Pokemon Go is finally getting the key feature that players have wanted for years - the ability to battle each other

Pokémon Go/Niantic

Niantic shared this image of a "Pokémon Go" trainer battle on Twitter.

• Developer Niantic revealed on Friday that trainer battles are coming to "Pokémon Go."
• Despite player-versus-player (PvP) battles being a major part of the traditional Pokémon games, "Pokémon Go" has always focused more on exploration and catching wild monsters.
• Niantic has yet to offer specific details on how battles between players will function.

"Pokémon Go" creator Niantic revealed via Twitter that player-versus-player battles will be coming soon, answering the wishes of the game's most dedicated fans after some two and a half years.

Battles between Pokémon trainers have always been a core component of traditional Pokémon games, but have been missing from "Pokémon Go" since the game launched in July 2016. In fact, their absence was one of the core criticisms that longtime Pokémon fans held against the mobile game.

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While "Pokémon Go" has always offered players a chance to show off their most prized pocket monsters by leaving them to guard the in-game "gyms," Niantic is now promising a chance for players to go head-to-head more directly. Notably, "Pokémon Go" recently got new social features that allow players to become friends and trade Pokémon with each other.

Niantic has yet to reveal when the trainer battle update will arrive, or provide details on how battles will function. Currently, Pokémon in "Pokémon Go" have just two attacks, compared to the four attacks available in the original Pokémon titles. 

While the number of players has certainly dipped since the game's peak in 2016, "Pokémon Go" continues to be a massive success around the world. "Pokémon Go" is in the midst of releasing a new batch of fourth-generation Pokémon, and the game grossed $73 million in October 2018, an increase of 67 percent from the prior year.

Niantic recently relaunched their original mobile exploration game "Ingress" under the name "Ingress Prime." The game is an alternative to "Pokémon Go" with similar, albeit more complex, mechanics and a unique story. Niantic is also working on a game set in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World, in the same vein as "Pokémon Go," named "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite."