Pokémon Go is adding Trainer Battles for player-versus-player combat.
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Pokémon Go unveils player-versus-player Trainer Battles

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 5 min

Trainer Battles are here at last. When fans like me started playing Pokémon Go in June 2016, we asked when we could engage in player-versus-player battles.

About two-and-a-half years later, game publisher Niantic is granting our wish. Trainer Battles with human contestants are debuting this month in the popular game, giving Niantic and licensor The Pokémon International Company a chance to get lapsed players to come back.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.