Overview
A Gold Bottle Cap is a rare, single-use item that enrolls one eligible Pokémon in Hyper Training to raise any combination of its Attack, Defense, and HP IVs. Rather than boosting stats immediately, using the cap assigns a series of Buddy tasks, and completing each task adds one point to the corresponding IV.
Because higher IVs also increase CP, choose a Pokémon you plan to keep long term, verify how the final stats fit your intended league or raid role, and check the item's activation deadline before starting.
How to get it
Earn it from an event reward track that explicitly includes a Gold Bottle Cap. Past releases have placed it at Rank 100 on paid GO Pass Deluxe tracks.
These are not routine PokéStop, raid, or Gift drops.
How to use it
Choose an eligible Pokémon with at least Good Buddy friendship (one Buddy heart), start Hyper Training from the Item Bag, the Pokémon's summary screen, or the Buddy page, select your target stats, and complete the assigned tasks.
Shadow Pokémon and Pokémon that already have 15/15/15 IVs are ineligible. Check both the cap's activation deadline and the 365-day training deadline shown in game.
Worth knowing
Increasing IVs can raise CP and change eligibility or performance in CP-limited leagues. Evaluate the intended build before training.
A Gold Bottle Cap can train multiple stats in one course; a Silver Bottle Cap is useful when only one stat needs work.
Two different deadlines
An unused Gold Bottle Cap sits in the Item Bag under an Expiring Soon label and expires on an event-specific date, converting into 50,000 Stardust if left unspent. Activating the cap on a Pokémon starts a separate 365-day countdown to finish its Hyper Training tasks. Having a full year to complete the training course does not mean you have a year to use the cap in your bag.
Why higher IVs are not always a better league build
IVs contribute to both battle stats and CP. Under a league’s CP ceiling, an increase can force a Pokémon to stay at a lower level than another individual of the same species. That is why a perfect appraisal is not a universal target for Great League or Ultra League.
Compare a Great League Golem with 15/15/15 IVs at level 17.5 against a 12/15/15 Golem at level 18. In that example, the lower-Attack-IV individual has slightly higher effective Attack as well as better Defense and HP. The comparison is between two builds, not a way to lower IVs with a cap.
For a Pokémon intended for a CP-limited league, check its final CP, level, and role before selecting the training target. For a species that stays below the limit even when fully powered up, maximizing IVs can make much more sense.
Training progresses one point at a time
Keep the trainee as your active Buddy while working on its tasks. Each completed task immediately raises the relevant IV by one point, triggers a prompt for the next assignment, and updates the Pokémon's appraisal screen. Only one task per stat can progress at a time, and any IV point already earned is permanent. You can type hypertraining in the Pokémon storage search bar at any time to find Pokémon currently or previously trained.
Shadow Pokémon and Pokémon that already have a four-star appraisal (15/15/15 IVs) are ineligible for Hyper Training, whereas Purified, Lucky, traded, Legendary, and Mythical Pokémon can be trained. Pokémon that have undergone Hyper Training cannot be sent to Pokémon HOME, though eligible Kanto Pokémon transferred to Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! retain their trained stats.
If you trade a Hyper Trained Pokémon inside Pokémon GO, its IVs reroll randomly as in any standard trade, erasing the trained increases.
Each stat draws from its own pool of Buddy activities: Attack tasks require battling alongside your Buddy in Gyms, Raids, or Team GO Rocket encounters; Defense tasks involve playing together, taking snapshots, powering up, exploring, and catching Pokémon; and HP tasks cover exploration, spinning PokéStops or Gyms, completing Field Research, hatching Eggs, and earning Buddy Candy. Tasks scale upward in difficulty as the trained stat approaches 15.
Release and availability
Gold Bottle Caps debuted at Rank 100 of GO Pass Deluxe: Ancients Recovered (June 23–29, 2025, with unused caps expiring on July 6, 2025). A second release followed at Rank 100 of GO Pass Deluxe: Road of Legends (July 6–12, 2026, with unused caps expiring on July 19, 2026). Both distributions were paid event reward tracks leading into Pokémon GO Fest rather than a permanent shop supply.
Plan the work before spending the cap
A 14/13/12 Pokémon needs one Attack task, two Defense tasks, and three HP tasks to reach 15/15/15: six completed tasks in total. A Pokémon farther from those targets requires more work. The cap starts the course; it does not skip the tasks.
You choose how far to raise each stat. Goals can be adjusted between the stat’s current value and 15, but an IV point already earned cannot be removed. Check the displayed CP warning before accepting a plan for a league-limited Pokémon.
Training progress requires this Pokémon to be your active buddy. Switching to another buddy does not stop the course’s deadline. Check Today View for the next task and appraisal for the IV points already gained.
