Niantic, the company which took the world by storm two and a half years ago when they dropped perhaps one of the most successful mobile AR games in history – Pokémon Go, is back at it again. The company is giving the game a much needed update. Trainer battles mode would be coming to the game later this month, almost three years since it was first announced.
According to various reports online, in this new PVP (player versus player) mode players would be battling it out with three Pokémons each and the first player to eliminate all three of the opponent’s Pokémons wins. You can initiate battles with your friends by scanning a QR code on your friend’s phone. You can also do remote battles with your friends without being physically present at the same location as in traditional battles. But this is only possible if your friends are a part of the ultra friends or best friends list.
To maintain fairness, the battles are divided into 3 categories based on your Pokémon Combat Power (CP) – Great League (< 1500 CP), Ultra League (< 2500 CP) and Master League (no CP limit). You will be able to receive up to three rewards each day by battling friends. Potential rewards include Sinnoh stones, the much-coveted items required to evolve a bunch of recently added Pokémon. The battles can also be used to make progress towards in-game medals train your Pokémons to be stronger. If nobody else is present to play, you have an option of battling the leaders of the three teams: Blanche (Mystic), Candela (Valor) and Spark (Instinct) to power up your Pokémons and earn points towards the Ace Trainer medal.
The battles will involve similar mechanics to raid battles, in which a series of taps initiates your basic attack and fills up your charge attack meter. But this new update brings in a significant change. Stardust/candy can be used to permanently unlock a secondary charge move for each of your Pokémons. They will also work in raids and gym battles. Niantics and Nintendo hope that the introduction of this PVP mode from the game series’s main installment would pull back some of the veteran players and lure in new casual gamers alike.
