Just days after revealing that player vs. player Trainer Battles would finally be coming to Pokemon Go, developer Niantic has shared a ton of new details about the highly anticipated feature on its blog. Before the end of the month, Pokemon Go players will be able to challenge their friends and other Trainers to Trainer Battles with a team of three Pokemon each. After the battle, both players will receive rewards, including rare Evolution items.
There are three Trainer Battle Leagues, and in order to battle another player, you’ll need to be in the same league. Great League allows Pokemon with up to 1,500 CP, Ultra League goes up to 2,500 CP, and Master League doesn’t have a limit — every one of your creatures is fair game for the most competitive league.
If you want to know how Trainer Battles play out, Niantic included a fairly detailed description in its post:
Battles are fast-paced and real-time, so don’t expect to wait your turn! Your selected team of Pokémon will be able to execute both their Fast Attack and Charged Attack moves. In preparation for battle, you’ll even be able to use Stardust and Candy to unlock a bonus Charged Attack for your Pokémon.
Timing is important! If you use your head and keep an eye on your opponent’s moves, you may be able to deploy a Protect Shield to save your Pokémon from critical damage. But you only have a limited number of these shields before your Pokémon will be left defenseless.
Most of the time, you’ll have to be within a certain range of another player to challenge them to a battle, but you can initiate Trainer Battles with your Ultra Friends and Best Friends from any distance. Even if you’re on the other side of the planet, you’ll always be close enough to do battle with your closest friends.
If you want to test your skills before you jump into the treacherous waters of Trainer Battles, you can train with team leaders Spark, Candela, and Blanche to get a feel for the feature. You will even earn rewards once a day for training, which can include stardust used to power up your Pokemon. There’s a new Ace Trainer medal to go along with the new feature as well, but Niantic didn’t explain how to gain access to the medal.
