UPDATE: The Official Pokémon GO Trainer Battle announcement from Niantic is planned for December 4th.
Today Niantic announced that trainer battles are coming to Pokémon GO. Though while many assume that this means player vs player (PVP) battles, this wasn’t explicitly stated in the teaser reveal on social media.
PVP battles have been a highly requested feature for some time though it’s unclear how that would be implemented in the game. Would battles mirror gym battles with the simple tap and swipe mechanic or will moves be chosen like traditional Pokémon RPGs?
Plus the mobile hit only has two moves per Pokémon instead of the traditional four moves in an RPG.
While people have immediately assumed that these will be PVP battles, it could also be that NPC trainers will spawn in the overworld map like Pokémon do now, allowing for trainer battles to be added.
How ever they plan to implement that mechanic.
Personally I have no interest in PVP battles in the game. Pokémon GO is about collecting Pokémon. I couldn’t care less about battling random people unless there was a substantial upside.
That remains to be seen either way.
Update: Coming with Trainer Battles is the introduction of three Pokémon GO Trainer Battle Leagues—Great, Ultra, and Master.
Trainers will need to choose a league before going into a Trainer Battle, with each league having different maximum Pokémon CP limits. The Great League will have a 1,500 CP limit per Pokémon, Ultra League will have a 2,500 CP limit per Pokemon, and Master League will have no CP limit per Pokémon.
While Pokémon with high CP might be a big advantage in Master League battles, Trainers will have to think more strategically when battling in the Great and Ultra Leagues, where there are specific CP limitations.
