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pokemon go, trainer battle

Pokemon GO PvP: How to Trainer Battle with Friends & Other Players

This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information

How to Trainer Battle with Friends & Other Players in Pokemon GO PvP

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One of the most sought after features has finally been added to Pokemon GO. PvP Trainer Battles can now be played. So that you can get all of the rewards on offer, here’s everything there is to know about how to Trainer Battle with friends and other players in Pokemon GO.

How to Trainer Battle Other Players

Jumping in to fight with your friends or other players you meet out in the wild is pretty easy. All you need to do is follow these steps from your device.

  • First of all, you need to click on the little nearby Pokemon locator in the bottom right of the screen. It’s just under the Research Tasks icon.
  • As usual, you’ll see all the nearby Pokemon, their relevant Poke Stops, and a tab for nearby active Raids, but you’ll also see a Battle tab on the right.
  • Click on Battle, where you can see the three Pokemon Go team leaders and a QR code by your own character. You can click on any of the leaders, you will be able to train against them.
  • If you show another trainer this QR code, they will be able to scan it and you’ll begin a Trainer Battle.
  • Alternatively, you will be able to scan someone else’s QR code by pressing ‘Challenge A Trainer’ and holding your device over the code.

How to Trainer Battle with Friends

You are also able to Trainer Battle against any of you Ultra or Best Friends in Pokemon GO (the third and fourth level). To do that:

  • First, click on your character at the bottom left of the main screen.
  • Scroll right to get to the Friends tab.
  • Click on the friend you want to battle.
  • Choose the Battle option between Send Gift and Trade, and you’ll be able to begin a fight.

When you’ve set up a Trainer Battle in Pokemon GO PvP, there are three leagues that you can choose from, each of which require Pokemon with different CP. They are:

  • Great League (1500 CP or less)
  • Ultra League (2500 CP or less)
  • Master League (unlimited CP)

Pokemon GO PvP Trainer Battles work in a similar way to standard Raids or Gym Battles. Your Pokemon have Fast and Charged Moves, but the action is a little slower than usual, with the action pausing for a couple of seconds when the later are is used.

You can also choose to use a Protect Shield move against Charged Moves. You can only use them a few times in each fight, but they block all damage. This replaces the standard dodge of Gym Battles.

You’ll definitely want to start battling your friends because winning could grant you with another Sinnoh Stone or two to help you complete your Gen 4 Pokedex.

That’s all there is to know about how to Trainer Battle with friends and other players in Pokemon GO. For more tips and tricks on the game, check out our Pokemon GO wiki guide.


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Author
Image of Tom Hopkins
Tom Hopkins
Having been Editor on multiple sites, Tom has a wealth of video game knowledge and is now Managing Editor at Twinfinite. He's an expert on Call of Duty, sports games, PlayStation exclusives, and blockbuster action games. If he's not playing the new release, he'll be grinding on EA FC 24.