Pokemon GO Is Finally Adding Trainer Battles

Though Pokemon GO seemingly took over the world when it released, it launched missing a few core features from the Pokemon series. One of them, trading, was added to the game earlier this year, and Niantic is signaling the arrival of another major feature: trainer battles. To that, we simply say it's about time.

Trainer battles are one of the integral parts of Pokemon games, second only to actually catching the Pokemon themselves. It was a little bewildering that Pokemon GO launched without them back in 2016, but now, more than two years later, that's finally about to change. At least we hope it's about to change.

In truth, Niantic has shared no details about how trainer battles will work or when they'll actually be added to the game. Niantic simply announced that they're on the way in a new tweet to the Pokemon GO Twitter account. "Get prepared... Trainer Battles are coming soon to Pokemon GO," the tweet reads, leaving us completely in the dark when it comes to the finer details.

The hope is that trainer battles are right around the corner, but without any specifics from Niantic, it's hard to make that call. For all we know, trainer battles could still be a few months out. We're also interested in hearing about how trainer battles will be carried out within Pokemon GO, so there's plenty left to learn.

In any case, it's nice to know that they're finally on the way. While we wait for additional details from Niantic, we'll be daydreaming about encountering other Pokemon GO players and challenging them to a battle. After all, in the Pokemon universe, two trainers must battle whenever their eyes meet, and rules are rules.