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Here's how battling other players in Pokemon Go will workhttps://www.businessinsider.in/miscellaneous/heres-how-battling-other-players-in-pokemon-go-will-work/slidelist/66939831.cms2018-12-04T19:34:29+05:30

Here's how battling other players in Pokemon Go will work

Dec 4, 2018, 19:34 IST

The first thing you gotta know is that Pokémon Go battling is sorted into leagues. When you challenge another trainer, you decide ahead of time which league's rules you'll fight under.

Different leagues have different caps on the strength of the Pokémon you can use to battle. The highest-level league, the Master League, takes off (almost) all the limits: You can use any Pokémon, at any level, including so-called Legendaries.

If you want to battle another trainer, you'll use your phone's camera to scan their unique QR code. You'll only be able to battle remotely with your Ultra Friends and Best Friends, as a perk for IRL besties.

Niantic says this is to encourage face-to-face interactions: It envisions Pokémon Go players getting into rumbles in parks, malls, and anywhere else Pokémon trainers might gather.

You'll face off with the other trainer, giving you a chance to pick your team of three Pokémon (and show off your character's outfit).

Now, it's time to throw down. Pokémon fight one-at-a-time, swapping on the fly to best match their Pokémon's strengths to their opponent's weakness. If all three of your Pokémon get knocked out, you lose.

But you might notice that this looks a little different from the regular Pokémon Go battle screen. That's because these battles work a little differently. You'll still tap the screen to do your basic attack, chipping away at your opponent's health.

...but now, every single Pokémon can learn a second charged move, in a first for the game. This little change could add a lot of strategy to the game.

You'll need to spend some Pokémon candy and a little Stardust to get the second charged move. Once you have it, though, you'll be able to use it in other game modes.

Also new is that you can charge up your attacks further by tapping rhythmically on the screen. Keep tapping, and your attack will get stronger.

This leads to another new mechanic: Meet the "Protect Shield." When an opposing Pokémon launches a charged attack your way, you have the option to either absorb the hit, or put up one of your limited number of Protect Shields.

It's a guessing game. You can use a Protect Shield if you're worried your opponent has a super effective move that could finish you off. If you're wrong, though, and their attack was something you could have shrugged off, you're down a shield.

To the victor go the spoils. Niantic says that you'll earn rewards for the first three times you battle in a given day, though you can battle indefinitely just for fun. The rewards include the hard-to-find Sinnoh Stone item, as well as the Stardust you need to make your Pokémon more powerful.

Finally, you'll be able to fight Candela, Blanche, and Spark, the AI-controlled leaders of the game's three teams. This is good practice for players who want to ease into fighting their fellow humans, and you'll get some rewards, too.

It's not immediately clear when Niantic will start rolling out the trainer battle system, though it's likely to be soon. Be advised, though, that it tends to roll new features out slowly, to certain players, just to make sure servers can handle the load.

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