‘Pokemon Go’ Updates: Better Gym Training, Trading, And PVP
It’s just been months but Pokemon Go is getting even better update after update. Pokemon Go‘s CEO tells us what they’ve got in store for the phenomenal title in the near future and it’s all oh so exciting.
Earlier this week we reported that Pokemon Go has just received a new update that awards players with a catch bonus when earning medals for catching a specific type of Pokemon. This new update comes handy for Pokemon Go players since it helps them catch higher and rarer Pokémon as they go along and get medals.
After news of the medal system arrived, another new update for Pokemon Go is coming via Niantic, this time concerning gym training. The announcement by Niantic over at Pokemon Go Live reads as follows.
Trainers,
As we continue to make improvements to Pokémon GO, we have made an enhancement to the Gym experience for Trainers of all levels. In an upcoming version of Pokémon GO, when training at a friendly Gym, Trainers will be able to bring six Pokémon to battle instead of one. In addition, the CP of the Pokémon you are training against may be temporarily adjusted lower during your training session to generally match your Pokémon’s battle capabilities. No matter what your level, you can now have an impact on your team’s Gym. Walk with your Buddy Pokémon to that nearby landmark and show your Team Leader that you can battle with the best!
The Pokémon GO team
With this update for Pokemon Go, trainers will now have the option to train more than one Pokemon at a time. Coupled with the last medal update, it’s looking pretty good for Pokemon Go trainers all over the world.
Those familiar with the workings of the original Pokemon games in various handhelds will also be familiar to the customary and rather standard feature of trading Pokemon. Since it’s generally a hard task to capture all Pokemon, players would usually resort to deals and trades to get certain Pokemon that they desire. This left fans to speculate if trading is a possibility in the future of Pokemon Go.
In an interview by Recode with Niantic CEO John Hanke, we learn that trading and player-vs-player battling is certainly in the works for Pokemon Go.
“[Trading or battling your friends directly] are great social activities, and we’ve said in the past that trading is coming, and player-versus-player battling is something that we talk a lot about internally, and I think it very much is within the spirit of Pokémon Go. So it’s possible you’ll see that as well.”
It’s crucial to note that Pokémon Go has just been released a little over three months ago, so we should be expecting more updates and bug fixes on the way.
Another interesting update people have been looking forward to are the live events that we have been promised when Pokemon Go released its first trailer. Niantic, the maker of Pokemon Go, has kept Ingress hot and running for several years mainly due to the events they held worldwide. These events, Hanke admits, have kept Ingress players interested and invested in the game for quite a long period, so it’s only logical for the team to follow up on this success on Pokemon Go.
However, these events, too, would have to wait. As of writing, Pokemon Go is already available in 113 countries, but key places are still missing in action such as China and India. Forbespreviously reported that Pokemon Go systems are still a no go at certain countries because of Google Maps problems and Pokemon Go‘s absence in such key cities might be one of the reasons why Niantic is holding off the live events for now.
Hanke also adds that live events are sure to bring in hoards and hoards of people together so they’re making sure Pokemon Go systems are ready when they do launch. Remember the first few days of Pokemon Go when everyone was just struggling to get in because of the traffic? Well you wouldn’t want that in a live event.
“That was the original intent. We had this learning from Ingress that [live events] are really fun and they’re great ways to energize a community, it’s a great way to retain your players over time, keep them interested in the game. We simply haven’t done it so far. Well, it’s only been two months since the launch.
“And the crowds have been big, so yeah, we want to make sure that if we go out on an event, that we can adequately handle the number of people who would show up.”
Head over to Recodeto read the full transcript of the interview with Hanke.
Stay tuned for more Pokemon Go updates.
[Featured Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]
