'Pokemon Go' Update: Niantic Teases Battle Mode [VIDEO]; When Is The Player Vs. Player Mode Coming?

Despite several reports indicating that "Pokemon Go" is losing its luster, Niantic's mobile sensation is far from dead as the game developer continues to roll out brand new updates in bid to keep Pokemon trainers glued to the hit augmented reality game.

The developer recently introduced the Pokemon Buddy system, and now it looks like the good folks at Niantic are gearing up to roll out a slew of other features as well, but they are taking their own time to do so.
The Pokemon Company CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara told The Wall Street Journal that Niantic is not rushing with new features for the game so as to not overwhelm those who have just jumped on the "Pokemon Go" bandwagon. According to hearsay, a player-versus-player battle system is indeed in the works at Niantic.

Battling is one the key facets of every Pokemon game; besides, this is something "we do best at Pokemon, after all," Ishihara noted.

It is imperative for the developer to fully consider any feature that may increase the difficulty and raise the barricade to entry for more occasional players. In addition, Ishihara also teased a trading system, but refrained from shedding more light on this.

In his interview, Ishihara teased his plan to launch "Pokemon Go" in China and South Korea; however, that could be quite challenging as both the said countries restrict Google Maps.

Not too long ago, Niantic Labs CEO, John Hanke upheld rumors about an upcoming trading system and confirmed that the said feature was forthcoming. However, he did not divulge how it would work or when it might be released. Likewise, we don't know much about the purported battle system for "Pokemon Go" at the moment.

"Pokemon Go" multiplayer has been in the works for quite a long time, Niantic's Archit Bhargava told GameSpot in July. Although early tests are pretty encouraging, there's still much work to be done.

The multiplayer facet of the game is something that the developer is still exploring. According to Bhargava, Niantic has so far learned that multiplayer battles are quite exciting. When two players from different teams arrive at a rival gym, if they team up and both have their Pokemon deployed to battle simultaneously, they can demolish a stronger team in a jiffy.

It can be recalled that the battle mode was actually teased in the original teaser trailer (shown below) for "Pokemon Go," in which a player gets a notification that they are being attacked by other monster.

Stay tuned in here for more "Pokemon Go" Updates and news.