Pokemon Go Fashion Challenger lineups & counters (September 2022)

Daniel Megarry
A Fashion Challenger in Pokemon Go

Fashion Challengers have returned to Pokemon Go for the Fashion Week 2022 event, so we’ve got details of their lineups and the counters you can use to battle them with.

The annual Fashion Week event is a highlight for Pokemon Go players. Last year featured the arrival of Furfrou and its many trims, while this year sees Mareanie and Toxapex make their long-awaited debuts.

One returning feature in this year’s event is the Fashion Challenger. These are fashion-themed NPCs that challenge players with their unique Pokemon lineups, although they work a little differently this year.

So whether you’ve encountered a Cool Challenger, a Rugged Challenger, or a Quirky Challenger, you can find all of their lineups and some recommended counters to defeat them below.

pokemon go fashion week 2022

How to battle a Fashion Challenger in Pokemon Go

You can encounter Fashion Challengers in Pokemon Go by working your way through the Fashion Week 2022 Timed Research quest. Battles will be given out as a reward at the end of each step so you don’t need to go out exploring to find them.

This works a little differently to last year’s Fashion Week event, where Fashion Challengers appeared next to random PokeStops. There were also six different Fashion Challengers to find during that event, but only three during this year’s event.

Fashion Challengers will only appear during the Fashion Week event, which runs from September 27 at 10AM until October 3 at 8PM local time. You’ll need to complete this Timed Research quest before the event’s end date.

Fashion Challenger lineups in Pokemon Go (September 2022)

Here are all of the Fashion Challengers and the Pokemon they will use:

Fashion ChallengerPokemon #1Pokemon #2Pokemon #3
Cool ChallengerFurfrouFrillishCroagunk
Quirky ChallengerFurfrouMareanieDiglett
Rugged ChallengerFurfrouBlitzleAbsol

Best counters for Pokemon Go Fashion Challengers

Every Fashion Challenger will start their battle by sending out Furfrou, which is a Normal-type Pokemon. As a result, you’ll always want a strong Fighting-type like Machamp, Lucario, Conkeldurr on your team.

If you’re up against a Cool Challenger, make sure you bring along a Dark, Electric, Ghost, or Grass-type Pokemon to take down Frillish and a Flying, Ground, or Psychic-type Pokemon to defeat Croagunk.

When facing off against a Quirky Challenger, you’ll want an Electric, Ground, or Psychic-type Pokemon to defeat Mareanie then a Grass, Ice, or Water-type Pokemon to easily win against Diglett.

Finally, if you’re up against a Rugged Challenger, the only weakness Blitzle has is Ground-type attacks so choose a strong Ground-type Pokemon followed by a Bug, Fairy, or Fighting-type Pokemon for Absol.

While it’s always a good idea to have strong counters, this year’s Fashion Challengers are quite easy to defeat, so one strong Legendary or pseudo-Legendary of any type should be enough to defeat them.

Check out some more Pokemon Go guides below:

All current Raid Bosses | Spotlight hour guide | Best Pokemon in Pokemon Go | Arlo counters guide | Cliff counters guide | Giovanni counters guide | Sierra counters guide | How to catch a Ditto | Pokemon Go promo codes | Pokemon Go catching tips | Best Elite Charged TM | Best Elite Fast TM | Pokemon Go friend codesHow to get Remote Raid Passes

About The Author

Daniel graduated from university with a degree in Journalism and English Language, before spending five years at GAY TIMES covering LGBTQ+ news and entertainment. He then made the switch to video game journalism where he produces news, features, and guides for Pokemon, Fortnite, Nintendo, and PlayStation games. Daniel also has a passion for any games with queer representation.