Pokemon Go Reveals First Details About Trainer Battles

John F. Trent |

Dec 3, 2018

Niantic and Pokemon Go announced they would be introducing trainer battles late last week in a series of Tweets teasing the new feature.

They also released the first details on what these trainer battles will look like.

First, Trainer Battles will take place in three separate Pokemon GO Trainer Battle Leagues. Those Battle Leagues will be Great, Ultra, and Master.

We hear you loud and clear, Trainers! Here’s your exclusive sneak peek into Trainer Battles: coming with Trainer Battles is the introduction of three Pokémon GO Trainer Battle Leagues—Great, Ultra, and Master! #GOBattle pic.twitter.com/oZWeIMS6iN

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) November 30, 2018

Each of the leagues will be different based on maximum CP of Pokemon.

The Great League will have a maximum CP of 1,500 per Pokemon.

The Ultra League will have a maximum CP of 2,500 per Pokemon.

Finally, the Master League will not have a CP limit.

Here’s a breakdown of each Battle League’s requirements:
? Great League: 1,500 CP limit per Pokémon
? Ultra League: 2,500 CP limit per Pokémon
? Master League: No CP limit per Pokémon pic.twitter.com/qF7f3KDco5

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) November 30, 2018

Trainers will be able to create teams of three Pokemon per league to do battle. It’s unclear if there is any kind of time restriction or limitation as to how you can use the Pokemon.

This will definitely affect what many people consider the meta-game or end game of Pokemon. The end game or meta-game had primarily revolved around raid battles at gyms and capturing high CP legendary Pokemon or training up type-specific Pokemon like Tyranitar and Machamp to more effectively take down the higher level raid battles. The inclusion of Trainer Battles looks to turn that idea on its head.

Not only will there be the Master League where Pokemon like Mewtwo will shine, but the Great and Ultra Leagues will force trainers to think more strategically on the Pokemon they will use to do battle with. Not only will trainers need to think more strategically, but it will also allow them to plumb the depths of their captured Pokemon.

If you had been discarding low CP Pokemon, you might want to rethink that strategy as a low CP Dragonite with Draco Meteor might actually be a really tough foe in Trainer Battles.

Pokemon GO also explained why they decided to create the multiple leagues with the different maximum CP levels.

Developer note: When designing Trainer Battles, we wanted to create an experience that everyone can enjoy and ensure that different kinds of Pokémon can show their strengths! With Leagues in Trainer Battles, we hope to create a system that’s accessible to many Trainers. ?

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) November 30, 2018

They also encouraged trainers to begin forming their own Battle Parties for each league. However, it doesn’t appear they’ve actually launched the feature that allows you to create Battle Parties, so you might just have to do this the old fashioned way with pen and paper. They also promise to reveal more information about Trainer Battles in the future.

Stay tuned as we prepare to reveal more information about Pokémon GO Trainer Battles. During this time, we encourage you to get ready by reviewing the Pokémon in your Pokédex and creating battle parties for each league.

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) November 30, 2018

Maybe, the biggest piece of information that we are missing is what kind of reward system will be involved, and how trainers will be ranked with the different leagues. Will it be a tournament style system or potentially a point based system where trainers receive certain points for defeating their opponents and lose points for losing to their opponents and after a set amount of time whoever has the most points wins.

We are also missing details on possible limitations for the Battle Parties. Will it be possible to create a full team of Tyranitars or Mewtwos? Or will you only be allowed to use one type of Pokemon per team?

What kind of teams are you looking forward to put together? Are you excited for Trainer Battles?