What's Happening With Pokemon Go's Player Battles

One of the most highly requested features for Pokemon Go has been the improvement of the PvP, so players can battle against each other and other gyms in a way that that makes it more dynamic and similar to what was on display in the show. Well, things could be changing soon in the way PvP works in Niantic's mobile game.

Gamespot is reporting that Niantic Labs has finally announced an official PvP trainer battle mode. This will allow players to battle other trainers in Pokemon Go using their stash of Pokemon. This is a pretty big upgrade over the current system employed for the mobile game, which is a lot more hands-off in terms of pitting players against one another.

According to the article, there will be three different leagues for the mode called Trainer Battle Leagues. This includes Great Leagues, Ultra Leagues, and Master Leagues. The leagues will be broken down similar to how racing car games separate and cordon off vehicles based on horsepower. So while you have your specific classes in games like Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport that ensure that the race stays fair, in Pokemon Go the different leagues will have power limits.

For instance, the Combat Power limit will be used to gauge where your Pokemon fits in the league competition. So Great League Pokemon can only have a maximum CP limit of 1,500. If you've leveled up and powered up your Pokemon beyond that limit, you can try your hand at the next tier in the Ultra League, which has a limit of 2,500 CP per Pokemon.

And if you've elevated beyond that limit, and you have a Pokemon who is so much stronger than the other two league limits, then you can try your hand at the Master League competitions, where there is no CP limit on how powerful your Pokemon can become. However, expect absolutely fierce competition in the Master League if you're planning on proving yourself against the world's best.

As far as the actual combat is concerned, those details weren't rolled out. The only thing we've seen is a screenshot of the battlefield featuring a trainer across from the player, with chalk on the ground indicating where the battle arena is. It's likely that the Pokemon will be positioned on the dirt in front of the trainers.

Obviously, the big question is on how the actual combat mechanics will work. Will players just tap the screen and select a move? Will they rely on random moves from their Pokemon? Will they be similar to the Raid battles? Or will they be closer to Gym battles?

Gamespot wondered if perhaps the game might implement a system much closer to the likes of the mainline Pokemon games found on devices like the Nintendo 3DS or the Switch, where players have traditional turn-based mechanics at their disposal.

It's possible that the new system is being implemented to coincide with the release of Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee, both of which are a mix of the old games on Nintendo's handhelds and Pokemon Go. Niantic might be trying to get the game to fit more in line with the Switch titles to create a similitude with the other titles.