In Pokémon Go, you can compete with other players in PvP since the last update. In our guide, we will show you all the important functions of the PvP feature, how the battle system works in Pokémon Go, what rewards are available, and everything else about Trainer Battles.
Trainer Battles are a big part of the Pokémon universe, and some of the games in the series even revolve purely around the battle in the arena. So it’s no wonder that Niantic is implementing the Trainer vs. Trainer feature in Pokémon Go as well. As promised, the feature was released in December 2018.
In the following guide, you’ll learn how to start Trainer Battles, how the battle system gets interesting despite the tap system, why you might want to stash some stardust and candies, and much more.
Pokémon Go: Trainer vs. Trainer – how to find a battle
By selecting the “Nearby Pokémon” button at the bottom right (under your Field Research button), you will now not only be taken to the Raid and Pokémon overview, but also to the “Battle Tab”. Here you can see which trainers are nearby. You can then challenge nearby trainers.
By scanning the QR code on the trainer’s screen, you start the PvP duel. Hyperfriends and Best Friends can also duel through remote battles over an infinite distance and do not need to activate a QR code. In the middle image, you may have already recognized the team leaders. You can also compete against them in NPC battles, but more on that later.
Before you choose your Pokémon for battle, you must first agree on a league in which you will compete against each other.
Leagues: Great League, Master League, and Ultra League
To add some variety to Pokémon Go’s PvP battles and give players who don’t have super strong Pokémon a chance, you’ll be able to compete in the Great, Master, and Ultra Leagues. The Great and Master Leagues have a CP cap for Pokémon, while the Ultra League has the cap removed. The first thing you’ll notice here is that your team consists of three Pokémon.
- Great League: 1500 CP limit per Pokémon
- Ultra League: 2500 CP limit per Pokémon
- Master League: no CP limit
If you’re building a perfect team for the Great and Ultra League, you’ll want to get your Pokémon as close to the CP limit as possible. Therefore, when you use a Power UP, you will not only be asked if you really want to perform the Power UP, but the CP that the Pokémon would have after the Power UP will also be displayed. This way, you don’t run the risk of the Pokémon exceeding the CP cap for the respective league.
The only Pokémon that are not allowed to be used in PvP are Ditto and Ninjatom So that you don’t have to constantly rebuild your team, you’ve been given a little more space in the already familiar Battle Team tab. Here you can save your preferred teams of three for the respective leagues.
Pokémon Go: PvP battle system
The combat system in PvP is similar to the battle in the arena, except that you can’t dodge. It is not turn-based, but takes place in real time. In PvP combat, your team consists of only three Pokémon. The developers justified this by saying that an ambitious 6-vs-6 battle leads to players constantly switching to the Pokémon that counters the type of the opponent’s Pokéon. This would be annoying in the long run, drags out the battles, and just isn’t fun.
You don’t know beforehand which Pokémon your opponent will use, so your team should be as balanced as possible to counter your opponent. You start with the Pokémon that is in the first place of your team, but you can switch your Pokémon in and out as often as you want during the battle. The first to take out your opponent’s three Pokémon wins.
Just like in an arena battle, you tap the screen steadily and cast your instant attack to gradually replenish your charge attack. However, there are three innovations that make this battle system a bit more interesting: You can unlock a second charge attack on your Pokémon, casting charge attacks is different, and there is a defense shield.
Unlock a Second Charge Attack
Under your Pokémon’s power-up field, you can unlock a second charge attack with the PvP update. This costs dust and candies. You can see exactly how high the costs are in the list below. With this, however, the developers have answered the statement “Save your candies”, which has become a meme in the meantime. Charge attacks can be changed via charge TMs. When applying the TM, you will be asked which charge attack to change.
Charging Attack Costs
Mystic and Legendary Pokémon: 100,000 stardust and 100 candies
Rare Pokémon: 75,000 stardust and 75 candies
Ordinary Pokémon: 50,000 stardust and 50 candies
Very common Pokémon: 10,000 dust and 25 candies
The dust and candy costs are based on how many miles you have to walk with your buddy for one candy. Instead of mystical, legendary, etc., you could also classify the cost into 1 KM, 3 KM, 5 KM, and 20 KM.
The second charge attack gives you a little more flexibility. For example, if you are outclassed in a battle by your Pokémon’s type, you can still land an effective attack by adding a new charge attack.
The Defense Shield
As soon as a Pokémon casts a charging attack, the affected trainer is informed about it and can decide whether to use a defensive shield. Exactly which attack is cast, however, is not revealed. The shield absorbs the complete damage of an attack, even if it is very effective.
Therefore, it is best to use the shield whenever your Pokémon is hit by a very effective attack. However, the defense shield can only be used twice per battle. So you have to use it tactically. If you don’t want to use it, press “Not now”.
Tapping until the doctor comes – Casting charging attacks
Just like in arena combat, you will eventually be able to use your charge attack. After choosing which charge attack you want to cast, you must tap the screen as many times as possible within a few seconds. The more you tap the screen within a short period of time, the more damage the charge attack will do.
As mentioned with the defense shield, your opponent will be alerted that a charging attack is about to happen. While you are hammering the screen with your finger, your opponent will not be able to perform any further attacks until the charging attack has been cast.
You can see how well or how often you have maltreated your mobile screen during this time by the outer white circle that forms around your Pokémon. The camera also zooms in closer and closer to your Pokémon. The maximum damage is caused when three white circles (in the outer area) have formed around your Pokémon. Try to use two or even four fingers to get the maximum. Make sure that all fingers hit the icon of the attack, otherwise you will not build up more damage.
Pokémon Go: Rewards for PvP battles
According to the developers, for victories (but also defeats) in PvP, you will receive helpful items for trainer vs. trainer combat (for example, special candies, dust, and XP) but also useful evolution items like the coveted Sinnoh Stone. This answers the question of how to get the Sinnoh Stone besides the 7-Day Field Research Breakthrough. However, the coveted evolution item is not always guaranteed, according to the developers. In our tests, we sometimes even received two Sinnoh Stones for one victory, but the rewards were by no means final in the test version. You can fight in PvP as often as you want during the day, but you will receive rewards a maximum of three times per day against players, and against team leaders you will receive a reward once per day.
Decisive for victory and defeat – the timer.
Each battle is timed. If any Pokémon are still alive when the timer expires, the percentage health of the remaining Pokémon determines who wins or loses. If your Pokémon have more life percentage-wise than your opponent’s, you win. The timer has been removed
Fights against NPC trainers
If you can’t always fight against your friends, you have the option of picking up your daily rewards via NPC trainer battles. Here you compete against one of the three team leaders Candela, Blanche or Spark. By selecting the NPC battles in the Battle Tab.
When fighting the NPC trainers, you also choose whether you want to compete in the Super Hyper or Master League. Victories against the NPCs will grant you the same rewards as those you receive in Trainer Duels. You won’t be able to defeat the NPCs on the fly, but you will be able to adapt to their team. The NPC teams are always the same. So you can choose your counter Pokémon in advance.
Pokémon Go PvP metagame – which Pokémon are the strongest?
It is not yet possible to say which are the best Pokémon for which league before the feature is released. What is clear, however, is that trainers will have to change in contrast to arena and raid combat. In Arena, you usually choose Pokémon with a high attack and the best attacks to defeat a given mon. “Tanks” like Heiteira or Stolloss, for example, are frowned upon.
In PvP, the whole thing looks different. Here, Heiteira is not a particularly bad choice. Other Pokémon with low attack points also perform better under certain circumstances than in the Raid or Arena. If you want to test how which Pokémon perform against each other, you can do so in the PvP simulator of Pokebattler.com.
Pokémon GO
Pokémon Go is the mobile spin-off of Nintendo’s popular Pokémon game series for Android and iOS. It is a so-called “location-based game”, i.e. a game that uses the player’s immediate surroundings. It is based on the principle of augmented reality.
Pokémon Map: Between landmarks and sights
Pokémon Go uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the player’s location and displays it on a map that also represents the playing field. The map is based on OpenStreetMap maps. The game is played mostly outdoors and uses landmarks, landmarks and other notable or eye-catching objects in the world to position either PokéStops or arenas there for you to battle for supremacy. Join either Team Intuition (Team Yellow, Zapdos), Team Wisdom (Team Blue, Arktos), or Team Daring (Team Red, Lavados). Under their flag you can then fight for the arenas, which are placed at hotspots like churches or similar. Pokémon can appear anywhere, though.
Pocket monsters visible on the Pokémon Go Map are randomly loaded into the game’s virtual map by the game server. If several players are playing in the same location, each player can see and catch the Pokémon independently of the others.
Pokémon Go Updates, News, Raids and More
The developers at Niantic regularly provide Pokémon Go with new updates or special raids that should only be tackled in a group of several people. The Pokémon Go Raids are therefore very popular, as they also offer the prospect of particularly rare Pokémon. For example, in the past, legendary Pokémon could always be caught on special occasions (Pokémon Go events). For particularly eager mobile or smartphone Pokémon trainers, there is also an external IV calculator, such as the online tool from Pokemon.gameinfo.io or on Pokefans.net, to check the values of your Pokémon.
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