There was once a time whenPokemon GObarely featured any actual battles; they were only reserved for laying siege to a Gym. That has changed dramatically in the years since the game’s launch. Nowadays, players can not only battle one another through an online Battle League, but they can also find Team Rocket members capturing PokeStops in their community, prompting PvE battles.Pokemon GOis far richer in action now that there are so many more PvP and PvE elements to the game. Nevertheless,Pokemon GOcould stand to improve some of its PvE battles to make them more climactic.
OncePokemon GOplayersbattle enough Team Rocket Grunts, they can usually earn an encounter with a Team Rocket Leader, which is often a much more difficult and intense encounter. Overall, though, these battles are generally very brief, much the same as Grunt battles. As a result, Team Rocket Leader battles can feel fairly anticlimactic, even though they’re supposed to serve asPokemon GO’s equivalent of a boss battle. It may be time forPokemon GOto increase the number of Pokemon that players can bring into a battle with a Team Rocket Leader in order to make these encounters feel more meaningful.
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Upgrading Team Rocket Battles
InPokemon GO,non-Raid battles are all 3v3 encounters, which is a significantly smaller number of overall Pokemon from the base games, where players and NPCs alike can both carry up to 6 Pokemon at a time.Pokemon GOlikely does this to make battles shorter, which stands to reason, since it’s meant to be played on the go, but in the case ofPokemon GO’s Team Rocket Leaders, it feels like a missed opportunity. As long as players know how to counteract the Leader’s team, their battles are oftentimes just as brief and easy as battling a Team Rocket Grunt. Increasing the number of Pokemon involved in a Leader battle would make battlingPokemon GO’s strongest enemies feel more special than it does now, even if Niantic only increases each trainer’s total by one.
BiggerPokemon GObattles with NPCs would also be fun because it would encourage players to use a broader variety of Pokemon.LongtimePokemon GOplayersstockpile tons of strong Pokemon, but when battles are so small and brief, only a handful of their Pokemon ever see the light of day. MakingPokemon GO’s Team Rocket Leader battles a little longer and more complicated would let players make use of their variety of strong Pokemon while increasing the number of team compositions that players can assemble.
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Pokemon’s Boss Battle Issues
Pokemon GOisn’t the onlyPokemongame that could stand to make its boss battles more compelling.Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Noble Pokemonhave proven thatPokemoncould really stand to give its most important battles special structures that make them stand out. MostPokemonboss battles are just standard battles with particularly strong monsters or trainers, rather than featuring a unique structure or mechanical quirks. Bigger Pokemon teams wouldn’t totally overhaul Team Rocket Leader battles, but it would at least make them feel a little bit more intense than thePokemon GOBattle League or Team Rocket Grunt battles.
Changing the number of Pokemon in Team Rocket Leader battles would definitely require some further work from Niantic to keep the fights balanced. It might want to increase item rewards slightly in exchange for the longer battles, or change the amount of shields available to both the player and the enemy. As long as Niantic puts in the necessary legwork, though, it could bea major improvement toPokemon GO.The mobilePokemongame may be more about the collecting side of the franchise than battling, but nevertheless, Niantic should do what it can to makePokemon GObattles more exciting.
Pokemon GOis available now for Android and iOS devices.
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