Pokemon GO: How to Battle Other Trainers in PvP

PvP is finally here in Pokemon GO, and while you may not be able to participate for awhile (the feature is rolling out slowly based on trainer level), you should know what to do once you can. Battling other trainers/players is going to be a huge part of the game going forward, so knowing how to do it will be key to your future with Niantic’s mobile title. Here’s how to battle other trainers in PvP in Pokemon GO.

The entire PvP system, unlike battles against Team Leaders, is contained within your Friend list, as part of your main Trainer screen. Tap your trainer’s face in the bottom left to bring up the menu, then swipe to get to your Friends. Here is where you can challenge other trainers to battles. If they are your Best or Ultra Friends then you can battle them anytime, anywhere. Others will need to be nearby. If this is the case, you can show them your QR code in the Nearby menu and do battle without becoming friends.

Once you pick which friend you want to fight against you should see the option to Battle wedged in between sending a gift and trading Pokemon. Tap that to initiate the fight, but be sure they do the same on their end, or have them interact with the notification they receive.

Once inside you will choose your team of Pokemon and do battle. Fighting is pretty much the same as it’s always been, with some changes to how charge attacks work. They now power up as you do battle, then toss you to another screen when you want to use it. Tapping vigorously will charge and deliver the attack on your opponent’s Pokemon.

The best thing to do, if you want a constant stream of battles available is to add friends and get them to a high friendship level. Send them gifts, battle with them, do raids together. Any activity should raise your friendship level, so get it up there and you can do more battles.