want to transfer to another game.
As for what I chose for my first Silver Bottle Cap, I went for a 13/15/15 Rayquaza. It wasn't particularly special - not a shiny, or had a rare background - and is already quite close to the cap, arguably making it a poor use of a Cap. But since my Rayquaza sees a lot of use, and has had a great deal of investment in it already (in terms of Candy and XL Candy spent, that it's at max Mega Evolution level, and is a Best Buddy), turning one of the most powerful creatures in my roster into a hundo felt like a safe bet.
Silver Bottle Cap search strings
It's well worth looking through your entire inventory where two stats are fully maxed out, especially if you haven't trained them at all and could be easily missed - and that's where search strings can really come in handy.
Try using the following to find out which ones you could quickly make a hundo or shundo with the use of a Silver Bottle Cap (you can copy and paste the following, by the way):
- All Pokémon with two 15 stats: !4* & 4attack,4defense & 4attack,4hp & 4defense,4hp+
- All Pokémon (minus Shadow) with two 15 stats: !4* & !shadow & 4attack,4defense & 4attack,4hp & 4defense,4hp+
- Only shiny Pokémon (minus Shadow) with two 15 stats: !4* & !shadow & shiny & 4attack,4defense & 4attack,4hp & 4defense,4hp+
- Only Legendary and Mythical Pokémon (minus Shadow) with two 15 stats: !4* & !shadow & shiny & candykm20 & 4attack,4defense & 4attack,4hp & 4defense,4hp+
As you make your search, since you'll likely be using a lot of filters and it's hard to remember the top picks once you're done, it's well worth making a new Tag (perhaps named "S Bottle Cap") and saving each candidate so you can review your top choices at the end. It also means the next time a Silver Bottle Cap rolls around, you have a shortlist ready to go.
