'Pokemon Go' Bans Two Pokemon From New Trainer Battles

Pokemon Go's new Trainer Battle feature will give players a chance to battle their friends with every Pokemon in their collection, save for two specific species.

Earlier today, Pokemon Go released full details about a new Trainer Battle feature that will let players battle their friends in 3 v 3 battles. The new feature opens up a ton of new possibilities for the popular mobile game, including tournaments, city-wide gym leaders, and bragging rights between friends.

IGN's breakdown of the new feature confirmed that players won't be able to choose either Ditto or Shedinja when selecting Pokemon to use to battle your friends. Both Pokemon are "problematic" Pokemon, and its likely that Pokemon Go didn't want to figure out how to modify their unique battles for use in the game's new feature.

It's easy to understand why Ditto can't participate in the new trainer battles. Ditto's maximum CP is only 832, which means that it could be used in any League with ease. The issue is that Ditto's Transform move would allow it to transform into a Level 40 version of whatever Pokemon it encounters...which would make it problematic in lower leagues. If Ditto encountered a low level Legendary Pokemon in the Great or Ultra Leagues, it could potentially transform into a fully powered version of that Pokemon, giving its trainer a huge edge in battles.

Shedinja's ban is a little bit trickier to explain. In the main series Pokemon games, Shedinja only has 1 HP, but it can only be damaged by moves that are "super effective" against it thanks to its unique ability. Of course, Shedinja doesn't have that ability in Pokemon Go (as Pokemon Go doesn't use abilities) so they might be holding Shedinja out of battles to keep its in-game lore alive without adding abilities, or because there's no competitive reason to use it in battles.

However, Pokemon Go's Trainer Battle restrictions are limited to just these two Pokemon, which means that players can use both Legendary and Mythical Pokemon in battles provided they meet potential CP restrictions in the Great and Ultra Leagues.

The new Trainer Battle feature will be added next month.