Pokemon Go's Battle League Adds a Whole New Layer to the Game

Pokemon Go's GO Battle League officially launches its first season today after a lengthy test session. Battling has always been a core part of Pokemon Go, dating back to the game's earliest weeks. While players initially battled each other in proxy at gyms, Pokemon Go eventually launched a PvP system for live battles back in late 2018. After introducing AI opponents to face in the form of GO Team Rocket, Pokemon Go is now diving into ranked online battles through its new GO Battle League. The GO Battle League setup is simple - players can choose from one of three leagues, each of which has a cap on Pokemon strength. Players then compete in sets of five battles, with rewards given out based on the number of wins. As a player stacks up wins in the GO Battle League, their rank rises, and they face off against stronger trainers and receive more guaranteed rewards.

"We think the response to GO Battle League has been great," said Matt Slemon, the lead product manager on Pokemon Go, in a phone interview with ComicBook.com. "Players seem to really enjoy it. We've gotten a lot of useful feedback that we're going to use for season one, but overall the reception has been great. Usage of the feature is very healthy. So we're pretty happy with how it's going so far."

One major change made to GO Battle League was the addition of Legendary Pokemon as potential rewards for players. After completing a set of five battles, players who win either four battles (in the free track) or two battles (in the premium track, which requires a Premium Battle Pass) can encounter Pokemon like Thundurus and other Legendary Pokemon that would otherwise be available in raids. For players who struggle getting a raid group together, the GO Battle League offers a chance to get those Legendary Pokemon and even have a way of powering them up.

When asked whether adding Legendary Pokemon made an impact in the number of players who tried GO Battle League, Slemon confirmed that it led to a boost in players. "We have seen more people playing," Slemon said. "We're trying to find the right balance and we don't want people to feel like the battles are just for rewards. The competition aspects are important too. But, we've seen a really good response from introducing Thundurus and Darkrai to Go Battle League as sort of an alternative."

Although GO Battle League will have different seasons that reset rankings, the seasons themselves won't have different rulesets that limit the types of Pokemon used...at least at first. While the Pokemon Video Game Championship Series often has a "ban list" of Pokemon that can't be used during different seasons of competitive play, Matt Ein, the senior designer of Pokemon Go, acknowledges that building a competitive team in Pokemon Go takes a lot of time. "Having a viable team in Great, Ultra, or Master League is a very time and resource intensive thing, so we'd like to have things pretty stable for a few seasons at least." Ein did note that there's a possibility that new formats will be added to the GO Battle League in the future.

While different Seasons of GO Battle League won't have different rulesets, Slemon did note that the rewards would help provide some variation between seasons. For instance, Season 1 has a light theme with Steven Stone, the champion of the Hoenn region. Players can earn a guaranteed encounter with Metagross, Stone's Pokemon partner, as well as avatar items and poses inspired by the fashionable champion.

Although GO Battle League is a purely online function, the developers of Pokemon Go see it as a potential on-ramp for in person tournaments and community events. "We do see Go Battle League as sort of the first step of opening doors to everyone," Slemon said. "To show that battles are accessible to you no matter where you are, and it's something you can learn to do." Slemon even hoped that GO Battle League would help raise interest in more community events, like the in-person tournament held at Pokemon Go Fest last year. "Those are really where we feel like the magic of Pokemon Go comes out, is when you're able to play people face to face."

Of course, face-to-face battles may have to wait a while, due to ongoing coronoavirus concerns. The launch of GO Battle League comes at a fortuitous time, as COVID-19 has forced Pokemon Go developers to delay events and discourage some of the more social aspects of the game. GO Battle League provides an alternative way to play Pokemon Go, and Slemon noted that some of the tweaks made to the GO Battle League rewards were due to COVID-19. "One of the reasons Legendary Pokemon showed up to Go Battle League was to make sure the players had something to do and a little bit more motivation if they didn't feel safe to go out and raid," Slemon said. While GO Battle League isn't intended to replace raids or other social aspects of the game, it does help players keep playing even if they don't feel safe about public interactions.

For players interested in trying out the PvP functions of Pokemon Go but might be intimidated by the idea of ranked battles, Ein recommends giving the Team GO Rocket battles a shot to test out teams and strategies before diving into the GO Battle League. He also notes that the matchmaking system will prevent them from battling world champions in GO Battle League right off the bat. "Players will have to slowly prove their way up, and I think that's a good experience for them," Ein said.

GO Battle League's first season starts at 1 PM local time on March 13th. Good luck to everyone who sets out to become a Pokemon master!