Pokémon Go getting PvP battles

Niantic shared this image of a “Pokémon Go” trainer
battle on Twitter.
Pokémon
Go/Niantic

• Developer Niantic revealed on Friday that
  trainer battles are coming to “Pokémon Go.”
• Despite player-versus-player (PvP) battles being a major part
  of the traditional Pokémon games, “Pokémon Go” has always focused more
  on exploration and catching wild monsters.
• Niantic has yet to offer specific details on how
  battles between players will function.

“Pokémon Go” creator Niantic revealed via Twitter that
player-versus-player battles will be coming soon, answering the
wishes of the game’s most dedicated fans after some two and a
half years.

Battles between Pokémon trainers have always been a core
component of traditional Pokémon games, but have been missing
from “Pokémon Go” since the game launched in July 2016. In fact,
their absence was one of the core criticisms that longtime
Pokémon fans held against the mobile game.

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While “Pokémon Go” has always offered players a chance to show
off their most prized pocket monsters by leaving them to guard
the in-game “gyms,” Niantic is now promising a chance for players
to go head-to-head more directly. Notably, “Pokémon Go” recently
got new social features that allow players to become friends and
trade Pokémon with each other.

Niantic has yet to reveal when the trainer battle update will
arrive, or provide details on how battles will function.
Currently, Pokémon in “Pokémon Go” have just two attacks,
compared to the four attacks available in the original Pokémon
titles. 

While the number of players has certainly dipped since the game’s
peak in 2016, “Pokémon Go” continues to be a massive success
around the world. “Pokémon Go” is in the midst of releasing a
new batch of fourth-generation
Pokémon, and the game grossed $73 million in October
2018, an increase of 67 percent from the prior year.

Niantic recently relaunched their original mobile exploration
game “Ingress” under the name “Ingress Prime.” The game is
an alternative to “Pokémon Go” with similar, albeit more complex,
mechanics and a unique story. Niantic is also working on a game
set in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, in the same vein as
“Pokémon Go,” named “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.”