Players participating in Pokémon GO PvP battles now have 30 seconds longer to complete them. This change likely comes after many battles were not finished recently.
What has changed? The Pokémon GO team announced on social media channels that the duration for Trainer Battles has now increased by 30 seconds. These are the battles where you face other players or team leaders, not raids.
How does this affect gameplay? Before this change, you had 240 seconds, or 4 minutes, for a Trainer Battle. After the change, it is now 270 seconds, or 4.5 minutes.
For you, this means that you have 30 seconds more time before the game ends a battle. If no winner is determined by knockout after 4.5 minutes, the battle ends.
Why the battle time was extended in PvP battles
What does Niantic say about it? So far, Niantic has not provided an official explanation for why the time was extended.
This is what the community says: For many trainers in the community, it is clear why Niantic implemented this change. Some trainers use Pokémon with high stamina in Trainer Battles. Because these defensive Pokémon have so many hit points, it takes a long time to defeat them.
A player writes on Reddit: “That was it for my team of Chansey, Woingenau, and Snorlax.”
The reason for the extension could also be the new mechanic of charge attacks in Pokémon GO. The charging of charge attacks now takes longer, leading to less time available for actual fighting.
“To anyone wondering: It may look arbitrary, but it is actually a fix for the new mechanics of charge attacks that make them take a few seconds longer. There were complaints that as a result, fewer games than before this change were fittingly completed on time,” writes TruePlatinum1 on Reddit.
A player replied: “It should be noted that there was also a time-out during the Invitationals that may have drawn Niantic’s attention to this issue.” A time-out occurs in Trainer Battles when the regular game time has expired and no winner has been determined.
The winner of the Invitational tournament says he wants more support from Niantic.
