Pokemon GO: How does PvP Work

After a hugely successful year, Niantic has put a capper on 2018 by releasing PvP in Pokemon GO. This highly anticipated and much requested feature allows players to do battle against each other, with some really nice rewards for the winner. Of course, with any new features in Pokemon GO, some players are a bit confused about how the whole thing works, asking “how does PvP work in Pokemon GO”.

The basic idea is that players can fight each other using the Pokemon they’ve collected over the years in Pokemon GO. If you have fully updated your app and are at the level where the features are available (just be patient if not) then you can do battle against other trainers right now. Here’s how to do it. Follow that guide and you’ll be all set, but the basics are that you can fight your Friends in the game right from the appropriate menu.

PvP implies that you’ll be doing battle against other players all the time, but it actually introduced other fights as well. You can do battle against the three Team Leaders as well, offering similar rewards to PvP battles with other trainers. Here’s our guide on that feature as well.

The basics of “how does PvP work” are that you will fight against each other in a similar way you have always done battle in Pokemon GO. Frantically tapping your screen, slowly charging your more damaging attack, and using your team to their best to take out your opponent’s team. The only major additions and changes are the aforementioned alterations to charge attacks, as well as a new shield mechanic, which replaces dodging. Use your limited shields wisely. They’ll block incoming damage, but you only have a couple of them.

Beat your opponent and you’ll get some sweet rewards, maybe even a Sinnoh Stone.